2012 Submission Guidelines

Submission deadline: Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Many Languages: One United Voice

Please read this document thoroughly before proceeding to complete online submission.

GENERAL INFORMATION

All language educators are encouraged to submit proposals. All proposals for workshops, sessions, posters or papers must be submitted online at www.actfl.org by midnight PST on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 in the correct format. Confirmation of receipt will be emailed within 24 hours of submission. Presenters will be notified by email of the program committee’s decision by the end of April 2012.

Please understand that this is a very competitive process and the Program Committee will select the highest rated proposals for presentation. In 2011 the acceptance rate was 47%. It is important that you read these instructions carefully before submitting your proposal.

Proposals must be submitted in English and in a publishable format. Since you are entering your submission into a database format, avoid using symbols, marks or letters because they will not translate into the final printed session description. All proposals must be written in third person format avoiding the use of “I” and “we.” All accepted proposals will be printed in the Convention Program Guide as submitted during the Call for Proposals; however, ACTFL reserves the right to edit when necessary.

No more than two (2) proposals may be submitted. (Exception: CLTA only allows one submission per person.) A primary presenter may submit up to two (2) proposals. Submitting more than that will eliminate the proposals from consideration. Submissions with similar titles and content will also be eliminated from consideration. Proposals must convey an educational focus to attendees and the scope of your presentation must fit within the allotted time period. All proposals are the property of ACTFL or its co-sponsors.

Sessions submitted through this Call for Proposals that are thought to be sales pitches for a specific product will not be considered for review. If during the convention a session presenter is identified as marketing a particular product outside the exhibit hall, that person will no longer be allowed to present. Classroom space is available on the exhibit hall floor for product demonstrations/workshops by exhibitors for a fee.

Membership. Each presenter who is a language professional must be a current member of ACTFL or one of the co-sponsoring organizations at the time of submission and throughout the convention.

Proposal Types. ACTFL proposals are accepted in these formats: 3-hour workshops, 60-minute sessions, 60-minute electronic poster sessions, and 25-minute research roundtable sessions. Some of the Co-sponsors accept 20-minute research paper presentations. Please read carefully the description of each submission type before entering your proposal.

Workshops (3 hours) ONLY for ACTFL Submissions

Workshops will be held on Thursday and on Sunday morning of the convention for 3-hours. Workshops are designed to be interactive and delve into a topic more deeply than a 60-minute session allows. Workshop proposals should describe specific planned activities and a detailed time schedule for each segment of the workshop. Only a very limited number of the top-rated workshop proposals are accepted since most are ACTFL-sponsored workshops.

Sessions (60 minutes)

Sessions are limited to four presenters and should address a topic of interest to attendees. Sessions are 60 minutes in length. Presenters should avoid reading papers and/or study results, but instead, share valuable information and skills in an engaging format.

Electronic Posters (60 minutes) ONLY for ACTFL Submissions

Electronic posters are 60 minutes in length. Your presentation must be displayed on your laptop computer while standing at a high round table around which attendees can stand for viewing and interaction. There will be multiple electronic posters being presented at the same time in the room. Please make sure that your laptop is operating on battery power. Unfortunately ACTFL cannot provide laptops/computers or Internet access. No additional audiovisual equipment is provided or allowed for poster presentations.

Papers (20 minutes) ONLY applicable for Co-sponsors AATI, CLTA, and NCJLT

Paper presentations should address a research topic of interest to attendees. If a paper has multiple authors, it must be presented by the primary author only. Papers are no more than 20 minutes in length. Papers of a common theme will be grouped into panel presentations. Presenters should avoid reading papers and/or study results, and instead present the valuable information in an engaging format.

Research Roundtable (25 minutes) ONLY for ACTFL

Roundtables are two 25-minute oral presentations and discussion with a group of 10 people seated around a common table. Roundtable presentations typically are 15 minutes of presentation followed by 10 minutes of discussion and feedback. After the first 25 minutes of presentation, attendees will be asked to select another table and topic. Roundtables are an ideal format for networking and in-depth discussion on a particular topic. Presenters are encouraged to present their latest research or project. Please bring at least 20 copies of syllabi, assignments, and other curricular tools for discussion. Multiple roundtables will be conducted in the same room. If you plan to use your laptop during your presentation, please make sure it is operating on battery power. Unfortunately ACTFL cannot provide laptops/computers or Internet access. No additional audiovisual equipment is provided or allowed for roundtable presentations.

ONLINE SUBMISSION

It is important that you include all information requested when entering your submission in the online form. Each section is followed by the appropriate rubric used to rate your proposal.

TITLE: The title of the proposal cannot be more than 10 words in length. The topic should be relevant to current concerns of the profession and have appeal to either a general or a specific audience. Be sure that your title matches the content of the intended presentation. A rambling or too “cute” title doesn’t send a positive and professional message.

DESCRIPTION: The description must be a maximum of 50 words. The online system will not allow you to continue your submission if the description exceeds 50 words. It must be in final, publishable format and free from errors. Your description must have audience appeal, and it must clearly align with the content of your proposal.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING STRANDS: The goal of the annual convention is to provide a comprehensive professional development experience for language educators of all languages and levels. To this end, the array of workshops and sessions must address both current and cutting edge innovations in language teaching and learning. A focus of ACTFL 2012 will be on how language educators can prepare students for living, working, and learning in a global environment. As technology applications become more prevalent in learning environments, it is anticipated that technology innovations would be integrated into any of the strands listed below.

Those submitting workshops and sessions are asked to consider into which professional learning strand your proposal will fit best. Only one strand can be selected.

THE LEARNER

Twenty-first century skills include creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration. This strand focuses on strategies for helping our language learners to acquire these skills as an integral part of their language learning experiences. Included are ways to differentiate instruction so that the individual needs of language learners might be addressed.

THE PROFESSION

Building the language capacity of the U.S. is an ongoing challenge that requires effective policies, local and national advocacy efforts, and matching U.S. student performance against international benchmarks. Developing effective teachers and effective teacher leaders and mentors is also a critical component of our profession. Various program models and curriculum designs are featured in this category from elementary program dual language, immersion, and FLES, to higher education programs that focus on advanced language proficiency.

ASSESSMENT

In this age of accountability, program effectiveness is assessed by examining student outcomes and making data-driven decisions about program changes.

RESEARCH

Effective research studies are needed to inform practice and program development as well as action research derived from classroom teacher action research.

CULTURE

From study abroad to having students understand the relationship among the perspectives, practices, and products of the target culture(s), culture is an inextricable component of language teaching. Literature and the Arts play a key role in quality language programs that lead to increased cultural knowledge and understanding.

TECHNOLOGY

Integrating technology innovations into instruction is vital to a 21^st century learning environment. While technology is embedded in all 21^st century classroom activities, this strand focuses on specific cutting edge technologies that promote language development and cultural understanding including social networking and global communities.

AUDIENCE: You must indicate the intended audience to which your presentation is most appropriate. The choices are Pre-K – 8, Grades 6-12, Pre-K – 12, Higher Education, Administration, or All. Only one category can be selected. Your proposal description should provide enough information for an attendee to determine relevancy.

CONTENT: Strong content must show depth, originality and/or insight into your topic in a maximum of 150 words. The content of your proposed presentation must be very clear, specific and detailed. It must align with the keyword you selected and describe specific knowledge and skills and/or improvement in teaching/learning that can occur. The content must be appropriate for the allotted time. This section is to be completed only for sessions, research roundtables, papers and posters.

METHODS: The methods section must indicate how information will be shared with the audience in a maximum of 150 words. Your presentational modes must be specifically identified and appear highly engaging. High participant involvement is expected. This section is to be completed only for sessions, papers and posters.

