ENGLISH ACADEMY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA

2011 INTERNATIONAL GOLDEN JUBILEE

CONFERENCE

Literature, Literacy and Language

Cape Town

27-30 September 2011

The English Academy of Southern Africa was founded in 1961 and for the past fifty
years has dedicated itself to stimulating interest in the English language and its
literatures as well as promoting the effective use of English as a national resource in
Southern Africa. The English Academy interests itself in English in education, promotes
research and debate, organizes lectures, conferences and seasonal schools, makes
representations about language matters, rewards excellence and fosters the creative,
critical and scholarly talents of users (and would-be users) of English in Southern Africa.

Call for papers

The conference invites established and emerging researchers, teachers and policy
makers to engage with challenges and issues in the three areas of English literature,
literacy studies, and English language education. While papers are welcome in any of
these areas, there is a particular interest in their interrelationship.

• The area of English Literature will include both papers on texts and theoretical
analyses, especially in the areas of postcoloniality and global literature.

• The potential that English has in literacy education in a multilingual society, with
particular emphasis on reading and critical educational approaches in English
teaching, is of pressing concern for contemporary southern Africa. The concept
of literacy used here goes far beyond acquiring a set of technical skills for
 reading and writing, focusing on a capacity to use these skills in making sense of
the world. Literacy is at the heart of basic education for all, and is essential for
eradicating poverty and ensuring sustainable development, peace and
democracy.

• Language education papers will address the wide repertoire of challenges and
innovations in a range of educational/work contexts (schools; colleges;
universities; workplaces).

Thoroughly researched papers dealing with topics and issues related to any of these
areas are invited from colleagues throughout the world. There will be a 20 minute time
slot for each paper with associated discussion. Presentations should not exceed 20
minutes. Selected papers will be published in the English Academy of Southern Africa’s
accredited and peer-reviewed journal, The English Academy Review. The first
deadline for the submission of abstracts, which will be reviewed by an
advisory committee, is 30 November 2010. An abstract should not exceed 300
words. Colleagues are encouraged to send their abstracts early as the conference can
accommodate only a limited number of papers.

The conference will be organised around themes and issue-centred concerns, and there
will be a core of invited contributions on these topics. We invite papers on the following
or related themes:

• Literacy and work/community/diversity;

• Inequalities and epistemologies: exploring knowledges, oracies and literacies;
• Literacy in schools and higher education;
• Multi-modal literacies;
• Postcolonial and global writings;
• Literature in schools and universities;
• English language education; and
• English and Englishes.

Several outstanding speakers of international stature will deliver plenary addresses at

the conference. The programme consists of three days of plenary presentations and a
diverse range of concurrent workshops and parallel sessions for paper presentations.
The academic programme will be complemented by social activities including a
welcome reception, a poetry reading festival and a closing gala dinner to celebrate the
jubilee of the English Academy of South Africa.
This conference will be one of the most significant events on the education calendar for
2011.

Timeline:
1st announcement and call for papers: 20 August 2010
2nd announcement and further call for papers: 30 September 2010

Deadline for abstract submission: 30 November 2010

Extended deadline: 15 January 2011

Notification of acceptance of abstract: 15 February 2011

Draft programme design: 30 March 2011

Conference Convenor: Prof. Rajendra Chetty

Conference co-convenor: Ms Marie-Anne Ogle
Conference Secretariat:Ms Naomi Nkealah
Conference committee: Dr Barbara Basel, Prof. Rajendra Chetty, Dr
Janet Condy, Ms Anne Hill, Ms Naomi Nkealah, Ms
Marie-Anne Ogle, Prof. Mastin Prinsloo, Prof. Stanley
Ridge and Mr Philip Thraves.

Conference Fees: Delegates from Southern Africa

Early registration (before 30 April 2011)
– ZAR1500
Late registration – ZAR1750

Delegates from overseas and outside Southern Africa

Early registration – $250 (US)
Late registration – $300 (US)
Currency converter website - www.xe.com.

Venue: District Six campus, Cape Peninsula University of

Technology

District Six is in the 'city bowl' of Cape Town and at the foothill of Table
Mountain, so the campus is close to most of Cape Town’s main
attractions. It is a fascinating area, known not only for its historic
significance (forced removals during apartheid) and the District Six
Museum, but also for its artistic vibrancy in terms of the arts, literature,
music and culture. Artists from District Six include Alex la Guma,
Richard Rive and Abdullah Ibrahim.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:
Email 300-word abstracts together with full contact details by 30 November 2010 to Ms
Naomi Nkealah at englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za