Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology

«Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology», which will take place from 23rd to 24th February, was originally organized by faculty and graduate students of the University of Minnesota and Indiana University to provide a common forum for the community of scholars conducting research on any aspect of the acquisition of the sound systems of Spanish and Portuguese by second language learners. At this 10th anniversary edition of the conference, we continue to include a wide range of approaches to the study of second language phonology, as well as multiple contexts, from acquisition of Spanish phonology by English speakers to the acquisition of Portuguese phonology by Spanish speakers, from classroom-based learning to full immersion in the second language, and to foster the interdisciplinary collaboration essential to moving the field forward. By focusing on the breadth of approaches that scholars are taking to the study of second language phonological acquisition in Spanish and Portuguese, this conference aims to represent the state-of-the-art in second language phonological acquisition. 

In addition to the individual refereed presentations of empirical research that will make up the core of the conference program, there are three additional events that make this conference unique. The first is a roundtable discussion designed to bring together senior scholars and up-and-coming researchers to reflect on the progress in the field since the inception of this conference and to identify key areas for moving the field forward. The key second conference event is an interactive poster session for newer researchers in the field. Unlike larger conferences, this will be a more interactive event, where lunch is provided and audience members are given the opportunity to interact and provide feedback at multiple stations. Finally, we will continue an event called Ignite, which allows for short presentations of instructional techniques that connect effective pedagogical practices with current state-of-the-art knowledge of the acquisition of second language sounds. This session will be introduced by a leader in the field and these comments will contextualize the other, shorter presentations.