Presentation

The calls for papers and bursaries ere closed!!

Global social changes are transforming the linguistic ecologies of contemporary societies. They change our linguistic landscapes, our linguistic repertoires and the ways we use languages in everyday life. In fact, what we used to understand by "languages" is also changing, along with the concepts and theories traditionally employed to analyse language use. The network New Speakers in a Multilingual Europe invites linguists, social scientists, language activists and language planners to take part in analysis and debate of these sociolinguistic transformations.

The concept of "new speakers" provides one angle from which to investigate the new multilingual realities of contemporary Europe; we propose to explore multilingualism from the perspective of the social actors and their experience of using different languages in their daily lives. We focus especially on the experience of people as they socialize in languages that are not their "native" or "first" language, both synchronically and diachronically (e.g. in different periods of their lives). The concept provides the means to shift our focus away from the "native speaker", a notion which has traditionally dominated linguistic analysis and institutional language policies. In this first phase of the project, we examine three main speaker profiles:
 

1. new speakers of regional minority languages,
2. immigrants,
3. people who adopt new languages for specific work purposes.

We invite contributions in the form of individual papers, panels or colloquia. These may consist of research reports or data analyses, as well as language policy descriptions or evaluations. Presentations should follow the usual 20-minute per paper format, although alternative formats may be suggested in the case of round table discussions or panels. Ordinary presentations can be presented in the procedure detailed in the Abstract submission form. To propose panels or special sessions, please contact the organizers at newspeakers2014@uoc.edu.

Scientific Committee:
 

• Bernadette O'Rourke (Network Chair, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh)
• Alexandre Duchêne (University of Fribourg)
• Pia Lane (University of Oslo)
• Luisa Martín Rojo (Autonomous University of Madrid)
• Rosina Márquez-Reiter (University of Surrey)
• Sari P. Pietikäinen (University of Jyväskylä)
• Joan Pujolar (Network Vice-Chair, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)
• Tom Van Hout (University of Antwerp)
• John Walsh (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Call for papers in pdf format

More information at http://www.nspk.org.uk/