Statement

The 2012 ACTA Conference congratulates the Northern Territory government on recognising the importance of using home language in children's education through the new policy Learning English as an additional language.
We urge the Northern Territory and federal governments to support and resource schools and communities to use home languages effectively for children's learning.

A message from the ACTA President

On behalf of ACTA and ATESOL NSW, I would like to thank our delegates from previous years for their ongoing support and participation and to welcome new delegates from Australia and overseas to our third biennial international TESOL conference in sunny Cairns.

The 2012 ACTA International Conference will be convened at the world class Cairns Convention Centre from 2-5 July 2012, and we have negotiated a variety of accommodation packages to suit our delegates' needs. Proceedings will open with a pre-conference Pronunciation Symposium on Monday 2 July. We are thrilled to host leading national and international educators and researchers in the field to this symposium, and the conference proper will pick up on some of the key issues arising from the colloquium and plenary sessions. The full program gets under way on Tuesday 3 July with a broad range of strands and exciting keynote presentations, workshops and poster sessions relevant to ESL, EFL and Indigenous educators at all levels and across all sectors. We have a special treat in store for delegates attending the conference dinner on the Wednesday night, and you might also like to book a seat for an exclusive hosted breakfast with some of our keynote and plenary speakers before the final day's sessions kick off on Thursday.

With an average daily July temperature of 26 degrees, Cairns promises to be the ideal conference venue and a (fully tax-deductible!) winter holiday destination for the whole family. We encourage you to take advantage of the partners' programs and pre- and post-conference tours which have been tailored especially for our delegates. Take a cruise to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef or spend the day exploring exotic rainforest and wildlife parks in the hinterland, soak up the scenery on a sightseeing trip, get hands-on with some fantastic cultural experiences and activities or hit the country club links for 18 holes ... and then relax with a cocktail and spoil yourself to a luxury spa in a five star hotel after a unique shopping expedition in the city centre!

I hope to see you in Cairns in July 2012!

With best wishes

Robert Jackson
ACTA President
ATESOL NSW President

Keynote Speakers Prof Gillian Wigglesworth Dr Jane Simpson Dr Robert Phillipson Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas Prof Suresh Canagarajah Juanita Sellwood

Featured Speakers Dr Tracey Derwing Brock Brady Dorothy Hoddinott

 

'Teaching and learning pronunciation: Local and global perspectives on research and practice'

 

'Monday 2 July 2012' at the 'Cairns Convention Centre'

We are pleased to announce a one-day symposium on teaching and learning English pronunciation to be held in conjunction with the Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA) conference in Cairns in July 2012. This symposium will bring together invited experts in different aspects of research and practice in the field and will explore a range of topics related to teaching and learning pronunciation in both local and global contexts. It will feature a half-day colloquium (morning session) followed in the afternoon by concurrent sessions in two streams: one targeting classroom teachers and one targeting researchers and teacher educators.

This symposium represents an exciting opportunity to explore this crucial part of learning English and will be of great benefit to researchers, teachers and teacher educators. Indeed, for symposium registrants who desire further opportunity to explore pronunciation research and practice, the ACTA conference will follow with a dedicated pronunciation stream and plenary speaker (Dr Tracey Derwing).

The symposium has already generated considerable interest both in Australia and internationally, and we are delighted to have the involvement of speakers who are experts in different aspects of research and practice in the field.

 

For further details see the Pronunciation Symposium website
http://www.pronunciationsymposium.org

 

			The 20th Korea TESOL International Conference Call for papers