Boston University Conference on Language Development

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Faculty and students of the Program in Applied Linguistics at Boston University seek five years of funding to support the Boston University Conference on Language Development, which takes place at Boston University during the first weekend each November from 2002 through 2006. Now in its 26th year, the conference is internationally recognized as the most important annual meeting for researchers in the areas of language acquisition and development, including first and second language acquisition, language disorders, bilingualism, and literacy development. The meeting comprises 90 submitted papers selected through peer review, as well as invited keynote and plenary speakers and a publisher exhibit. Attendees include some 400-500 researchers in language development from around the world, involving undergraduate students up through senior researchers. With this application, we seek funding to add to current offerings as follows: one lunch symposium featuring three invited speakers on a topic of current interest (to be identified each year depending on developments in the field), a student travel fellowship program, improvement of audio-visual support to accommodate technology developments in the field, and structural support for the graduate students and faculty advisor involved in the organization of the conference.