Update: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Crossroads of Languages and Cultures Conference has been postponed. The new conference dates are 1st-15th October 2021 (tbc).

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A few months ago, I wrote the following lines in this blog:

Not too long ago, we tended to think of foreign language teaching as a process where a largely homogeneous group of learners, united by a similar cultural background and the same mother language, were taught a ‘single monochrome standard’ (Quirk 1985: 6) of the target language. This view is increasingly untenable now… 

Disrupting Geographical Borders in Language Education (Achilleas Kostoulas)

The reason why such a view is untenable is because language teaching and learning is taking place in linguistic spaces that are more and more complex, and it involves teachers and learners with hybrid identities engaging in practices that are increasingly multilingual. It is considerations such as this that have prompted the 6th Crossroads of Languages and Cultures international conference (CLC 6).

The Conference

The conference, which is co-organised by the Open University of Cyprus and the University of Cyprus, with support from the Porydromo group, will take place in the premises of the University of Cyprus in Nicosia, between 23rd and 25th October 2020.

Theme

The theme of this year’s conference is Plurilingualism, Variation, Spaces of Literacy. In the words of the organisers, some of the topics that the conference will engage with include the following:

The main theme of CLC6 is the charting of the relationship between plurilingualism, linguistic variation, hybrid linguistic performances and alternative literacies. The hybridity and superdiversity of the contemporary linguistic landscape has been long acknowledged. Do language pedagogies  treat language as a complex semiotic resource? Do such pedagogies forge links between pluri- or multilingualism, linguistic variation, translanguaging and alternative literacy practices within and outside of the school context? Do such extant models ultimately debunk dominant literacy policies and practices?

Invited speakers

Keynote talks will be delivered by:

• Prof. Ofelia García, City University of New York;
• Prof. Clare Mar-Molinero, University of Southampton; and
• Prof. Eleni Skourtou, University of the Aegean

Call for papers

Proposals are invited for oral presentations, posters, symposia, workshops connected to the conference themes.

These include any aspect of multilingualism, linguistic variation and their place in school, at home and in alternative literacy sites.

The languages of the conference are Greek and English. Additional information about abstract submission can be found here.

Critical dates

Deadline for abstract submission	15th March 2020 10th April 2020
Notification of acceptance	30th April 2020
Registration begins	30th April 2020
Registration deadline	7th August 2020
Conference	23rd-25th October 2020 1st – 15th October 2021 (tbc)

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