Budapest


CIEE Annual ConferenceThe 2003 CIEE Annual Conference took place in Budapest, Hungary, November 5-8, 2003. This year's theme, "Speaking Up: Language Learning at Home and Abroad" focused on issues of language learning, specifically less commonly taught languages. The conference addressed such questions as:

  • How can we quantify the results of studying at home versus studying abroad?

  • How does program structure impact language learning?

  • How can we encourage speaking up in the world’s less commonly-taught languages?

Bishop László Tökés delivered the Opening Plenary Address. One of the most charismatic figures of Central Europe as a moral authority and a champion of minority and civil rights, he has been Bishop of the Kiralyhagomellek Diocese, Nagyvarad (Oradea), Transylvania, Romania since 1990. Bishop Tökés has received wide international recognition for his work in the promotion of minority and human rights and the rights for minority language maintenance. Bishop Tökés spoke about the issues of ethnic and minority identity in Central and Eastern Europe, one of the most diverse macroregions of Europe, and the significance of language learning to preserve ethnic and historical traditions and maintain cultural diversity.

Ambassador Kenton Keith delivered the Luncheon Plenary Address on Friday, November 7. Ambassador Keith assumed the duties of Senior Vice President of Meridian International Center in late 1997 after a career as a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Information Agency. At the time of his retirement, Ambassador Keith was Director of USIA’s Office of North African, Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, managing field operations, public diplomacy activities and budget for the Agency’s largest geographical bureau. From 1992 to 1995 he served as Ambassador to the State of Qatar. Previous assignments were Counselor for Press and Cultural Affairs in Cairo, Senior Cultural Affairs Officer in Paris and various posts in the Near East and Brazil. Ambassador Keith has received two Presidential meritorious service awards and various individual and group superior and meritorious honor awards, including one for his work at the 1991 Middle East peace conference in Madrid.

Keith was appointed the Department of State’s Special Envoy to Islamabad from November 2001 to January 2002 to set up and direct the Coalition Information Center in Pakistan and to serve as the spokesperson on Coalition activity in Afghanistan. This included briefing world media on developments in the military, political and humanitarian objectives of Coalition nations in the conflict against international terrorism following the attacks on the United States in September 2001. Ambassador Keith serves as chair of the Alliance for International Cultural and Educational Exchange. He is currently president of the Association of Black American Ambassadors.

Barbara F. Freed, Carnegie Mellon University, and Norman Segalowitz, Concordia University, delivered the Breakfast Plenary Address on Saturday, November 8. Freed was the founding Head of the Department of Modern Languages at Carnegie Mellon University where she has been Professor of Second Language Acquisition and French since 1990. Freed’s research interests focus on input and interaction in second language learning, particularly with respect to the importance of context of learning as a variable in the acquisition of second languages. Her current research explores various aspects of second language learning among students who spend time in a study abroad context compared to those whose learning is limited to the formal language classroom at home.

Norman Segalowitz is Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance at Concordia University in Montréal, where he has been on faculty since 1973. Segalowitz’s research focuses on understanding why people differ in their ability to acquire certain complex cognitive skills. He and his students study basic cognitive neurocognitive mechanisms involved in learning and performing complex tasks such as reading, using a second language, and playing a musical instrument. Freed and Segalowitz spoke about their current research on the importance of context of learning and cognitive skills in second language acquisition. This presentation looked at the two most significant contexts for American undergraduates – the formal language classroom at home and the study abroad setting, which integrates formal language learning and interaction in the native speech community. With reference to the CIEE Study Center in Alicante, Spain, and regular language classes at the University of Colorado at Boulder, they discussed various quantitative and qualitative aspects of second language learning among intermediate-level Spanish language students.

Two Pre-Conference Workshops and over 30 concurrent and poster sessions were presented at the conference.