By Brittany Ray
The Department of Linguistics and English Language will host a colloquium this Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, on pressing issues in language teaching in the Joseph Knight Humanities Building.
There has never been a workshop of this nature on campus, but it is hoped that this will be the first in a new series said Robert Blair, opening speaker Friday morning.
The concept of this colloquium was inspired by the recent efforts of the Language Training Assessment Certification board to train the many Chinese Olympic volunteers to speak English by the 2004 games.
'The best minds and products in the world will be represented at the colloquium,' said Blair, who has been living in China and helping with the English training efforts in conjunction with LTAC. 'They are an extraordinary group of people with exceptional language training that is widely recognized.'
Retired after 40 years as an instructor in the Linguistics Department, Blair will be the opening speaker Friday morning in 2105 JKHB. He will be clearing up misconceptions about 'The World''s Hardest Language,' Finnish. 'It''s a very foreign language, but not the hardest to learn,' Blair said.
One of the exceptional products that will be presented is an interactive computer program called 'Linguatronics.' Developed by a BYU graduate, it is being used by the government for distance language training.
While there are no immediate plans for further workshops of this caliber, Blair hopes that this will begin a new series of exceptional enlightening workshops.