On September 13-14, 2003, the University of Melbourne, Australia, will host the inaugural conference of the Independent Learning Association (independentlearning.org). "This is a conference for practitioners, academics and researchers involved in English language self-access centers and independent learning centers," explained Moira Hobbs, one of the conference organizers, in an e-mail to ESL MiniConference Online, "and for those teachers with an interest in the development of learner autonomy."

The recent Call for Papers was oversubscribed, according to Hobbs, and the quality and range of papers submitted from throughout the world will ensure an exciting opportunity to share and learn from ones peers. Among those submitting papers and abstracts were educators from the United Kingdom, Iran, Hong Kong, Japan, Turkey, Germany, Singapore, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Mexico, China, Abu Dhabi, Vietnam, Bahrain, Australia and New Zealand.

The conference will offer strong leadership in practice, research and theory across the following themes: