ARLE Conferences
ARLE organizes biannual worldwide international conferences about the learning and teaching of L1 (in some regions referred to as Language arts). See an overview of current and earlier conferences.
15th ARLE Conference: Barcelona, Spain, 2026
| Conference site | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain |
| Conference website | ARLE Conference 2026 website |
| Team | Chair: ARLE Conference Chair Associate Professor Xavier Fontich and IFTE President Professor Andy Goodwyn |
| Dates | PhD Pre-conference: June 24, 2026
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| Open for proposals | YES. The Call for Symposia and Papers as well as instructions for proposal submission may be found on the conference website. |
| Deadline submissions | First Submission Deadline: October 31, 2025. Response on December 1, 2025. Second Submission Deadline: March 1, 2026. Response on March 15, 2026). |
| Members' General Meeting | June 25, 2026, 1:00-2:00 PM (GMT+1) |
| Registration Fees | Conference 2026 Fees |
14th ARLE Conference: Melbourne, Australia, 2024
| Conference site | University of Melbourne, Australia, the Melbourne Graduate School of Education |
| Conference website | ARLE Conference 2024 website |
| Team | Chair: Professor Larissa McLean Davies |
| Dates | PhD Pre-conference: June 18, 2024 Main conference: June 19-21, 2024 Schools and teachers day: June 22, 2024 |
| Open for proposals | YES. See third and final Call for Symposia and Papers. Please submit proposals on the ARLE Conference Platform. |
| Deadline submissions | 1 December 2023 at 23:59 Melbourne (GMT+12). [Notifications by 31 December 2023] |
| Members' General Meeting | TBA |
| Registration Fees | Conference 2024 Fees |
13th ARLE Conference: Cyprus, 2022
| Conference site | University of Cyprus, Nicosia |
| Conference website | ARLE Conference 2022 |
| Team | Chair: Stavroula Kontovourki |
| Dates | Main conference: June 15-17, 2022 PhD Pre-conference: June 14, 2022 |
| Open for proposals | June 15, 2021 (Submittal on conference platform) |
| Deadline submissions | November 1, 2021 |
| Members' General Meeting | June 15, 3:00-4:00 PM, See invitation |
| Registration Fees | Conference 2022 Fees |
12th ARLE Conference
The 12th ARLE Conference was held in Lisbon (Portugal) in June, 2019
| Conference venue | FCSH Universidade NOVA de Lisboa |
| Conference website | ARLE 2019 |
| Team | Chair: Maria Antónia Coutinho |
| Dates | Main conference: 26-28 June 2019, PhD Pre-conference: 25 June (afternoon), Research School: 24-25 June 2018 |
| Open for proposals | September 2018 |
| Deadline submissions | December 15th 2018 |
| Members' General Meeting | June 28, 2019, more information here |
L1! - The ARLE keynote
Ever since the founding of the IAIMTE by Dutch scholar Gert Rijlaarsdam and Australian scholar Ken Watson in 1996 our bi-annual conferences offered a platform for encounters with research in L1-education from all over the world. A major aim since then has been to bring together researchers from various linguistic and national communities. L1 research no longer takes place in splendid isolation. Instead, the field is thoroughly enriched via international exchange. At the same time, it faces the challenges of education in a globalised world:
L1! – The ARLE keynote puts languages, literatures and literacies first, thus recognizing their central role in education.
To relate research in L1 and the development of teaching in a beneficial way is a central notion: Thus, we strive at supporting dialogue between research and practice.
The L1!-ARLE Keynote focuses upon a central theme of L1 in this spirit:
Meeting current and changing challenges of L1-education via thorough research and engaging in rich cooperation with teacher educaters, teachers and teaching is key to the work of Gert Rijlaarsdam, who delivered the first keynote of this series at the 12th ARLE conference in Lisbon, June 26, 2019:
(1) Gert Rijlaarsdam, L1-education research that informs practice. Three research models applied for writing research. Lisbon, NOVA FCSH, June 26, 2019. Abstract
11th ARLE conference
The 11th ARLE International Conference was held in Talliin (Estonia), June 2017, including PhD preconference and Research School.
Former conferences were in Amsterdam (1997; 1999, 2001), Lisbon (2003), Albi (2005), Exeter (2007), Toronto (2009), Hildesheim (2011), Paris (2013), Odense (2015).
| 1997 | Amsterdam | Sessions, abstracts | Photos | |
| 1999 | Amsterdam | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2001 | Amsterdam | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2003 | Lisbon | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2005 | Albi | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2007 | Exeter | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2009 | Toronto | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2011 | Hildesheim | Abstract | Photos | |
| 2013 | Paris | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2015 | Odense | Abstract book | Photos | |
| 2017 | Tallinn | Abstract Book | Photos |