BeNeCLA Blog

Dear colleague,

We are pleased to announce that registration for the previously announced conference New Ways of Analyzing Syntactic Variation 2 (Ghent University, 19-20 May 2016) is now open (conference description, see below).

You can find all information about the conference program, accommodation and other relevant topics on our conference website http://www.eqtis.ugent.be/nwasv2/index.htm

Please register before 15 April on the following link: https://www.congres.ugent.be/nwasv2

The conference fee is € 120, and includes coffee, refreshments and two cold lunches.

In the meantime, should you have any urgent questions, do not hesitate to contact us on NWASV2@Ugent.be

Kind regards,

The NWASV2 local organizing team

Timothy Colleman, Ludovic De Cuypere, Gert De Sutter, Emmeline Gyselinck, Clara Vanderschueren, Annelore Willems

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Conference information

The GLIMS and EQTIS research units at Ghent University will host a two-day international symposium on new advances in research on syntactic variation on 19-20 May 2016. The event is a follow-up to the first ‘New Ways of Analyzing Syntactic Variation’ symposium that took place at the Radboud University Nijmegen in November 2012. Its overall purpose is to stimulate discussion and interaction between researchers bringing new theoretical and/or methodological expertise to the linguistic study of syntactic variation, broadly construed.

Syntactic variation is a multidimensional concept: it can refer to the existence (in a single language variety) of several syntactic patterns or constructions ”competing” for the same functional space (i.e, to grammatical alternations), or to any kind of sociolinguistic or ”lectal” variation in the formal and/or functional properties of syntactic patterns, along regional, social, diachronic, stylistic, ethnic, gender, etc. dimensions (i.e., to syntactic patterns or constructions as sociolinguistic variables), or to a combination of both.

Syntactic variation is a major area of research in different schools of linguistics – including, but not limited to, construction grammar and related usage-based approaches, generative grammar, variationist sociolinguistics (cf. the advent of socio-syntax), psycholinguistics, language acquisition research, and computational linguistics/NLP – and has accordingly been approached from quite divergent theoretical and methodological perspectives. A common trend in all of these approaches is the increasing use of advanced methods and tools for the compilation and analysis of empirical data. In addition, there is a growing consensus that linguistic argumentation demands converging evidence based on an interdisciplinary approach and a growing body of work hence combines multiple empirical approaches to tackle one and the same linguistic phenomenon (e.g. combining advanced corpus analyses with survey and psycholinguistic experimental designs).

NWASV2 offers a forum for original work on syntactic variation, in any language or (present or historical) language variety – or varieties, for that matter – and from any theoretical perspective, in which an awareness of recent theoretical insights and advances is paired with a concern for appropriate empirical validation, methodological innovation and interdisciplinarity.

Keynote Speakers:

Artemis Alexiadou (Humboldt University Berlin)

Hendrik De Smet (University of Leuven)

Stefan Th. Gries (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Stefan Grondelaers (Radboud University, Nijmegen)

Robert Hartsuiker (Ghent University)

Organising Committee:

Bert Cappelle (University of Lille 3), Timothy Colleman (Ghent University, GLIMS), Ludovic De Cuypere (Ghent University, GLIMS), Gert De Sutter (Ghent University, EQTIS), Emmeline Gyselinck (Ghent University, GLIMS), Natalia Levshina (FRS-FNRS, Université Catholique de Louvain), Clara Vanderschueren (Ghent University, GLIMS), Freek Van de Velde (University of Leuven), Annelore Willems (Ghent University, EQTIS)

Dear LSB-member, dear colleague,

The annual Linguists’ Day of the Linguistic Society of Belgium (LSB) will be organized on Friday 13 May 2016 by the Linguistic Research Unit of the Institute for Language and Communication (IL&C), Université catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve).

Presentations can deal with any linguistic topic, and can be given in any of the three national languages (Dutch, French, German) or in English. A selection of papers will be published in the electronic journal Papers of the Linguistic Society of Belgium.

Abstracts should be max. 500 words excluding references and provide a clear outline of the aim of the paper including clearly articulated research question(s), some details about research approach and methods and (preliminary) results. Abstracts should be submitted by Monday 29 February 2016 via https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bklcbl2016 .

In agreement with the LSB Board, all abstracts will be evaluated by two members of the scientific committee. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 31 March 2016.

