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A Call for Papers

Rationale

As the world grapples with widening educational inequalities, linguistic exclusion, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, the 13th International Conference on Language and Literacy Education invites global dialogue on how multilingualism and literacies of meaning can redefine education for inclusion and justice.

This year's theme - "Multilingual Futures and Literacies of Meaning: Reframing Education for Inclusion and Justice"- positions multilingual education as a global imperative, transcending linguistic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. It calls for renewed attention to how languages shape cognition, literacy, and belonging, and how morphological awareness, indigenous literacies, and translanguaging pedagogies can cultivate deeper reading for meaning in diverse contexts. Building on the momentum of the previous conferences, the 2026 gathering expands its lens beyond national systems to include comparative, cross-continental, and interdisciplinary perspectives that link the Global South and Global North in shared pursuit of literacy justice.

Conference Fee

R4,500 (includes conference materials, lunches, and receptions). Limited bursaries available for postgraduate and early-career researchers.

Publication

Selected papers will appear in a peer-reviewed edited volume titled: "Multilingual Futures and Literacies of Meaning: Reframing Education for Inclusion and Justice."

Sub-Themes

Morphological Awareness and Literacies of meaning
  • Morphemic awareness and meaning-making in diverse linguistic systems.
  • Reframing reading and writing through the logic of African and other agglutinative languages.
Indigenous and Community Literacies
  • Literacies of tradition, performance, and oral knowledge.
  • Indigenous epistemologies and intergenerational meaning-making.
Multilingual Pedagogies and Translanguaging Innovations
  • Translanguaging across the curriculum and disciplines.
  • Pedagogical models for multilingual higher education and teacher development.
Digital and AI Affordances for Literacy and Multilingual
Education
  • Policies and implementation strategies.
  • Lessons from the field and global perspective
Policy, Justice, and Educational Transformation
  • Multilingual education as a pathway to equity and epistemic justice.
  • Reimagining language and literacy policy across national and transnational spaces.
Global South Perspectives and Comparative Insights
  • Shared innovations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
  • Ubuntu Translanguaging and pluriversal grammars of learning.
Presentation Formats

Research Papers, Workshops and Demonstrations, Panel Discussions, Poster Presentations

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