Languages Without Borders

The Languages Without Borders 2009 National Conference was a great success! CASLT and the Institute for Innovation in Second Language Education (IISLE) at Edmonton Public Schools were very proud to put on this first national conference for all second language educators and to have provided a top quality professional development opportunity over three days.

This conference was like no other ever seen before and was refreshing and rewarding for L2 educators! There was a unique cultural aspect which we wanted to expose at this conference. Participants really felt as though they were learning while being entertained throughout the conference.

We welcomed 610 conference delegates. Participation was 90% from Canada, 5% from the USA and 5% international.

Delegates had the opportunity to choose from over 75 workshops from eight different countries on stimulating sessions on diverse topics and 48 resource information sessions.

Participants had the chance to listen to five amazing keynote speakers which included Dr. Milton Bennett, Dr. Helena Curtain, Dr. Jim Cummins, Dr. David Little, and Dr. S.N. Greymorning.

Conference delegates had the opportunity to attend mini language lessons, where teachers highlighted key words and phrases to enable participants to greet each other in languages such as American Sign Language, Ukrainian, German, Cree, Japanese, Hebrew, Punjabi, French, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic throughout the conference.
Languages Without Borders had a large tradeshow with 75 exhibit booths. One of the highlights was our Exhibits passport grand prize of $500.00, donated by the exhibitors. The passport allowed exposure to the exhibitors as participants visited each booth in exchange for signatures. Congratulations to our winner, Sue Ali, from Edmonton, Alberta.

Languages Without Borders also attracted delegates with the Greetings Passport Grand Prize of two flight passes anywhere in Canada and four nights hotel stay (Contribution from The Personal Home and Auto Insurance and Silverbirch Hotels). Congratulations to our winner, Gord Choate, from Calgary, Alberta.

The varied choice of entertainment included a Chinese school dragon dance, local Edmonton Ukrainian Dancers, as well as the viewing of the French film Raconte-moi ta langue.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the tremendous support we received during our first Languages Without Borders conference; over 23 sponsors, 75 exhibitors, ten advertisers, 75 workshop presenters, five keynotes, 10 entertainment events, and the participation of our 610 delegates.

We look forward to seeing you at our next Languages Without Borders conference in Montreal, April 7-9, 2011.

Look for updated information on our next conference in the coming months.