54th Annual Conference of the
INTERNATIONAL LINGUISTIC ASSOCIATION
click here for the 2009 Conference Proceedings
click here for the 2009 Conference Program (updated 3/28/09)
click here for Conference Registration form
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Directions, Transportation, and Hotel
information
April 3 – April 5, 2009
St. John's University, Manhattan Campus
New York, New York 10007
IMAGINATION AND LANGUAGE
LEARNING AND TEACHING
Invited
Speakers:
DR. ELENA KRAVTSOVA-VYGOTSKY–
RUSSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOR HUMANITIES, MOSCOW, RUSSIA;
GRANDDAUGHTER OF LEV S. VYGOTSKY
DR. MAXINE GREENE
– TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
DR. CLYDE COREIL
– NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY, JERSEY CITY, NJ
DR. STEVEN BROWN – MCMASTER UNIVERSITY, HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA
This year's Conference is dedicated to the memory of the late Lev Vygotsky, who has become one the most influential figures in our understanding of the imagination, particularly in relation to language teaching.
As
the key that opens the gates to all education, imagination embodies the
creative approach to language learning and teaching. Traditional methods
are rooted almost exclusively in linguistics and focus on syntactic
rules, memorization based on the lexicon, and practice in oral and
silent reading. Imaginative methods, on the other hand, embrace
nontraditional approaches where music, dance, art, theater, dreams and
creative writing are indispensable elements or pegs to the learning and
teaching processes. These methods are powerful in their ability to
motivate and reach children and adults as well as special populations
such as persons with learning disabilities. By engaging the imagination,
we can effectively promote the students’ creativity and imagination,
lead them to a higher level of cognitive development, and help them
reach a new level of intellectual possibilities.
This
conference elaborates the above principles and exemplifies related
methods of instruction by bringing together scholars in the broad area
of language and imagination.
Conference Co-Chair:Clyde Coreil (ccoreil@NJCU.edu)
Conference Coordinator: Annika Wendt (annikawendt@yahoo.com)