Language World 1992 ventured north of the border, to Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, 10-13 April 1992.
Bob Powell was ALL President, and he hoped that delegates would go back to work ‘fired with renewed enthusiasm for promoting language learning’.
Talks included:
• Learner independence – testing and assessment. Can they live in peace with each other? Kari Smith, Oranim School of Education, Haifa University, Israel;
• Method and mythology, Anthony Giovanazzi, HMI Staff Inspector for Languages, Scotland;
• ‘Language is indivisible’ towards a coherent language learning policy, Chris Brumfit, Southampton University;
• Age, imagination & logic: the age factor in learning foreign languages, Dick Johnstone, Stirling University; and
• Hieroglyphics to Garfield: using comics and cartoons, Amanda Rainger, Accent Educational Publishers.
Elsewhere… in Europe, the Maastricht Treaty was signed, establishing the European Union, and in the UK, Betty Boothroyd was elected as Speaker of the House of Commons by 372 to 238 votes; Graham Norton debued at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; and vinyl records were withdrawn from shop floors due to the rise of CDs and cassettes.