Our Plenary Speakers

Leo Selivan - Is “Living Language” living up to life?

Language is in a constant state of flux, and the traditional grammar rules provided to language teachers do not sufficiently represent this ever-evolving organism. In fact, many grammar rules may be of dubious value to the learner and might even misrepresent how language is used in practice.

Coming from a usage-based perspective and analyzing examples of recent linguistic changes in both corporate and general communication, this talk will explore the historical and developmental factors that make change inevitable and show how a living language, like art, imitates life.

Marjorie Rosenberg - Our journeys – embracing where we are now 

This plenary talk will look at the journeys we have taken to get where we are today and the implications for the future. Journeys rarely occur in straight lines but rather in curvy or even divergent paths. What is interesting for us to examine, however, are the lessons learned on our way from the starting point to the present. There are those of us who started out in other fields and ended up in the roles they are in now as well as those of us who planned their teaching careers from the start. We will be looking at the different skills and talents we bring to our jobs, the importance of setting flexible goals, the assumptions we all deal with on a daily basis, the changes in our personal and professional lives, and the effects these have had on what we do and who we are today. Together we can take this opportunity to reflect on where we are now and where we may be heading.