AELFE-TAPP 2021 International Conference

Welcome

This joint AELFE-TAPP Conference brings together the 19th annual conference of AELFE (Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos/European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes) and the 2nd Conference of the Trans-Atlantic and Pacific Project (TAPP), a growing virtual exchange network that has developed transnational collaborative projects on specialised communication, translation and user experience. The combination of both conferences will allow participants to link the fields of languages for specific purposes (LSP) and telecollaboration/virtual exchange.

The annual AELFE Conference is a meeting point for scholars interested in academic and professional communication from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The first TAPP conference was held in Fargo (ND, USA) in 2016, under the theme “Converging fields”. This second edition, “Expanding networks”, will explore virtual exchange from the perspective of its consolidation and will provide a forum for researchers and practitioners from different networks to share their experience and insights.

In a networked era, we are faced with the challenges of faster and more complex communication involving a variety of languages, participants and modes.  Academic and professional communication also poses challenges related to disciplinary literacies and interdisciplinary collaboration. As higher education is undergoing a process of increased internationalization, especially through English-medium instruction (EMI) and internationalization at home and abroad, we ask: What is the role of LSP teaching and research? How can academics expand their international and multidisciplinary networks? How can educators best prepare future graduates for complex multilingual and multicultural work and study environments?

With an emphasis on the demands of international academic and professional language use as well as on the opportunities afforded by technology for collaboration and intercultural communication, the AELFE-TAPP 2021 Conference will provide scholars with the opportunity to discuss advances in academic and professional communication as well as in virtual exchange.

Together with an inspiring academic programme, participants will also enjoy a social programme in a privileged location, Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), which will offer participants plenty of opportunities to strengthen their academic and social networks.