Language and the SDGs, 21-22 April 2016

Having previously noted the CFP for the Language and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) symposium to be held in New York on 21-22 April 2016, this is a quick reminder that registration for the event is still open.

For reference the provisional program is copied below (NB- the keynote speaker, Suzanne Romaine, was not on that version when checked on 4/12). Hyperlinks added; any errors are mine and not the fault of the seminar organizers.

LANGUAGE AND THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: A Symposium

Thursday-Friday, April 21-22, 2016

Church Center for the United Nations, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York

Sponsored by:

PROVISIONAL PROGRAM

Thursday, April 21

8:30-9:15. Registration and coffee

9:15-10:50 INTRODUCING THE TOPIC

Humphrey Tonkin (University of Hartford, USA). Language: The missing dimension

Timothy Reagan (University of Maine, USA). Language rights and the SDGs

Kurt Müller (National Defense University, USA). Organization, targeting, and assumptions in foreign assistance

Lisa J. McEntee-Atalianis (Birkbeck, University of London, UK). The forgotten goal – Goal 18: Building sustainable knowledge societies by addressing linguistic and digital divides through global partnerships.

10:50-11:00. BREAK

11:00-12:30. SUSTAINABILITY Chair, Kurt Müller.

– Katalin Buzasi (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands). Languages and the sustainable development goals – What do we know and how to go on?

– Carla Bagna & Andrea Scibetta (Università per Stranieri, Siena, Italy). Language as a factor in sustainable development: Language to reduce inequalities

– Laurence Jay-Rayon & Amy R. Tuininga (Montclair State University, USA). Sustainability is a conversation

– Alicia Fuentes Calle (LINGUAPAX International). Pax Linguistica and the preservation of linguistic diversity revisited.

12:30-1:10. LUNCH

1:10-1:40. Language, literacy, employability and income in the US Sarah Catherine K. Moore (CAL: Center for Applied Linguistics), Molly Fee (University of California Los Angeles), Terrence G. Wiley (CAL), and M. Beatriz Arias (CAL).

1:40-2:50. LITERACY Chair, Terrence Wiley.

– John Comings (World Education). Mother tongue reading instruction: Language and mother tongue education (Goal 4)

– Carol Deshano da Silva (Save the Children). The successes and challenges of Save the Children US in planning and implementing reading and writing programs in linguistically diverse contexts

– Alison Pflepsen (RTI International). Improving educational quality through improved literacy instruction.

2:50-3:00 BREAK

3:00-3:50. EDUCATION 1. Chair, Timothy Reagan.

– Theo Du Plessis & Colleen Du Plessis (University of the Free State, South Africa). Realising inclusive and equitable quality education in South Africa: Contributions and obstacles in language in education.

– Shereen Bhalla (Center for Applied Linguistics). Examining language and the role of mother-tongue education through the three-language formula of India.

3:50-5:00. LANGUAGE AND INCLUSION (Goals 4 and 10) Chair, João Pedro Marinotti (City University of New York, Graduate Center, USA)

– Antonio Bardawil (New York University, USA), Leveling linguistic playing fields to reduce inequalities: How language factors into Goal 10

– Cassondra Puls and Mackenzie Lawrence (International Rescue Committee), Balancing social inclusion and educational inclusion among displaced learners: The work of the International Rescue Committee

– Kathleen McGovern (University of Massachusetts, USA), Dialogic practice in the language classroom: Valuing learners’ voices as a means of working towards the SDGs

– Jennifer C. Hamano, Christen N. Madsen II, and Gita Martohardjono (Second Language Acquisition Lab, CUNY Graduate Center, USA): Language assessment for sustainable development

Friday, April 22

8:30-9:00. Registration and coffee

9:00. Opening comments

9:15-10:45

10:45-10:55. BREAK

10:55-11:25. Rosemary Salomone (St. John’s University, USA). Educational equity, SDG’s & commodification of English

11:25-12:35. CORE ISSUES. Chair, Rosemary Salomone.

– Dragana Radosavljevic (University of Greenwich, UK). Interpreting and translation in international criminal law

– Aneta Pavlenko (Temple University, USA). You have the right to remain silent, do you understand?

– Alison Phipps (University of Glasgow, UK). Languages under duress.

12:35-1:15 LUNCH

1:15-1:45. Carolyn Benson (Teachers College, Columbia University, USA). Documenting international progress in addressing language issues in education

1:45-2:55. EDUCATION 2. Chair, Carolyn Benson.

– Francis M. Hult (Lund University, Sweden), Christine Glanz (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning), and Ulrike Hanemann (UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning). Multilingual literacy and the SDG for quality education

– Mark E. Karan & Elke Karan (SIL International). The use of non-dominant languages In primary education: The key to maximizing learning outcomes for learners who speak these languages

– Marguerite Lukes (International Network for Public Schools). Language acquisition & immigrant young adults with interrupted schooling.

2:55-3:05 BREAK

3:05-4:15. THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS. Chair, Humphrey Tonkin.

– María Barros & Ana García Álvarez (Spanish Translation Service, United Nations, New York). Translation of SDGs: A tool for their implementation?

– Muhammed Raeez (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India). Arabic at the United Nations

– Kathleen Stein-Smith (American Association of Teachers of French). The role of multilingualism in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN Academic Impact).

4:15-4:25. Concluding comments by Sean O Riain (Ireland), Language and the SDGs: An Irish-language perspective.

4:25-5:00 Wrap-up and Close