Call for Proposals and Participation
Sixth Chinese LEARN Working Symposium

Date: Tuesday, July 20 – Friday, July 23, 2010
Theme: Getting Technology and Methodology in Synchronization!

The Foreign Language Program Office of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the National Cryptologic School (NCS), and the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) are pleased to announce that the Sixth Chinese LEARN (Language Education and Resources Network) Symposium for instructors of Chinese will be held Tuesday, July 20 through Friday, July 23, 2010 at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA. Pre-conference workshops will be conducted on Tuesday, July 20. The LEARN conferences provide language professionals with a venue where they can interact with their colleagues. They also give language professionals an opportunity to discuss/explore issues related to the science and technology of foreign language education. The Sixth Chinese LEARN Symposium held at DLIFLC is open to all instructors of Chinese from any U.S. Government-affiliated institution. The 2010 Chinese LEARN Symposium Steering Committee invites anyone involved in Chinese instruction at a U.S. Government-affiliated institution to submit a proposal for presentation in the conference.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Proposals should be related to the conference theme. Some suggested topics are listed below:

• Technology-assisted language teaching and learning
• Pedagogy of language instruction
• Culture and language teaching
• Curriculum, syllabus, and course design
• Chinese character and vocabulary instruction
• Chinese grammar instruction
• Distance and blended learning
• Evaluation, assessment, and testing
• Language immersion
• Professional development
• Learning about learners (what works and what does not work)
• Theoretical and applied linguistics

All proposals for workshops, presentation sessions, special forum discussions, or courseware sharing poster sessions must be submitted online at www.fbcinc.com/learn by midnight EST on March 12, 2010 in the correct format. Confirmation of receipt will be emailed instantly upon successful submission. Presenters will be notified by email of the Review Committee’s decision by May 21, 2010.

Proposals must be submitted in English and in final publishable format. The submission should be print ready in final publishable format. Use all punctuation, underlining, italics, etc. exactly as you want it to be printed in the program guide. All proposals must be written in third person format avoiding the use of “I” and “we.” All accepted proposals will be printed in the LEARN Conference Program Guide as submitted during the Call for Proposals; however, the LEARN Review Committee reserves the right to edit if necessary.

Pre-Conference Workshops (4 hours)
Pre-conference workshops will be held on July 20, 2010. Workshop proposals should describe specific planned activities and provide a detailed time schedule for each segment of the workshop. Only a limited number of workshop proposals will be accepted.

Presentation Sessions (30 minutes)
Presentations are strictly limited to 20 minutes, plus 10 minutes Q&A. Proposals can be for individual or joint presentations.

Courseware Sharing in Poster or Electronic Posters Session (60 minutes)
The LEARN conference provides a wonderful opportunity for Chinese language educators working in U.S.-Government-affiliated institutions to share and exchange ideas as well as curriculum and course materials. The LEARN Committee strongly encourages all presenters to showcase curriculum and/or course materials during the Courseware Sharing Session, when presenters stand by their poster board or laptop and discuss their work one-on-one or in small groups with attendees. Internet connectivity is not guaranteed, and presenters must provide their own laptops for this session. Presentations may be supplemented with handouts.

Special Forum Discussions (60 minutes)
Special Forum Discussions are an ideal format for networking and in-depth discussion of a particular topic such as grammar, vocabulary, reading, and specific technology. They typically consist of 20 minutes of presentation followed by 40 minutes of discussion and feedback. Only a limited number of Special Forum Discussion proposals will be accepted.

ONLINE SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

It is important that you include all information requested when entering your submission in the online form.

TITLE: The topic should be relevant to the conference theme and current concerns of the profession. Maximum length for title is 12 words.

CONTENT DESCRIPTION: The description must clearly align with the content of the proposal and be in final, publishable format, free of any errors. The online submission system automatically limits the content description to a maximum of 300 words.

METHODS: Required for all presentation and Courseware Sharing Session proposals. This section is limited to a maximum of 150 words and should indicate how information will be shared. Presentational modes must be specifically identified and appear highly engaging.

OUTLINE: Required only for Workshop submissions. This section should include an outline of the proposed workshop, including a schedule for each topic addressed or activity performed.

LANGUAGES: Indicate the primary language used in your presentation. Presenters are encouraged to use Chinese language whenever possible.

SUBMISSION, REVIEW, ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

After submitting a proposal, the primary presenter will be emailed a confirmation along with login information. Presenters may log in and make edits or changes to their proposals until the submission deadline, March 12, 2010. Once the deadline passes, all submissions will be placed in “review” mode and will not be accessible for further editing. The reviewers will make their acceptance decision based on what is in the system on the closing date.

Limited travel funds are available to support accepted presenters to the LEARN Symposium. Funding questions for government presenters should be directed to Ms. Diane Varieur: dianevarieur@yahoo.com. Funding questions for all other presenters should be directed to Ms. Vicki Guarino at Vicki@fbcinc.com.

2010 Chinese LEARN Conference Steering Committee
January 29, 2010