The AFMLTA hosts a biennial international conference for teachers of languages.
This event regularly sees international, national and local speakers present on topics relevant to teachers of languages at all levels.

Click here to open Conference Program
with links to shared presentations 

Click here to open Full Conference Program
including session abstracts and presenter details

Draft Conference Program Overview

Keith Horwood Memorial Lecture

The AFMLTA International Languages Conference includes the Keith Horwood Memorial Lecture as a key element to its program. The Keith Horwood Memorial Lecturer is an invited speaker who is an eminent person currently engaged in the field of languages education in Australia and is an Australian resident.
Keith Horwood was the foundational Organising Secretary of the AFMLTA Inc. With the support of the Horwood family, the National Assembly unanimously endorsed the introduction of the Keith Horwood Memorial Lecture as a fitting perpetual tribute to the memory of one of its earliest supporters. The lecture was inaugurated at the 2001 National Conference, held in Canberra.

Professor Kathleen Heugh (University of South Australia) will be the speaker for the 2023 Keith Horwood Memorial Lecture.

For further information on the Keith Horwood Memorial Lecture, including previous invited Lecturers and about Keith Horwood, click here.

Invited speakers

Joanna McPake is reader in languages education at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. She has been a language learner, teacher, teacher educator and researcher for over 30 years, with a long-standing interest in what it means to be bilingual: i.e. to use more than one language in everyday life. Recognition that we are all actually or potentially bilingual – no longer considered to be a rare phenomenon achieved only by those who speak two languages ‘perfectly’– has  implications for all language learners, such as primary pupils learning French; people recently arrived in Scotland needing to add English to their repertoires; students in Gaelic-medium schools using Gaelic and English for academic purposes; or those living in families where two or more languages are in use. All of these examples raise complex questions for teachers about the best ways to support learners in developing language skills to fit their needs and aspirations in an increasingly multilingual world. Joanna’s current research considers the potential of ‘local’ language learning projects for encouraging primary pupils to see themselves as already becoming bilingual, by learning and using languages spoken in their local communities.

Catherine Travis is Professor of Modern European Languages in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at the ANU. She completed her undergraduate degree in Linguistics and Japanese at the ANU (1993), and her PhD in Linguistics and Spanish at La Trobe University (2002). She worked for 10 years at the University of New Mexico, USA, in Linguistics and Spanish, before returning to the ANU in 2012. Catherine’s research lies in the area of variationist sociolinguist, addressing questions related to linguistic and social factors impacting on language variation and change, in particular in socially diverse communities. Most recently, she has been undertaking a longitudinal project examining Australian English as spoken by ethnically diverse communities across Sydney (Sydney Speaks). She has also worked extensively on Spanish, and has published on Japanese, Portuguese, and Acehnese. She is a NAATI qualified interpreter (Spanish to English), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Louka Parry is confirmed as the speaker for the conference dinner.

Get to know Louka through his Ted Talk Words can change the world: how language learning deepens connection.

Hosted by Gold Partner:

Silver Partner:

Bronze Partner:

Exhibitors: