Call for Proposals: Boston Area Language Pedagogy Conference 2025
Language Communities in Practice*
March 29, 2025
Harvard University
The Boston Area Language Pedagogy Conference (BALPC, previously BAPC) invites proposals for presentations that explore the intersection of language, culture, and community in the classroom and beyond. The theme for the 2025 conference is “Language Communities in Practice.” We seek to engage with instructors in the greater Boston area working to bridge theoretical insights with real-world applications in the teaching of language and literacy in the context of communities. From building discourse communities of learners inside the classroom to engaging with local communities off campus and global linguistic communities beyond, how are we as language educators integrating the concept of community into our work?
This year’s keynote speaker will be Professor Doris Sommer, whose Cultural Agents initiative has brought to the fore work on language, community engagement, and the revival of the civic mission of the Humanities.
We invite abstracts on topics related, but not limited, to:
- The role of language in building inclusive communities in educational settings
- Language as a tool for fostering cross-cultural understanding and empathy
- Pedagogical practices that promote multilingualism and language diversity
- Collaborative language learning within community-based programs
- Connections between local and global communities through language while addressing larger issues (climate change, social justice, migration, human rights, and equity)
- The intersection of language, identity, and community in classroom practices
- Heritage language learning and its role in preserving cultural identity
- Language communities in digital and virtual spaces
- The impact of language policies on language communities in education
- Language and community in interdisciplinary teaching practices
- Language revitalization and its educational applications
- Experiential learning in language education: connecting students with real-world communities through transcultural exchange, internships, and fieldwork
- Curriculum design, material development, assessment
Format of Presentation
15-20 -minute presentation
Submission Guidelines:
Please submit a title (15 words maximum) and 250-word abstract outlining the focus of your presentation, the central question or issue it addresses, and how it relates to the theme of “Language Communities in Practice.” Proposals that include practical applications or innovative teaching strategies are highly encouraged. Due to the linguistic diversity of our community and in the interest of inclusivity and accessibility, please submit titles and abstract in English. If you are including a target language term, please include a transliteration.
Abstract Submission Deadline
Please send your abstract to language@fas.harvard.edu by January 13, 2025.
Acceptance notification
The authors of selected proposals will be notified by mid-February, 2025.
Review process
Abstracts will be evaluated by the BALPC Conference Committee with the following criteria:
- Goals, objectives, and intended outcomes of the session are clearly stated;
- Proposal fits conference theme;
- Topic/issue/problem is relevant to the field of language education;
- Proposal is innovative and/or unique in its approach to language education;
- Proposal is well organized and written in a clear, accurate style.
*We are committed to welcoming presenters and attendees from all language communities, creeds, races, and abilities; ASL interpretation will be provided for duration of conference program.