LINGUIST List 11.2344

Sun Oct 29 2000

Calls: Applied Linguistics, Asymmetry

Editor for this issue: Jody Huellmantel <jodylinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Sharon Utakis, New York State Applied Linguistics Winter Conference
2. Anna-Maria Di Sciullo, Asymmetry Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

	The 23rd Annual Applied Linguistics Winter Conference

			sponsored by

		NYS-TESOL APPLIED LINGUISTICS SIG
				&
RISLUS (CUNY Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society)

		Saturday, February 3, 2001
				at
		The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY

Theme: The Role of the Teacher

To submit proposals for 40 minute presentations (30 min. talks and 10
min. for questions) on research or pedagogical practices related to the
conference theme or other areas of applied linguistics, send

	-three copies of one page summary without identifying information 
	-one copy with name, address, affiliation, and e-mail
	-one fifty-word summary for the program book

to
	Maria Treglia
	Dept. of Developmental Skills
	Borough of Manhattan Community College
	New York, NY 10007

Proposals due by November 15, 2000
For questions write to Maria Treglia at mot200is9.nyu.edu

 			 	 Asymmetry Conference
				 
 				 UQAM, May 7-10, 2001

				 Invited / Collaborators

 Manuela Ambar, Robert Beard, Bob Berwick, Geert Booij, Greg Carlson,
 Elan Dresher, Abdelkader Fassi Fehri, Sandiway Fong, Jaquelyne
Gu�ron , Harry van der Hulst, Richard Kayne, Ken Hale and Jay
Keyser, Jim Higginbotham, Alec Marantz, Carole Paradis, Hana
Philip,James Pustejovsky, Angela Ralli, Marisa Rivero, Tom Roeper,
Sergio Scalise, Edward Stabler, Carol Tenny 
 and Peggy Speas, Charles Yang, Eric Wherli, Edwin Williams 

						 			 	 
SPONSORS

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al


ORGANISERS

 The Asymmetry Project Group
	http://www.asymmetryproject.uqam.ca

DESCRIPTION

Interest in asymmetry is increasing in theoretical linguistics.
Restrictions observed in a great variety of languages on the composition
and displacement of linguistic elements, their dependency and their linear
order, indicate that Universal Grammar includes asymmetrical relations the
investigation of which is crucial to the formulation of a fine grained
explanatory theory of human mind/brain. Understanding of natural language
asymmetries contributes to our understanding of what is common to all
languages, but not immediately accessible to human perception, the abstract
relations inherent to Universal Grammar/Language Faculty. With asymmetry as
part of the presumed Universal Grammar vocabulary, a number of phenomena
can be analyzed from a new perspective: eg predication, telicity, scope of
definite DP, indefinite DPs and wh-expressions as well as relative clauses.
Notwithstanding the progress achieved, questions still arise with respect
to the definition of grammar-specific asymmetry; its role in the
identification of the primitives, the structural relations, the operations
and the conditions of the grammar; its specific contribution in the
derivation of the different objects generated by the grammar, its
visibility at the interfaces, LF and PF; its effect in linguistic variation
and linguistic change; its use by the performance systems.

Interest in asymmetry is also increasing in computational linguistics. The
computational linguistic aspect of this conference aims to contribute to
our understanding of the performance systems, the conceptual-intentional
system and the acoustic-perceptual system. They can be seen as universal
systems allowing for an optimal interpretation of interface
representations. We might think that, interacting with Universal Grammar,
Universal Parser incrementally recovers natural language asymmetries. In
this view questions arise with respect to the relative autonomy of the
grammar and the parser, on the interaction of the performance systems and
the form of interface representations, forcing given operations to apply
for tractability considerations. If there is such an interaction, it is
likely that the operations and the conditions imposed by the performance
systems target asymmetrical relations. The importance of asymmetry in
computational linguistics is already established, given the central role
played by asymmetrical c-command in principle-based parsing (generate and
filter type). It might be the case that a computational model based on the
generation and recovery of more basic elementary asymmetrical relations
(check and generate type) will constitute another step ahead in the field.
The goal of the conference is to bring together
linguists/logicians/computational scientists who have addressed these
issues to explore the formalization, the consequences, the predictions and
the applications of asymmetry in grammar and the performance systems. 


ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

Abstracts are invited for thirty-minute talks (twenty minutes for
presentation plus ten minutes for discussion). A limited number
of oral presentations will be selected. In addition, abstract can be 
sent for the poster session. 

Please submit:
- an one-page abstract, to

Asymmetry Conference Committee
D�partement de linguistique/D�partement d'informatique
Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al
Case Postale 8888, Succursale Centre Ville
Montr�al, Pc, H3C 3P8
Canada

- specify oral presentation or poster 
 
Send abstracts by FAX to: +514- 987-0377
or (preferably) by e-mail to: di_sciullo.anne-marieuqam.ca

Electronic submissions are encouraged; abstracts should be attached in
plain text format or as Word files.

- submit a camera-ready full paper no longer than 15 pages
using 11pt fonts and single line spacing throughout, with the title of the
paper, the name(s) of the author(s), affiliation(s), postal address, and
e-mail 
address for correspondence on a separate page. Accepted papers will be 
published in a collection on asymmetry.


DEADLINE

All submissions must be received by 15th December 2000.

Notification of acceptance will be emailed in mid-January.

IMPORTANT DATES

15 December 2000: deadline for abstracts
15 January 2001: notification of acceptance
7-10 May 2001: Conference
15 June 2001: camera-read full paper


 MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

 Anna Maria Di Sciullo
 Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al
 Department de linguistique
 Case Postale 8888, succursale Centre Ville
 Montr�al, Pc. Canada.
 H3C 3P8


Anna Maria Di Sciullo
Director
Asymmetry Project