OUTCOMES: While the description and content section of the proposal asked you to describe the content of your presentation, the outcomes section asks you to list measurable objectives in a maximum of 50 words. Please provide up to three statements in which you describe what participants will learn and/or be able to do as a result of attending your presentation. These objectives should be the foundation upon which you build your presentation.

OUTLINE: This section is to be completed only for workshop submissions. You must include an outline of your proposed workshop agenda. This should include time frames for each topic addressed or activity performed during the workshop period.

PRESENTER(S): Once you have completed your submission title, description, keyword, audience, content, methods and outline, if applicable, you are ready to enter your presenter(s). If you are a presenter as well as the person submitting the proposal, you must still list yourself as a presenter. As the submitter your name will be included as the “session organizer”, but you must also add your name as a presenter. This is very important otherwise your name will not show as being a presenter on the submission and your proposal may not be considered. Be sure that your presenter information is current – email address, affiliation (school/company), address, etc – in the database.

LANGUAGES: Your next step will be to indicate the language of your presentation and to what language your session is most applicable. ACTFL is interested in “language-specific” sessions as well as those applicable to all languages. Please indicate whether your session is primarily specific to a certain language or appropriate to general audiences.

COMPLIANCE TO GUIDELINES: Before you submit your proposal, be sure to check the following items as they will be considered in the final rating.

NOTIFICATION OF SUBMISSION

After submitting a proposal, all presenters listed on the submission will be emailed a confirmation.  You should check this information carefully for accuracy.  Until the submission deadline, Wednesday, January 11, 2012, you may log back into your submission and make edits or changes to the proposal.  At midnight PST on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 all submissions will be placed “in review” mode and presenters will not be able to access or edit submissions.  The reviewers will make their acceptance decision based on what is in the system on the closing date.

REVIEW PROCESS

The ACTFL Program Committee and Co-sponsoring organizations are responsible for reviewing proposals submitted to their respective groups. The review process is done as a “blind review”. Neither the presenter’s name nor affiliation is seen during the review process. Reviewers rate each proposal and the computer produces an average of the combined scores from all reviewers. Finally, the number of proposals that can be accepted for presentation are based on the meeting space allocation. The committees’ decisions are final.

PRESENTER RESPONSIBILITIES

Presenters whose proposals are selected for presentation MUST be available to present any day during the Convention. ACTFL reserves the right to schedule all presentations in any slot during the published convention dates and times and cannot take individual requests for preferred presentation assignments. If a presenter cannot accept the assigned time, then the presentation must be cancelled.

All presenters, including session chairs/facilitators, must register for the convention and be a member of ACTFL or one of our co-sponsoring organizations.

Each session room will be set with an LCD projector with sound, cart, screen, podium and microphone (if needed). A presenter must bring his/her own laptop computer to connect to the LCD projector. Any additional audio­visual equipment is the responsibility of the presenter and must be ordered and paid for by the presenter. ACTFL will provide order forms and the name of the convention audiovisual supplier.

Presenters are responsible for keeping all information sent from ACTFL and complying with the instructions and deadlines provided.

Presenters are responsible for logging into the Call for Proposals online system to check their “Message Center” for emails sent from ACTFL if you have not received any email messages.

Presenters are expected to check their “junk mail” file and to have their “spam blocker” settings to allow emails from DO_NOT_REPLY@allacademic.com.

Each presenter is responsible for providing handouts for their session’s attendees. You MUST have enough copies of handouts for the number of seats for which your room is set. You may provide attendees print copies onsite during your session and upload them into the ACTFL Online Program for access following the convention.

All presenters are responsible for expenses incurred as a result of presenting. This includes all travel expenses and registration fees. ACTFL offers a special reduced Early Bird presenter registration rate.

Presenters are responsible for registering on or before the published Early Bird Registration date to receive the discounted registration rate. Notification of the Early Bird registration date will be sent in an email at the time the acceptance email is sent in April 2012.