Using conference submission data to uncover broad trends in language teaching: A case study of one conference over 30 years

Submissions to conferences can provide rich material for analysing characteristics and trends within a conference’s history and that of similar conferences, as well as the associated field at large. The present study uses data gathered over 30 years from a language teachers’ conference in Japan (JALT National) to expound upon patterns related to (1) strands and themes, (2) methodological and topical trends over time, (3) influential researchers, and (4) how JALT compares to other major language teaching conferences. The findings emerged from frequency counts, keyword searches and a detailed analysis of JALT’s digital archive, which focused on presenters’ abstract titles and abstracts consisting of a one-million-plus-word corpus. Beyond the content analysis of the conference under study, the use of the review study as a method for a broader understanding of how conferences both reflect and impact the field is discussed. Copyright © 2013 The Author(s).