Media Advisory: The Literacy Institute Hosts International Forum
The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University will host the second annual international LESLLA Conference on November 2-3, 2006, at VCU.
LESLLA was founded in 2005 to address the needs of immigrants who have little or no schooling in their native language and are trying to learn a new language. LESLLA 2006 brings together a group of international experts to explore how ground-breaking research can be applied in the classroom and in policy making.
The conference features more than twenty presentations and discussion groups, opening with an address on "A National Citizenship Implementation Plan" and including the U.S. premiere of the European Quality Label Prize-winning film, "Newcomers to Morocco," which documents what happens when Dutch literacy teachers become the students in an Arabic class in Morocco. Working groups of experts will develop research and action recommendation for international implementation. The Literacy Institute, a partnership between the Virginia Literacy Foundation and Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education and Center for Public Policy, is proud to host this event.
The Literacy Institute: Mark Emblidge, President of the Virginia State Board of Education and Executive Director of The Literacy Institute at VCU; Barbara Gibson, Associate Director of the Literacy Institute and Manager of the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
LESLLA Founders: Martha Young-Scholten (Newcastle University, UK); Jeanne Kurvers (Tilburg University, Netherlands); Ineke van de Craats (Radboud University, Netherlands)
Plenary Session Speakers: Jeff Chenoweth, Division Director of National Operations and Support for Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC); Heidi Spruck Wrigley, Senior Researcher, LiteracyWork International; Joy Kreeft Peyton, Director of the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) and Vice President of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) Nancy Faux, ESOL Specialist at VALRC Larry Condelli, Managing Director of the American Institutes of Research
In addition:Local, national and international ESOL teachers and researchers
For press information, contact: Hillary Major, Phone: 804-828-7535, Email: hmajor@vcu.edu; for secondary contact, Victoire Gerkens Sanborn, Phone: 827-2638, Email: vjsanbor@vcu.edu