Full Title: Workshop on Multilingualism in Conflict Zones
Short Title: MCZ-23

Date: 28-Sep-2023 - 28-Sep-2023
Location: University of Reading, United Kingdom
Contact Person: Dr. Christiana Themistocleous
Meeting Email: [email protected]

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discipline of Linguistics; General Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Writing Systems

Call Deadline: 21-Aug-2023

Meeting Description:

In the third millennium, issues related to conflict zones and ensuring their security are increasingly important for the whole world. In many of the contemporary conflict situations issues connected to identities are central. More specifically, conflicting arguments pivot around culture, religion, and ethnicity, all of which are organically related to and expressed through language.

This British Academy-funded workshop aims to explore the nature of communication in real-life case studies of conflict from a wide range of geographical locations and different scales of engagement. It will offer a forum for discussion which will unite early career researchers (including PGR) and established academics with overlapping interests in the field. Scholars from different disciplines are invited to disseminate findings from original research and discuss theoretical and methodological challenges when conducting research in conflict or post-conflict zones from an applied linguistic/sociolinguistic perspective. We endeavour that this workshop will highlight the importance of language in promoting peace, social cohesion, collaboration, and trust in conflict-ridden communities.

The objectives of this workshop are:

To share empirical research on multilingualism in conflict and post-conflict zones.
To share methodological and practical challenges in studying multilingualism in conflict and post-conflict zones and discuss possible ways of overcoming these.
To raise awareness about various social, educational, linguistic, psychological, and political issues that are faced by the people who live in communities affected by conflict.
To offer a supportive forum where issues in relation to language and conflict can be openly discussed.
To encourage scholars to come together, get to know each other and interact in positive and constructive ways.
To come up with creative initiatives that can help build trust and promote peace in conflict and post-conflict zones.
The workshop envisions a critical space for stimulating dialogue among scholars working on all aspects of multilingualism and conflict, including (but not limited to) the following themes:

Language and identity
Language policy and planning
Hate speech
Media and social media
Language choice
Linguistic vitality, language maintenance and language shift
Linguistic landscapes
Language attitudes
Language ideologies
Education and language learning
Migration and citizenship
Linguistic rights
Minority languages

Format

Text 350 words maximum (including references, if any).
Do not add tables, photos, or diagrams to your abstract.
Include up to 5 keywords.
Each paper will last for 30 minutes: 20 minutes for presentation; 10 minutes for discussion. The language of the conference is English.

If you are unable to submit your abstract online, contact Dr. Christiana Themistocleous at [email protected]

Call for Papers:

Abstract submission

Abstracts should be submitted anonymously via EasyChair by the 21st of August 2023. Participation is limited to one abstract per first author.
Important dates

Call deadline: 21 August 2023

Notifications of acceptance: 25 August 2023

Registration opens: 25 August 2023

Registration deadline: 22 September 2023

Workshop date: 28 September 2023

Registration

Participation to this workshop is FREE and it includes a booklet with abstracts and programme, coffee breaks and lunch. The fee does not cover accommodation or dinner.

All participants should register via Microsoft Forms. The link to the registration form can be accessed through the EasyChair conference page: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mcz23

Places are limited, therefore please let us know as soon as possible if you are no longer able to attend.