7th ITRA Conference
23-25 July 2014
Braga, Portugal

The Conference Program can be found here and The Book of Abstracts is here.

Conference Theme

The overarching theme of the conference was the relationship between toys and language & communication. All play media and play instruments were included in the concept of “toys” ranging from playgrounds and playscapes to electronic devices. A broad scope of approaches were encouraged from the technological, social sciences and the humanities.

Braga 2014 Conference Themes

While the dominant theme of the 7th ITRA Conference was "Toys as Language and Communication", other topics pertaining to toys were also welcome.

All play media and play objects were included in the concept of "toys". The relevance of toys in the development of language and communication is high. Toys and playing with toys relates to many issues of establishing human relations and building social interactions and therefore they are inextricably linked to the history of human civilization. In fact, it remains an important task to analyse and understand toys as instruments fostering well-being, interaction and knowledge. Thus, the connection between toys and other elements of communication and language can be seen as an inevitable theme for toy researchers.

Language in its different features and modalities is a research subject in Communication Sciences. We therefore address verbal and non-verbal language as a means to foster and evidence human intelligence as well as human communicative and social skills.

Toys promote language development as well as communication. Toys and playing with toys are also significant on a practical level: from language development to education, health, therapy, art, craftsmanship, design and engineering.

Papers, panels and poster sessions are especially invited on any of the following congress themes:

  • Toys, signs and meanings

  • Toys as verbal and non-verbal language

  • Toys, narratives and metaphors

  • Toys as texts in spatial, historical and socio-cultural contexts

  • Toys creativity and design

  • Toys, gender and generations

  • Toys, education, health and environment

  • Toys and media: production, marketing, advertising and consumption

  • Toys, games and new technologies

Decorative wooden spinning top with painted floral design on a white background.