International Inter-association (History of Language Teaching) Conference – University of the Algarve, Faro, Portugal, 28-30 June 2023

International Inter-association (History of Language Teaching) Conference
University of the Algarve, Faro, Portugal, 28-30 June 2023 

Language teachers, methodologies and teacher training in historical perspective

This international conference will be held under the auspices of a network linking the following partner associations in the field of History of Language Teaching …

  • APHELLE (Portuguese Association for the History of Teaching Foreign Languages and Literatures)
  • CIRSIL (Italian Inter-university Research Network for the History of Language Education)
  • The Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistics Ideas
  • SEHL (Spanish Society for Linguistic Historiography)
  • SIHFLES (International Society for the History of French as a Foreign or Second Language)

… with the support of:

  • APEF (Portuguese Association of French Studies)
  • APROLINGUAS (Portuguese Association of Teachers of Foreign Languages in Higher Education)
  • net (AILA Research Network on History of Language Learning and Teaching).

This network held its first joint conference in 2008 at the University of Granada and this conference will be the second to be held at the University of the Algarve, following on from the one in 2016.

Today, at a time when, in some countries (including in Portugal), schools and universities are dealing with the issue of an ageing teaching force approaching retirement, questions of recruitment, status and profile of language teachers have become urgent. This conference aims to highlight the legacy of the past in this area and to shed new light, from historical, historicising and comparative perspectives, on the practices of those who have been responsible for teaching second/foreign languages and doing teacher training in this area. The conference will extend knowledge of pedagogical practices associated with actors (language tutors, teachers etc.) who have received different kinds of training and who have had different kinds of achievement in the course of their careers. Investigating the status and profile of these educational actors will also involve taking into account different forms of teacher training and other kinds of pedagogical support, as well as mechanisms/processes for disseminating educational innovations, reforms and policies (including via specialist journals, official regulatory texts and institutional guidelines). In this connection, it might be of value to shed light on intercultural aspects whereby teachers cross borders and adapt pedagogical methods and tools from ‘elsewhere’. Equally, it could be revealing to explore links between theories and pedagogies in re-examining the role of institutions and methodologies in the training of language teachers.

In line with these emphases, we particularly encourage submission of proposals for papers and thematic panels in the following areas:

  1. Language teacher profiles and teaching / teacher training methodologies
    • Who have the language teachers been, and what was their biographical background and national and/or international educational and teaching experience?
    • Who were the teachers/methodologists who have written textbooks or other teaching materials? How were these teaching tools developed, imported and/or circulated?
    • Who have the teacher trainers for second/foreign languages been and what was their expected profile?
  2. Language teacher training institutions
    • What language teaching/learning institutions have hosted trainee teachers?
    • What were the training programmes and models in these institutions?
    • What place should the reports of the directors of institutions and the accounts of teachers have in the history of second/foreign language teaching/learning? How important are such sources?
  3.   Legislation, training models and adaptation to reforms
    • How have legislation and ministerial guidelines incorporated models of language teacher education in different countries and what external influences are experienced (import and circulation of models and profiles, etc.)?
    • How have educational reforms and pedagogical innovations in the service of training taken shape through the original creation and/or adaptation of teaching tools?
    • How have mechanisms/processes for disseminating educational ideas to teachers (e.g. print media and journals, training courses abroad) contributed to innovation in educational policies?

Conference Chair: Prof. Ana Clara Santos (University of the Algarve)

Submission of proposals or thematic panels:
Deadline for submission of abstracts (200­–300 words), plus references and biographical information: 25 February 2023
Response from scientific committee: 15 March 2023
Programme announced: 10 April 2023

Publication: Papers will be evaluated by the scientific committee and those receiving a favourable opinion from two blind reviewers will be published in an indexed journal or a book.

Languages of communication and publication: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Email address for proposals and queries: congresalgarve2023@gmail.com

Registration fee:
Members of partner associations: 60 Euros
Doctoral students: 30 Euros
Others: 90 Euros

in Events / Past Events