Sociolinguistics Symposium 21

In 2016, SS21 will be hosted by the University of Murcia, located in the touristic Region of Murcia on the south-eastern coast of Spain. The conference venue will be the Facultad de Letras, on the city centre university campus (Campus de La Merced).

The general theme of the 2016 conference will be Attitudes and Prestige, and contributions to any of the directions under the umbrella of the Language and Society paradigm are welcome.

CONFERENCE DATE

June 15th – 18th, 2016

PROPOSALS

Contributions to any of the directions within the spectrum of the Language and Society paradigm are welcome in SS21:

- variationist sociolinguistics

- sociology of language

- social psychology of language

- discourse analysis

- conversation analysis

- anthropological linguistics

- dialectology

- geolinguistics

- historical sociolinguistics

- creole sociolinguistics

- ethnography of communication

- language and gender

- cognitive sociolinguistics

- sociolinguistic methods

The three categories for proposals are (1) individual papers, (2) posters, (3) colloquia.

1) Individual papers:  Individual papers are formal presentations on original research by one or more authors, lasting a total of 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion). Please note that the time limit will be strictly adhered to. The length of abstracts for individual papers is max 500 words.

2) Posters: Poster sessions are for displaying research and they offer the opportunity for individualized informal discussions. Poster is a good format for presenting work-in-progress, fieldwork and results of empirical research when data can be presented visually (e.g. charts, graphs, tables). A block of time will be designated when presenters are available to discuss their posters. In addition, the posters will be available online in a virtual poster exhibition for viewing and commenting throughout the conference (for conference participants only). The length of abstracts for posters is max 500 words. Detailed instructions regarding the appropriate format for on-line exhibition will be sent to presenters once they have received notification (January 2016) that their proposals have been accepted.

3) Colloquia: Colloquia allow for extended discussion on a particular topic with a cluster of several independent papers and a joint discussion. Colloquia are presented in time blocks of 2½ hours, and the colloquium organizer(s) will decide upon the allocation of this time between the introduction, individual papers and the discussion (20 minutes per paper is strongly recommended, with 15 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for discussion strictly). It is expected that colloquia organizer(s) have invited colloquium contributors, including a potential discussant, in advance. The colloquium submission includes two phases:

i) Only the colloquium organizer(s) submits an abstract (max 750 words) for the entire colloquium. The abstract has to include an overall description of the colloquium, the names of the individual contributors and the titles of their presentations. The organizer(s) are also asked to indicate the length of the colloquium in time blocks of 2½ hours.

ii) Only after possible notification of acceptance in January 2016, the colloquium organizer(s) will be asked to submit all individual abstracts (max 500 words, by the end of February) to be included in the symposium programme.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Submission of proposals for papers, posters, and colloquia for Sociolinguistics Symposium 21 should be completed via the Online Submission Website. Please read the instructions below before beginning registration (The Conference Management Tool ConfTool also provides you with useful information).

Submission of abstracts opens 15^th July, 2015 and closes 30^th September, 2015.

EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS

Proposals for individual papers, posters, and colloquia will be evaluated by the SS21 Scientific Committee and the Organizing Committee in terms of quality of content, significance, originality, thematic relevance, and quality of abstract presentation.

SS21 Conference Presentation Policies

Individuals may submit only one abstract as the first author of a paper, a poster, or a presentation in a colloquium. In addition, an individual may have a role as a colloquium organizer, discussant, or co-author/co-presenter of other papers or posters.

It is assumed that all proposals represent original and unpublished work that is not yet available to the research community.

Paper and poster presenters as well as colloquium organizers need to be registered attending participants at the Symposium.

The language of the conference is English, except in some invited colloquia focused on Hispanic Sociolinguistics (Satellite Events).

The conference policy is that the author will present the paper on the day and time assigned by the conference program committee.

PLENARY SPEAKERS

Dennis Preston (Michigan State University, USA)

Rebecca Clift (University of Essex, England)

David Britain (University of Bern, Switzerland)

Laura Wright (University of Cambridge, England)

Francisco Moreno-Fernández (University of Alcalá de Henares, Spain)

Kathryn Woolard (University of California, San Diego, USA)

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission of abstracts opens 15th July, 2015

Submission of abstracts closes 30th September, 2015

Notification of acceptance in January 2016

Registration opens in January 2016

Conference takes place June 15-18, 2016

For information: http://www.um.es/web/sociolinguistics-symposium21/