Register by September 15th
for Early Bird Discount!

Immersion Education:
Pathways to Bilingualism & Beyond
2008 International Conference on Immersion Education

October 16-18, 2008
Crowne Plaza Riverfront Hotel
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Language immersion education has emerged as a uniquely constituted, highly effective program model for launching students on the road to bilingualism, multilingualism and intercultural competence. School-based immersion programs follow a variety of paths, including one-way foreign language immersion, two-way bilingual immersion, and indigenous immersion for language and culture revitalization. While each pathway targets distinct socio-cultural contexts and educational needs, all are grounded in a set of core characteristics with a strong focus on subject matter learning as well as language development.

Under the leadership of two national centers in the U.S., CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota) and CAL (Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C.), this third international conference on immersion education brings these pathways together to engage in meaningful dialogue and professional exchange across languages, levels, learner audiences, program models and sociopolitical contexts.

Featured Plenary Presentations & Speakers

Keynote Address
Immersion Education: Intercultural Competence
for Tomorrow's Global Citizens
Myriam Met
Senior Research Associate
National Foreign Language Center
University of Maryland

Plenary Speakers

Learning to Read in a Second Language
Fred Genesee
Professor of Psychology
McGill University; Montreal, Quebec

Immersion in Hong Kong and Mainland China
Philip Hoare
Associate Professor
Hong Kong Institute of Education

Integrating Identity and Culture in Hawaiian Immersion
Kauanoe Kamana
Associate Professor, Hawaiian Medium Curriculum
William H. "Pila" Wilson
Professor and Chair, Hawaiian Studies Division
University of Hawai'i at Hilo

Counterbalancing Form-Focused and
Content-Based Instruction in Immersion Pedagogy
Roy Lyster
Associate Professor of Second Language Education McGill University; Montreal, Quebec

This unique event offers over 90 paper sessions, discussion sessions and symposia that address the four main conference themes: Immersion Pedagogy, Culture and Identity, Policy and Advocacy and Program Design and Evaluation.  See the online conference schedule at: http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/schedule.html

And There is More...

This event also offers--for an additional fee--a set of optional school visits prior to the conference on Wednesday, October 15 and a host of optional pre-conference workshops on Thursday, October 16 addressing some of the hottest topics in immersion education today. Most of the pre-conference workshops sold out at the 2004 conference, so sign up early!

Register by September 15 for early bird rate!

The cost of the conference is only $200 if you register by September 15, 2008: Includes the Thursday evening plenary and reception, lunch on Friday and Saturday, and all conference materials. After Sept. 15, 2008 the regular registration fee will be $250.  Late registration after Oct. 10, 2008 will be $300.

More information about the conference can be found at:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/index.html

Register online now at:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/registration.html

Download a PDF to share with colleagues:
http://www.carla.umn.edu/conferences/immersion2008/documents/Imm_reg_ad.pdf

Questions? Email the CARLA office at: carla [at] umn dot edu

All information contained herein provided by CARLA.