LINGUIST List 13.473

Wed Feb 20 2002

Calls: Communication Disorders, Machine Translation

Editor for this issue: Renee Galvis <reneelinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Dr Martin J. Ball, New Journal: Call for Papers
2. Robert Frederking, AMTA-2002: Call for Tutorial and Workshop Proposals

A Call for Papers is issued for the new 'Journal of Multilingual
Communication Disorders' to launch in 2003.

Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders (to launch 2003)
Taylor & Francis Inc, London & Philadelphia

EDITOR: Dr Nicole M�ller, Department of Communicative Disorders,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P O Box 43170, Lafayette, LA
70504-3170, USA. Tel: +1 337 482 6870, Fax: +1 337 482 6195, E-mail:
nmuellerlouisiana.edu

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dr Martin J. Ball, Department of Communicative
Disorders, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P O Box 43170,
Lafayette, LA 70504-3170, USA. Tel: +1 337 482 1077, Fax: +1 337 482
6195, E-mail: mjballlouisiana.edu

Dr M�ller is Assistant Professor in Communicative Disorders at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, having previously been Lecturer
in Communication at Cardiff University, and Lecturer in Clinical
Linguistics at the University of Central England. She has published in
both book and journal form in the areas of language disorders and
Celtic linguistics. She is currently Book Reviews Editor for the
Taylor and Francis journal International Journal of Language and
Communication Disorders.

Dr Ball is Hawthorne-BoRSF Distinguished Professor in Communicative
Disorders at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, having
previously held the Professorship of Phonetics and Linguistics at the
University of Ulster. He is Founder Editor of the Taylor and Francis
journal Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, and author or editor of
nearly twenty books and many articles in the fields of language
disorders and minority languages/multilingualism. He is President of
the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association.

Aims and scope
In recent times there has been a marked increase in the emphasis on
multilingual and multicultural concerns in Speech-Language Pathology,
perhaps especially in the United States where it has been strongly
promoted by ASHA, the professional body. While anglophone areas and
those of the major European languages (such as Scandinavia, Germany,
France and Italy) have long had a strong tradition of work and
publications in the area, new work has been forthcoming on, among
others, the Cantonese and Putonghua varieties of Chinese, Thai,
Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, new and old world Spanish, and with
certain minority languages (for example, Welsh and Irish).

At the same time, the field of communication disorders has matured to
the extent that alongside the traditional journals that cover the
entire field, we have begun to see the increasing emergence of
specialist and interdisciplinary journals. For example, there are
disorder-specific journals (such as the Journal of Fluency Disorders),
and domain-specific journals (such as the Journal of Medical
Speech-Language Pathology). We feel, therefore, that now is a good
time to provide a forum for this work.

We see the area of research to be covered by this journal to be
three-fold. First, there is research into multilingualism (including
multidialectalism) and communication disorders. This would encompass
research into how communication disorders are manifested in
multilingual individuals (for example differential language
disturbances in aphasia, patterns of interference in delayed
phonology); how treatment is best undertaken for multilingual clients
(for example, choice of language to treat in, use of translators); and
provision of multilingual assessments materials (e.g. translation of
standard tests, development of assessment materials for specific
language groups, development of specifically bilingual assessment
procedures).

Secondly, we would wish to include work into communication disorders
or normal acquisition patterns in languages other than English. Such
work clearly sheds light on underlying processes in normal language
and in language breakdown, and the proposed journal will bring more of
this research to a wider audience. Indeed, the journal title was
deliberately chosen to allow an ambiguity between a coverage of topics
that is multilingual, and disorders involving multilingual
speakers. Clearly, some of this work may also involve subjects who use
two or more languages (such as research into Punjabi-English
bilinguals in Britain, or Spanish-English bilinguals in the US), and
this type of material will be especially encouraged.

Finally, we recognize that multiculturalism is an important concern in
speech-language pathology, as in many other spheres. By this we
understand aspects of cultural difference beyond specific linguistic
interests. Nevertheless, cultural identities often do involve some
kinds of linguistic markers (of dialect, or accent), and so we feel
that multicultural research in communication disorders (including
aspects of public policy) could also find a home in the journal.

Research articles will be the usual form of presentation in the
journal. However, we recognize that review articles (either extended
reviews of publications or of a field of study) are often useful
additions to the background literature in a field, and these will also
be encouraged. We are aware also of the need in professional fields of
work that is specifically directed to the practicing professional,
therefore we will include occasional clinical fora and tutorial
reviews. We are not intending to have a regular book reviews section,
as currently the appearance of book-based material in this field of
study is not regular enough to warrant it.

Brief description
The Journal of Multilingual Speech-Language Pathology aims to fill a
gap in the communication disorders periodical literature, and provide
a forum for debate in the increasingly important area of
multilingualism and multiculturalism and their impact on
speech-language pathology. The journal will publish work on
multilingual and multicultural clients with the full range of
communication disorders, including research, for example, on
differential language retention in aphasia, provision of assessment
materials for bilinguals, establishment of language norms in
multicultural populations and clinical management of multilingual
clientele. The journal will also promote research on speech-language
disorders and normal acquisition in lesser-researched languages. There
will be special emphasis on languages that have not been the focus of
study in communication disorders, including minority languages. The
journal is edited by two specialists in clinical linguistics and
multilingualism who have assembled an impressive editorial board of
international experts. The launch of this journal is timely, given the
importance assigned to this area by many of the professional bodies in
the field of speech-language pathology.

 --- CALL FOR TUTORIAL AND WORKSHOP PROPOSALS ---

 The Association for Machine Translation in the Americas
 AMTA-2002 Conference

 Tiburon, California
 (near San Francisco)
 October 8-12, 2002


Conference theme: FROM RESEARCH TO REAL USERS

Ever since the showdown between Empiricists and Rationalists a decade
ago at TMI-92, MT researchers have hotly pursued promising paradigms
for MT, including data-driven approaches and hybrids that integrate
these with more traditional rule-based components. During the same
period, commercial MT systems with standard transfer architectures
have evolved along a parallel and almost unrelated track, increasing
their coverage and achieving much broader acceptance and usage. This
raises a number of interesting questions (see the main conference Call
For Participation), primarily concerned with why this disconnect
exists, and whether it is going to change.


TUTORIAL AND WORKSHOP PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

Proposals for tutorials and workshops are now being solicited on these
and other topics of direct interest and impact for MT researchers,
developers, vendors or users of MT technologies. We welcome and
encourage participation by members of AMTA's sister organizations,
AAMT in Asia and EAMT in Europe, as well.

Workshops will be held on Tuesday October 8th. Approximately 7 hours
may be allocated per workshop. Tutorials will be held on Wednesday
October 9th. Tutorials would typically last 3 hours, although other
arrangements might be possible.

Proposals should state the topic(s) to be addressed, the rationale for
addressing it and the structure of the activities. Proposals should
be in English and not longer than 4 pages.

Please submit proposals as soon as possible to Bob Frederking at
<refcs.cmu.edu>. Proposals must be submitted on or before Friday,
April 12, 2002.

For general conference information and further details as they become
available, visit:
	http://www.amtaweb.org/AMTA2002/


CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS

Elliott Macklovitch, General Chair

Stephen D. Richardson, Program Chair

Violetta Cavalli-Sforza, Local Arrangements Chair

Bob Frederking, Workshops and Tutorials

Laurie Gerber, Exhibits Coordinator


- 
Robert E. Frederking			Email: refcs.cmu.edu
Language Technologies Institute		Telephone: +1-412-268-6656
Carnegie Mellon University		FAX: +1-412-268-6298
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA		http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ref/