The 37th Conference of Applied Language Studies, Education for Social Justice Conference will take place completely online on June 1-3, 2021 in Jyväskylä, Finland. Join the conference and register on the Conference website.
What does social justice have to do with language education? Why do we need to talk about social justice as language teachers, teacher educators, and researchers?

At this conference, ELINET organizes a two-hour interactive colloquium in which we will introduce a framework digital literacy means for children ages 0-10, the ways digital tools and activities can contribute to the development of children’s literacy skills, attitudes and compile the best practices that can be used at homes and schools and request feedback and good practice examples from the audience members. You can download the ELINET proposal here. 

Nordic countries are often associated with social welfare and strive for egalitarianism. However, linguistic injustice prevails also there, and not all languages and linguistic practices are equal and associated with the same opportunities and privileges in and beyond educational contexts. In addition, linguistic injustices are never just about language. Factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, social class, ability, and sexual orientation are intrinsically linked to language and shape local, national, and international language attitudes, ideologies, and policies. What can researchers and educators do in order to take steps towards a more just field of language education? If the goal of education is to diminish social inequalities and support students in becoming socially conscious, critical, and engaged members of society, what kind of resources, skills, and teacher support is needed to achieve this?
Social justice is not something that can be brought about by an individual, it needs a community, a movement, institutions, and gatherings like this conference. This year, we particularly invite teachers, teacher educators, and researchers interested in language and education to join us in thinking about how to improve language education for all.
We hope that as part of this conference, we will discuss questions including but not limited to:

• How can language education be a space where students and teachers learn together to see and challenge existing patterns of privilege and injustice?
• What is needed to support teachers in promoting linguistic and cultural equity and equip them to support each other in developing/implementing respective pedagogies?
• How can research look at and beyond language in education with the goal of being a catalyst for critical thinking, democracy, equity, and peace?
• How can language education and research support, respect, and better understand each other with the goal of making language education more equal and accessible for all learners?
• How can both education and research turn a critical eye on themselves to recognize their complicity in perpetuating injustices and learn to do better?

Keynote speakers

• Aminkeng A. Alemanji, University of Helsinki
• Venla Bernelius, University of Helsinki
• Mel Engman, Queen’s University Belfast
• Lou Harvey, University of Leeds
• Birgül Yilmaz, University College London

Invited workshops

In addition to keynotes, we are organizing workshops with invited researchers and practitioners. Two of them will be offered by Jenni Alisaari (University of Turku), Jessica Bradley (University of Sheffield), and Tamás Peter Szabó & Petteri Laihonen (University of Jyväskylä).

Registration and Conference fees

Registration opens in February.

• Early-bird, regular: 60€ (by 15.4.)
• Early-bird, student: 40€ (by 15.4.)
• Regular: 80€ (by 15.5.)
• Regular, student: 50€ by (15.5.)
• Teachers’ day: 10€ (only valid for teachers on one conference day), by 15.5.

Conference website: http://www.jyu.fi/socialjustice2020
Inquiries: socialjustice@jyu.fi