Plenary speakers

Judit Kormos (Lancaster University, the United Kingdom):

Empowering the dyslexic language learner

Dyslexic language learners have been long neglected in the field of foreign language teaching despite the fact they constitute about 10% of the student population. In this talk I will discuss the effect of dyslexia on processes of foreign language learning and on motivation to acquire another language in a classroom context. In the presentation I will elaborate what methods of classroom management, task design and teaching techniques can empower dyslexic language learners to fulfil their potentials in language learning.

Judit Kormos is a Reader in Second Language Acquisition at Lancaster University where she teaches on postgraduate teacher education programmes. She is the co-author of the book ’Teaching languages to students with specific learning differences’.  She was also a partner in the Dyslexia for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language project sponsored by the European Commission. Her research interests are the psycholinguistics of second language acquisition and second language speech production.

William New (Beloit College, United States):

Misrepresenting minority culture and language

For members of the political and linguistic mainstream, the problem with minority children is often seen as an inability to speak or act in culturally acceptable ways. This sentiment is also understood as unwillingness to become part of the and to reject the welcome “we” offer “them.” While it is now politically incorrect to insist that people forsake their own culture and stop speaking their mother tongues, the goal of total linguistic and cultural assimilation seems still to be the goal of much educational policy and practice everywhere. This paper explores the ways through which official and popular discourse strips minorities of their language and culture, while retaining moral legitimacy.

William New is the Professor of Education and Youth Studies at Beloit College, the U. S. A. Prior to becoming a college professor, he was a special education teacher and therapist in New York City for more than a decade. He has published and presented widely in the field of minority education policy and law, focusing on immigrant issues in the United States, and Roma education in Greece and Central Europe. His current research concerns the history of school choice in Wisconsin, and charter school politics in a local school district. Professor New is the founder and president of the Governing Board of a local charter school. He teaches courses in educational psychology, adolescence, literacy development, and education policy and law.