Facebook and Civic Responsibility

Here's a link to an American Public Media radio program interview with one of the authors of a new study that suggests social network sites may actually encourage young adults toward civic responsibility and engagement. The study is not yet out, but some of the findings are available online. Links to news releases and to the radio interview are available below.

November 16, 2009

New evidence points to benefits of online social networks

MP3 - iTunes

Facebook, Twitter and the tools that enable them sometimes get a bad rap. A recent example: a weekend article in the San Francisco Chronicle, which quotes mental health professionals who worry that addiction to our digital tools will lead to a breakdown of interpersonal relationships and a rise in attention deficit disorder.

A new study from the University of Minnesota does not address those issues but does suggest social networks are a good way to get young people engaged current events and civic affairs, and have much potential as teaching tools.

Guest: Christine Greenhow, University of Minnesota

March 2009 Newsletter

The March 2009 edition of the ETA-ROC Newsletter is available here in jpg format. To enlarge the graphic files for better reading, simply right-click on the images below. You will access the image using your computer's photo-viewing software.

TESOL Calender of Conference Events: Summer-Winter 2009

From the TESOL Global Calendar of Events

July 2009


July 2-3. (Central and South America)
MATE-TESOL Haiti 5th Annual Conference
"ELT: New Trends and Developments"
Haitian-American Institute, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
E-mail jeanfranois_vilmenay@yahoo.com.

July 3-4. (Asia and Oceania)
The Korea Association of Teachers of English (KATE)
KATE 2009 International Conference
"Across the Borders: Content-based Instruction in the EFL Contexts"
Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
E-mail kate2008-2010@hanmail.net.
Web site http://www.kate.or.kr.

July 8-10. (Central and South America)
ACPI-TESOL
"How to Learn a Language Successfully Through the Connection of Listening and Speaking"
Universidad de La Salle, San Jose, Costa Rica.
E-mail amadririmo@hotmail.com.

July 31-August 2. (Central and South America)
PERU TESOL Seventeenth Annual Convention,
San Martìn de Tarapoto (in the Peruvian Jungle in the Mid East of Peru).
E-mail nefdy@yahoo.com.

August 2009

August 21-23. (Asia and Oceania)
English Language Teacher's Association of India
"Managing Mixed-Ability Classes"
E-mail eltai_india@yahoo.co.in.
Web site http://www.eltai.org.

September 2009

September 9-12. (Europe and Eurasia)
EUROCALL 2009
"New Trends in CALL: Working Together"
Escuela Politécnica Superior de Gandía. Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Gandía (Valencia), Spain
E-mail Margaret.Gammell@ul.ie.
Web site http://www.eurocall-languages.org.

September 17-19. (North America)
Southeast TESOL Conference
"A Passion for Language and Teaching"
Hilton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
E-mail rarb4@msn.com.
Web site http://www.gatesol.org.

October 2009

October 3. (North America)
Virginia TESOL
"ESL Newcomers: Mainstream Teachers & Students"
Tidewater Community College - Virginia Beach Campus, Virginia Beach, Virginia USA.
E-mail jkuchno@gmail.com.
Web site http://www.vatesol.cloverpad.org.

October 9-10. (North America)
Michigan TESOL
"Transforming Learning: Teaching and Advocacy"
Grand Valley State University's Eberhard Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan USA.
E-mail: CaseyGordon@kentisd.org.
Web site http://www.mitesol.org.

October 22-25. (North America)
MexTESOL, "Social Echoes of ELT," Cintermex Convention Center, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Contact Natalia Aguirre Benavides, E-mail naguirreb@yahoo.com.mx. Web site http://www.mextesol.org.mx.

November 2009

November 5-7. (North America)
Symposium on Second Language Writing
Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA.
E-mail sslw@asu.edu.
Web site http://sslw.asu.edu/2009/

Conference Calendar: Spring 2009

AAAL 2009 Annual Conference
The Relevance of Applied Linguistics to the Real World
March 21-24, 2009, Denver, Colorado, USA

The 43rd Annual TESOL Convention and Exhibit
Uncharted Mountains, Forging New Pathways
March 26-28, 2009, Denver, Colorado, USA
TESOL 2009 Letter to Supervisors: DOWNLOAD PAGE

The 43rd Annual International IATEFL Conference and Exhibition
March 31 - April 4, 2009, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Call for Proposals: September 22, 2008

The Second International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca
April 6-8, 2009, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK

The 3rd Conference on College English
Opportunities and Challenges for Teaching and Learning
April 11, 2009, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
Call for Papers: February 2, 2009

2009 International Conference on Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching
TESL, TCSL, Interpretation and Translation
April 16-18, 2009, Nat'l Taiwan Univ. of Science & Technology, Taipei, Taiwan

The 6th Maylasia Intern'l Conference on Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Languages, Literatures, and Cultures: Universals, Distinctions
and Cross-disciplinary Perspectives
April 28-30, 2009, Putrajaya, Malaysia

ELT-Con 2009
PELLTA's 4th International English Language and Literature
Matters: New Ways of Looking at English Language Teaching and Learning
April 22-24, 2009, Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia

2009 International Conference on English Learning and Teaching
Teaching and Learning English in Context: Language, Literature, Culture
May 2, 2009, Chinese Culture University, Yangmingshan, Taipei, Taiwan

The 26th Conference on English Teaching and Learning in the R.O.C.
May 16-17, 2009, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

The 6th International Conference on Language Teacher Education
Preparing Language Teachers for the 21st Century
May 28-30, 2009, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA