Dear colleague

We trust that you have managed to be resilient in the face of all that the little red bug has thrown at us these past two years.
The pandemic seems to have been brought under better control, so we as SAALT Exco, look forward to meeting face-to-face again at this year’s conference. It is being hosted by the Southern African Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Society (SALALS) in conjunction with the North-West University's School of Languages on the Potchefstroom Campus between 27 and 30 June. We are sending this invitation to you on behalf of the organising committee. 
The theme of this year is Bridging the gaps, and submissions of abstracts, posters, and workshops that touch on bridging gaps within descriptive linguistics, applied linguistics, and language practice are welcome.
Attached please find the call for papers. NOTE THE CLOSING DATE: 31 March 2022. All the information regarding submissions and registrations can be found in the attached call for papers.


With regard to our annual general meeting, apart from reporting on matters addressed during 2021/22, it is once again time to elect a new Exco. We thus urge you to consider attending the conference in order to participate at the AGM and also cast your vote. We have also prepared another Lifetime Achievement award to be presented at the gala dinner.  
 
We ask that you distribute this call for papers as widely as possible amongst any interested researchers involved with language teaching/assessment, language-in-education issues as well as language practitioners.
 
SALALS will be hosting an inclusive and diverse conference with interesting and stimulating presentations and social events that will allow for networking and strengthening the collaboration between the various language societies.
 
We look forward to meeting you in Potchefstroom later this year.


Professor Rinelle Evans

SAALT chair 2020/22

Cape Town, Western Cape
Iziko Museums of South Africa are hosting three events to celebrate International Mother Language Day, starting with an in-person event on 18 February 2022 that focuses on teachers’ and learners’ experiences of mother language in school contexts. On Saturday, 19 February 2022, there is a panel discussion by indigenous film makers on the role they and their films play in enhancing the use of mother languages in society. Click here to join virtually.
 
Another virtual event takes place on Monday, 21 February 2022, and features language activists, poets, historians, academics, and communities in conversation about the significant role played by languages in both the cultural identity and expression of people. Click here to join virtually.
 
East London, Eastern Cape
PanSALB in partnership with the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) will commemorate IMLD on 21 and 22 February 2022, at ICC Premier Hotel, East London under the theme “Using technology for multilingual learning: Challenges and opportunities”. Those interested in attending can RSVP by emailing siphiwe@pansalb.org.
 
 
Paris, New York, Brussels and Geneva
UNESCO is promoting virtual access to events that will be held around the world on 21 February 2022. Click here for information on individual events.
 
Potchefstroom, North-West Province
An in-person event will be held at North-West University at the Multi-Purpose Hall aon the 24 February 2022. Click here for more information.
 
Stellenbosch, Western Cape
A Grade 4 spelling competition will be held at an in-person event on 26 February 2022 at Protea Hotel by Marriot in Stellenbosch. You may RSVP by emailing pawc@pansalb.org.

 International Mother Language Day (IMLD) is celebrated globally on the 21st of February each year. This year there are events across South Africa’s provinces that highlight the benefits and revel in the joy of using one’s mother language.
 
Dr Connie Makgabo, our SAALT secretary, will speak on the value of one’s mother language today. As a lecturer of teaching methodology in African languages at the University of Pretoria, she is uniquely positioned to share insights on why and how mother language education can set a child up for success. She will be speaking at an event organised by the Pan South African Language Board’s (PanSALB) Gauteng Provincial Committee.
 
“We are involved in promoting the awareness of the importance of mother tongue use because with the knowledge of a mother tongue, one feels grounded and is able to learn other languages.”
 
We sat down with Dr Makgabo to learn more about the significance of IMLD and her involvement in Gauteng’s celebrations that kick off on 18 February.
 
What will you be doing at the IMLD event of PanSALB Gauteng?
 
My role is to explain to the attendees what the purpose of the day is. The International Mother Language Day is designed to affirm the value and continuing relevance of mother languages in South Africa. Not only do they hold cultural and historical knowledge, they hold value in reversing the dominance of colonial languages and they are able to affirmi one’s identity. 
 
One’s mother tongue is the language that one learns in childhood, one’s first language, the identification language, the background language or domestic language. One can name it the figure language or the language that one grew up with; one's local language. Mother tongue always references the language that the child has used from birth for important and impacting times in the child’s life (Desai 2012). What mother tongue means to a child, includes more than simply language because it consists of the child’s personal, social and cultural identity.
 
