News

SIL researchers at joint meetings of ACAL 44 and GURT 2013

(March 2013) The 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) is being held jointly with this year’s Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT). The theme of the combined gathering is “African Languages: Specifics and Universals.” Meetings and workshops are taking place 7-10 March on Georgetown’s campus in Washington, DC.

Several SIL researchers are among those scheduled to present papers:

  • Dr. Michael Cahill: “Polar question intonation in five Ghanaian languages”
  • Dr. Barbara Trudell: “Early reading success in Africa: The language factor”
  • Dr. Steve Walter: “What happens when teachers have limited competence in the language of the classroom?”


Trudell and Walter’s presentations are part of the “Language in African Education” workshop, which is sponsored by the Center for Applied Linguistics. This time of presentation and discussion will focus on matters related to language of instruction in education, particularly primary-level education, when learners are introduced to the foundational skills of reading and writing. The issue of introducing additional languages in the curriculum will also be part of the conversation.

SIL staff members have served in language development partnerships in Africa for more than fifty years. Around the world, SIL supports ethnolinguistic minority communities as they build capacity for the sustainable development of their own languages through research, translation, training and materials development. 

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