A yearly tradition: research, practice and policy on low-educated second language and literacy learners

Abstract

"In 2005, August 25-27, a small international group of researchers and practitioners from different disciplines met at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Their common point of interest was the language learner with a low level of education and literacy: LESLLA (Low-Educated Second Language and Literacy Acquisition). At that moment, a new acronym and a new network were born. The symposium in Tilburg was followed by one in Richmond, Virginia, in 2006, and in Newcastle, in 2007. In 2008, the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool (Charlemagne University College) in Antwerp hosted the fourth LESLLA conference, which was sponsored by the Nederlandse Taalunie (Dutch Language Union), an advisory board with regard to the Dutch language for the governments of Dutch speaking countries. The organising committee was formed by a team from the Karel de Grote-Hogeschool in Belgium, and the Universities of Tilburg and Nijmegen in the Netherlands, reflecting the excellent collaboration between the two Dutch speaking countries"