This year’s IMLD is particularly concerned with the need to enhance the possibilities of the multilingual classroom. It builds on the research that has shown how important it is for children to learn in their home language while also recognising that we live in a multilingual context. It thus joins in the call for more language supported learning so that children who have to make the change to English in Grade 4 have the necessary assistance and support. In the multilingual classroom children who need to continue their studies in English can be supported through the multilingual classroom where concepts are also explained using the mother tongue and where children can be encouraged to use their own languages in making concepts familiar to themselves. 
 
How could "regular South Africans" celebrate IMLD this year?
Use your mother language! And find out a little more about someone else’s mother language. Learn about the music, dances or cuisine that symbolise a specific language. You could also learn a language you do not know or brush up on one you do not know all that well. 

SAALT is proud to announce the recent publication of a new book, co-authored by our Vice Chair, Prof. Tobie van Dyk. This guide is worldwide accessible to any person who has an interest in learning or teaching Afrikaans and has received excellent reviews by a range of national and international scholars. 
Further reading and order details available on:

• "Afrikaans in Europa"  (Universitat Wien): https://aie.univie.ac.at/oor-afrikaans/grammatika/kortpad-afrikaans/; and 
  
• Tobie's professional website: https://tobievandyk.com/2022/02/09/kortpad-afrikaans/

Stellenbosch University will be quality assuring the new Independent Examinations Board International - International Secondary Certificate and is looking to appoint external moderators to assist in the quality assurance of the examinations. There will be 32 subjects offered in the 2022 examinations that will require external moderators.
Please find attached the advertisement with a link to the application portal. Closing date for applications: 20 February 2022.

See the attached PDF below for further details.

Please find the full details here: ​https://c0dce344.caspio.com/dp/6a717000a4a0cd317e534765934e

NOTE: The final date for application has been changed to 30 January 2022

Please download the PDF for full details. 

 We are pleased to announce that the latest Journal for Language Teaching, Volume 55, No. 1, is now available on the African Journals Online platform. 
​The JLT is peer-reviewed and accredited by the Department of Higher Education. ​Contact your university library to obtain a copy of any article of interest.

• Scaffolding of Wikipedia translation for technology-enhanced language learning
  Aletta Mweneni Hautemo, Michele van der Merwe
  13-35
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.1

• Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices in Using Digital Literacy in Enhancing Communicative Competence in the English as a Second Language Class
  Folakemi O. Adeniyi-Egbeola, Kelechi J. Achike, Yekeen Bello
  37-55
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.2

​

• Evolving trends of distance learning for basic education in Namibia: A parental perspective during Covid-19 lockdown
  Annaly M. Strauss, Keshni Bipath
  57-75
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.3

​

• Translanguaging: A tool to decolonise students’ experiences of learning to write for academic purposes in the South African university context
  Sandiso Ngcobo, Katie Bryant, Hloniphani Ndebele
  77-99
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.4

​

• How English teachers’ corrective feedback practices can promote second language acquisition in Intermediate Phase classrooms in South Africa: A case study
  Jasmiene Manuel, Kotie Kaiser, Bernadette Geduld
  101-131
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.5

​

• Minority Languages’ exclusion in the Lesotho School Curriculum: Perceptions of Teachers and Learners
  Maboleba Kolobe, Lifelile Matsoso
  133-149
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.6

​

• Addressing the challenge of over-crowdedness in English First Additional Language (EFAL) classrooms
  Sekanse Abiner Ntsala, Mamosebatho Julia Ramabenyane, Mariette Koen, Irma Loock
  151-173
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.7

​

• Pre-service teachers’ attitudes and ethnocentrism regarding language-in-education issues
  Joyce West
  175-201
  DOI: 10.4314/jlt.v55i1.8

The new deadline is: November 15, 2021. 

Below a transcript of the letter to our Chair from the President of FIPLV:

Dear Friends and Colleagues,
 
I hope that this message finds all of you well.
 
In view of the continuing uncertainly related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulties all of us still have to face, we have decided to extend the deadline for the submission of abstracts for the FIPLV Congress that will take place in Warsaw on June 27-29, 2022 in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Polish Association of Modern Languages.
 
The new deadline is November 15, 2021. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by December 15, 2021. Please send your abstracts to: kongressfiplv2022@wn.uw.edu.pl
 
The second call for papers with detailed information about the fees, registration, travel and accommodation will be circulated by the end of October, 2021.
 
Best regards,
 
Mirosław Pawlak
President of FIPLV