LINGUIST List 18.2893

Thu Oct 04 2007

Calls: Applied Ling,Pragmatics/Finland; Anthropological Ling/Australia

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

Directory         1.    Sirpa Leppänen, Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities
         2.    Keizo Nanri, SYNLAC Workshop 2007: Language & Culture
Message 1: Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities
Date: 01-Oct-2007
From: Sirpa Leppänen <sleppanecampus.jyu.fi>
Subject: Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities
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Full Title: Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities

Date: 02-Jun-2008 - 05-Jun-2008 Location: Jyväskylä, Finland Contact Person: Päivi Pahta Meeting Email: multilingualism(AT)jyu.fi Web Site: http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Pragmatics; Sociolinguistics

Call Deadline: 15-Jan-2008

Meeting Description

Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities conference

University of Jyväskylä, Finland June 2-5, 2008

Mediating Multilingualism: Meanings and Modalities

University of Jyväskylä, Finland June 2-5, 2008

Invited speakers:

- Jan Blommaert (University of London / University of Jyväskylä) - Diane Maevers (University of London) - Ben Rampton (University of London) - Steven Thorne (Pennsylvania State University) - Crispin Thurlow (University of Washington)

Deadline for abstracts: January 15, 2008 Guidelines for submission: http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en

Description of the conference:

In today's globalized world of mobilities and flows, multilingualism is increasingly an everyday phenomenon that people encounter and have to cope with in work, education, institutions, leisure time and media uses, for example. In these various contexts, multilingualism can be mediated not only by languages, but also by a range of other semiotic means such as genres, discourses, styles, embodied action and visuality.

At the same time multilingualism is a mediational system in itself, sustaining, but also mobilizing and reorganizing language user identities, relationships and possibilities for action and the relative values of languages. Multilingualism can thus have repercussions in terms of what resources and possibilities individuals and groups have to agency and participation.

The conference on Mediating Multilingualism approaches mediation and multilingualism from this double perspective: in its focus are the different ways and means for mediating multilingualism, as well as multilingualism as a mediational system. The aim is to shed light on the complexities of this relationship and to develop new ways of investigating and understanding the roles, meanings and modalities of mediation in multilingual settings. To this end, the conference aims at bringing together researchers, students, teachers and other practitioners who share an interest in exploring the interface between mediation and multilingualism as a particular linguistic, social, cultural and ideological contact zone where the meanings of languages, identities and relationships are reassessed and renegotiated.

The conference is organized at the University of Jyväskylä as the 26th Summer School of Applied Language Studies. It will consist of invited keynote lectures, workshops and paper sessions. The topics of the keynote lectures and workshops will be announced later.

Call for Papers

Submissions are solicited for 20-min. papers and posters relating to the conference theme. Studies on any languages and disciplinary takes (e.g. sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, discourse studies, pragmatics, ethnography, and language learning and teaching) are welcome. The main working language of the conference is English. Individual papers and posters can be presented in other languages, but no interpretation services are automatically provided by conference organization. Young scholars are encouraged to contribute; five postgraduate students from non-EU countries will be excused from paying the conference fee (applications to be included in the online registration form, to appear on the conference website).

Abstracts in English (max. 300 words) should be submitted via 'submission' on the conference website http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2008. All submissions will be reviewed; notification of acceptance March 15, 2008.

For further information, see the website: http://www.jyu.fi/hum/laitokset/kielet/conference2008/en

The Organizing Committee

Sirpa Leppänen, Päivi Pahta, Hannele Dufva, Sari Pietikäinen, Tarja Nikula, Sirkka Laihiala-Kankainen, Samu Kytölä, Marianne Toriseva, Tiina Virkkula, Satu Julin, Eeva Riipinen

Contact: multilingualism(AT)jyu.fi
Message 2: SYNLAC Workshop 2007: Language & Culture
Date: 01-Oct-2007
From: Keizo Nanri <keizo-nanricc.oita-u.ac.jp>
Subject: SYNLAC Workshop 2007: Language & Culture
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Full Title: SYNLAC Workshop 2007: Language & Culture

Date: 06-Dec-2007 - 07-Dec-2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Contact Person: Seiko Yasumoto Meeting Email: Seiko.Yasumotousyd.edu.au

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Call Deadline: 31-Oct-2007

Meeting Description

The ultimate purpose of SYNLAC Workshop is to foster interaction between linguistics and cultural studies. Through the workshop we encourage participants in the workshop to expand their intellectual and academic horizons and create a truly interdisciplinary atmosphere. We ask presenters to use non-technical language and to get the audience actively involved. The length of presentations in the workshop is in principle either 60 or 90 minutes; however, we will accept shorter presentations.

The deadline for abstract submission has now been extended to 31 October 2007.

SYNLAC Workshop 2007: Language & Culture Workshop Theme: Media, Cultures and Social Networks Date: 6th (Thursday) - 7th (Friday) December 2007 Venue: Camperdown Campus of The University of Sydney Sponsored by The School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Sydney.

The Sydney Network for Language and Culture (SYNLAC) is pleased to invite you to attend the 2007 Workshop either as a presenter or a participant. SYNLAC Workshop 2007 is calling for presentations that address the theme of Media, Cultures and Social Networks:

The dynamics of political and economic groupings in the global scene are constantly in a state of flux. Since the second half of the twentieth century, nation-states have been merging into a progressively diminishing number of political and economic blocs of different degrees of stability and harmony. The second half of the twentieth century and by extension, the first half of the twenty first century, will be seen as an era of transitions on a global scale. Everyday a countless number of discourses and images of such reorganization is disseminated and reinforced through mass media. It may well be argued that without mass media such global reorganization would occur at a much slower pace or not occur at all. In examining what may be obscured by media products and processes, there is often a sense of the existence of interconnecting threads or that of social networks. At the same time, these networks may themselves be defined across a range of multi-modal products and processes such as newspapers, magazines, journals, television, the internet and mobile telephony. Internationally, media products and processes themselves appear intertwined in ways not fully understood as possible drivers of the formation of economic and political blocs. If we accept the possibility that media does indeed drive global dynamics or form a substantial component of them, we believe it would be necessary (1) to critically review media dynamics by taking into account the values, interests and representations of entire social networks, and (2) to investigate the range of discourses and images that are created and maintained by these networks as well as their attendant purposes. In so doing, we believe new insights into the interplay between language and culture in global politics and economics will be gleaned.

We plan to produce a refereed publication based on the presentations featured in the workshop.

If you wish to give a presentation, please send an abstract of 300 words to one of the following board members: Seiko Yasumoto, Keizo Nanri, Makoto Sasaki, Jose Meurer. Please indicate how much time you anticipate your presentation will last, your audio-visual equipment needs and include your current contact details.

The closing date of abstract submission is 31st (Wednesday) October 2007. There is a $15 charge for registration which includes both morning and afternoon refreshments.