At every level of activity DEIL maintains lines of communication to its many constituencies. In, helps nearly 800 alumni stay in touch with DEIL and with each other. Each spring, DEIL sponsors an International Conference on Pragmatics and Language Learning . In addition, each year there is a parasession built around a topic related in some way to the central theme of the conference itself. Sample topics have included Gender and Languages, World Englishes, Pragmatics Research, Teaching the Less Commonly Taught Languages, etc.
Participation includes faculty and graduate students from academic institutions worldwide.
The colloquium was designed to provide such graduate students with an opportunity to practice presenting papers in a professional forum with a sympathetic audience and to encourage the development of critical research skills. Copyright 1998 Division of English as an International Language.