The annual Autumn Symposium of the Finnish Association of Applied Linguistic

The annual Autumn Symposium of the Finnish Association of Applied Linguistics (AFinLA) was held at the University of Applied Sciences, in Tampere, Finland on November 12-13. Welcome speeches were given by Conference Chair Mirja Kinnunen, Co-Chair Mike Garant, and the Head of International Cooperation and Languages Tarja Haukijärvi. Anna Mauranen from the University of Helsinki delivered an excellent plenary on "Speaking a lingua Franca - Redefining relations of language and culture".




Keith Richards from the University of Warwick, England who spoke about "Getting personal in academic argument"



Balázs Heidrich from the Budapest Business School, Hungary who spoke about "Kiss the Prince and Find the Frog - Dreams and reality about effectiveness of multicultural student groups".

In addition, the conference had over 150 participants from 15 different countries and there were over 60 papers and workshops given. The focus areas of the conference included professional communication, education, and (culture and how they all come together. The schedule included lunch and coffee breaks, intellectual discussions and much shared knowledge. Over 50 students participated actively in organizing the conference.

We hope everyone enjoyed the symposium!