Worlds in Dialogue 
Węrelde in dialoog - Mafatshe a Puisano

Participating organisations

AUETSA – The Association of University English Teachers of Southern Africa

The aim of AUETSA is to promote, at universities and other tertiary institutions in Southern Africa, ‘the free and open study of the English language and of literature written in English’. Membership is open to any person employed at a tertiary institution; the membership fee is R45 per annum. Postgraduate students may join as student members for a fee of R25. AUETSA encourages the participation of postgraduate students at its conferences. AUETSA’s representative at the conference is Professor Michael Green (GreenM@ukzn.ac.za).

SAACLALS – Southern African Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies

SAACLALS is the Southern African branch of ACLALS (one of nine regional branches around the world). The main sponsor of the association is the Commonwealth Foundation. Research activities include comparative studies of the relationships between literature in English and the indigenous languages, new kinds of English, and the use of mass media. Current Writing is the official SAACLALS journal. The current membership fee is R85, which includes a subsidised subscription to Current Writing. The SAACLALS’s representative at the confernce is Dr Gerald Gaylard (Gerald.Gaylard@wits.ac.za).

SAVAL – The South African Society for General Literary Studies

SAVAL aims to promote the study of ‘the phenomena of literary theory and comparative literature’. Its emphasis is on the basic principles and methods of literary study, and in the problems encountered in literary study. Any academic who is engaged with these questions is welcome to join SAVAL. The membership fee is R75.00 per annum.
SAVAL is affiliated with the International Comparative Literature Association. The Journal of Literary Studies/Tydskrif vir Literatuurwetenskap is the official journal of SAVAL. Both English and Afrikaans may be used at SAVAL conferences, and in articles published in JLS. SAVAL’s representative at the conference is Professor Professor Hein Viljoen (Hein.Viljoen@nwu.ac.za).

SAALT - The South African Association for Language Teaching

SAALT’s most important objective is to serve language practitioners at all levels and in all spheres with an information and networking forum concerning issues in language teaching, e.g. new trends and developments, syllabi, publications and activities related to the profession. This includes the identification of problem areas and fields of research, and determining of priorities and sharing of research findings and information in the field of language teaching and learning. The Association is not restricted to any specific language and emphasis is placed on both the theoretical and applied/practical issues of language teaching. Members receive the official publication of the Association, the Journal for Language Teaching, which has been internationally accredited since 1990. SAALT’s representative at the conference is Professor Brenda Spencer (Spencb@unisa.ac.za).

Children’s literature

Professor Betsie van der Westhuizen (Betsie.VanDerWesthuizen@nwu.ac.za).