LINGUIST List 18.2723

Wed Sep 19 2007

Calls: Historical Ling/Estonia; General Ling/Denmark

Editor for this issue: Ania Kubisz <anialinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Martin Ehala, PhD Course: Current Trends in Historical Linguistics
         2.    Peter Kastberg, Encompassing Knowledge
Message 1: PhD Course: Current Trends in Historical Linguistics
Date: 17-Sep-2007
From: Martin Ehala <ehalamgmail.com>
Subject: PhD Course: Current Trends in Historical Linguistics
E-mail this message to a friend

Full Title: PhD Course: Current Trends in Historical Linguistics

Date: 18-Oct-2007 - 20-Oct-2007 Location: Tallinn, Estonia Contact Person: Martin Ehala Meeting Email: ehalamtlu.ee). Students from Scandinavian countries may be eligible for travel and accommodation grants under the Nordling Graduate Schools schema.
Message 2: Encompassing Knowledge
Date: 17-Sep-2007
From: Peter Kastberg <pkasb.dk>
Subject: Encompassing Knowledge
E-mail this message to a friend


Full Title: Encompassing Knowledge

Date: 15-May-2008 - 17-May-2008 Location: Aarhus, Denmark Contact Person: Peter Kastberg Meeting Email: 360asb.dk Web Site: http://www.asb.dk/about/departments/isek/forskning/konferencer/encompassingknowledge.aspx

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Call Deadline: 01-Feb-2008

Meeting Description

Track 1: Communication of Specialised Knowledge E.g. papers focusing on the communicative situation, its individual elements and phases, the relation between communicative aims and means, knowledge sharing in organisations

Track 2: Representing Knowledge in Texts E.g. papers focusing on the text and its structure, the relations between the text and the level of knowledge required by the recipient

Track 3: Knowledge Construction and Learning E.g. papers focusing on what and how information is stored as knowledge in communication situations and which factors influence this process

The conference will deal with knowledge from three perspectives:

Track 1: Communication of Specialised Knowledge

The generation of specialised knowledge is a necessary precondition for a knowledge society. However, it is not sufficient in itself, as the added value of the knowledge society lies not in the specialised knowledge, but rather in the communication of it to a wider audience. It is thus a necessary precondition for a knowledge society that specialised knowledge is communicated in such a way that it may be exploited by others.

This communication of specialised knowledge within and between discourse communities, in symmetric as well as asymmetric interaction, will constitute the first approach to knowledge at the conference. We invite colleagues to submit papers focusing on strategic communication, that is, the communicative situation, its individual elements and phases as well as the relation between communicative aims and means.

Examples of this would be analyses of the production or reception processes and strategies that are brought into play in different genres and media, with different communicative aims and functions. Or it may be papers throwing light on the sharing of knowledge in organisations.

Track 2: Representing Knowledge in Texts

Knowledge may be defined as information that has been stored in mental structures and is linked to specific situations in which it is used. In spite of this limitation, it is still possible to represent knowledge outside mental structures, for instance, in texts that are used to communicate knowledge from one mental structure to another.

This representation of knowledge in texts will constitute the second approach to knowledge at the conference. We invite colleagues to submit papers that focus on the text and its structure as well as study the relations between the text and the level of knowledge required by the recipient.

Examples of this might be the way the different pieces of information have been distributed in the text, what kind of information has been included and what has not, and how the choice of linguistic features and the linguistic complexity of the text fit the level of knowledge expected in the intended target group. This may be analyses at the level of text or genre, just as contrastive analyses of texts on the same topic that address different target groups (children, young people, grown-ups) will be welcome.

Track 3: Knowledge Construction and Learning

Knowledge is linked to mental structures and the situations in which it is used, and the transformation of information to knowledge takes place in the individual's assimilation and accommodation processes.

These processes will constitute the third approach to knowledge at the conference. We invite colleagues to submit papers that focus on what and how information is stored as knowledge in concrete communicative situations, and what factors influence this process. Central to this approach is the effect of the communication process within each individual recipient.

This might be analyses of individuals' learning processes, their concrete understanding of a text, or their structuring of knowledge in mental schemata. Furthermore, it could be the interaction between an individual's existing knowledge base and the information offered by a text or, finally, other cognitive prerequisites, such as learning styles, for the construction of knowledge.

This approach to knowledge and knowledge construction is currently experiencing rapid development, and we would especially welcome empirical analysis that may describe these processes, e.g. by means of text-linguistic or psycho-linguistic research methods.