An update from the British Council on the New Directions 2020 conference, Singapore
The COVID-19 crisis has forced many changes to how we live, work and interact, and many organisations have had to make major decisions about activities and events planned for the remainder of 2020. We are no exception. As with many international conferences, we have made the difficult decision not to go ahead with a face-to-face conference this year. Instead, the British Council New Directions 2020 will be going digital.
Digital ND2020 will continue with the original themes and, in recognition of the significant changes and challenges that social distancing has raised, we will be including an additional sub-theme in the conference: ASSESSMENT AT A DISTANCE: INNOVATIONS AND CHALLENGES. This sub-theme specifically invites Work-in-Progress research, practical applications, and innovative solutions to assessing language proficiency in these challenging times. More details are available below.
We intend to run plenaries and parallel ‘breakout’ sessions, as well as include panel discussions and a level of interaction where possible. We hope to be able to include a bigger audience and offer a range of options for ‘live’ attendance or watching recorded events. Details, including the duration and spread of the talks and events, will be shared as soon as they have been finalised.
In keeping with our original conference dates, we intend to hold the conference in late October.
Given the change in our conference delivery mode, we are extending the Call for Papers to May 31, 2020. This is primarily to give potential presenters the opportunity to submit works-in-progress to the additional sub-theme strand and for others almost ready to submit an opportunity to consider how remote presentation might appeal to them. A link to the Call for Papers can be found here: https://www.britishcouncil.sg/new-directions/call-for-papers.
If you have already submitted a proposal, there is no need to resubmit; if you wish to do so, or submit under the new sub-theme, you are welcome to, of course.