Attendance is free of charge for LSB members. The annual membership fee is 40 euros (including subscription to the Belgian Journal of Linguistics) or 20 euros (without BJL subscription). Further information on membership fees and benefits are available on the LSB website (http://www.bkl-cbl.be).

We are very pleased to confirm that the LSB Board will be organizing its first Best Paper Presentation Award for doctoral students at the 2016 Linguists’ Day.

For those of you who might be interested, we would also like to let you know that Thursday 12 May 2016 (the day just before the 2016 Linguists’ Day), the IL&C Linguistic Research Unit will be organizing a workshop on « Language and the new (instant) media » (http://uclouvain.be/plinday).

We are looking forward to meeting you all in Louvain-la-Neuve on Friday 13 May.

With best wishes,

Barbara De Cock, Magali Paquot, Kristel Van Goethem

LSB2016 website: http://www.uclouvain.be/en-528988.html

The Seventh International Conference on Language, Culture and Mind

Hunan University, Changsha, China

1^st-4^th June 2016

www.lcm7.org

Extended Abstract Submission Deadline:
20^th February 2016.

Registration fees for LCM 7: Faculty only RMB 1,000; Students only RMB 500

The Language, Culture and Mind conference series provides an international and  interdisciplinary forum for communication  and reflection on theoretical and empirical studies of language and communication. Submissions (individual papers and symposia) are welcome on any theme relevant to the interdisciplinary study of language, culture and mind.

Keynote Speakers:

Linda Martín Alcoff: Department of Philosophy, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. USA http://www.alcoff.com

Naran Bilik: Institute of Anthropological and Ethnological Studies, Fudan University, China

http://ice.ssdpp.fudan.edu.cn/naran-bilik/

Erik Mueggler: Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, USA

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mueggler/
Natasha Tassell-Matamua: Department of Psychology, Massey University, New Zealand

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/expertise/profile.cfm?stref=830930

Plenary Address:

Wari Kamaiura Sabino: Department of Linguistics, University of Brasília, Brazil.

LCM conferences are accompanied by a one-day Young Researchers’ Workshop, at which students and early career postdoc researchers are able to present their research and receive feedback from their peers and from more experienced researchers. The LCM 7 Young Researchers’ Workshop will be held on the 30^th and 31^st May 2016.
Abstract Submission Deadline: 20^th February 2016. Acceptance notifications (abstracts submitted before 6^th January)15^th February 2016; other abstracts 20^th March.

Registration Fees LCM 7

Faculty members: RMB 1,000.00 (approximately US $150, EUR 140, GBP 100)

Students: RMB 500.00 (approximately US $75, EUR 70, GBP 50)

Registration Fees cover: conference materials, lunches each day, the conference banquet and excursion. Registration fees will be payable by cash or credit card (POS machine) at the registration desk at the conference.

****Please notify us at LCM_VII@126.com of your intention to participate in the conference by filling in the pre-registration form on the conference website.

Young Researchers’ Workshop

Participation in the Young Researchers’ Workshop will be free of charge for participants in the LCM conference. Fees for non-LCM participants will be held at an affordable level.

****Please notify us at yrw2016@126.com  of your intention to participate in the Young Researchers’ Workshop by filling in the pre-registration form on the conference website.

The LCM Mission Statement http://languageculturemind.org/

Human natural languages are biologically based, cognitively motivated, affectively rich, socially shared, grammatically organized symbolic systems. They provide the principal semiotic means for the complexity and diversity of human cultural life. As has long been recognized, no single discipline or methodology is sufficient to capture all the dimensions of this complex and multifaceted phenomenon, which lies at the heart of what it is to be human. In the recent past, perception and cognition have been the basis of general unifying models of language and language activity. However, a genuine integrative perspective must also incorporate the intersubjective dimension of cultural symbols, cultural norms and cultural practices. LCM conferences articulate and discuss approaches to diverse genres of language activity which aim to understand their cultural, social, cognitive and bodily foundations. LCM conferences welcome contributions from scholars and scientists in anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, semiotics, semantics, discourse analysis, cognitive and neuroscience, and from other disciplines, who wish both to impart their insights and findings, and learn from other disciplines.

The keynote theme for LCM 7 will be:

Signs of Life: Cultural contact—change and continuity in language, thought and identity

There will be two round table subthemes:

1. Diversity, endangerment, revitalization of cultures and languages.
2. Intercultural and transcultural dynamics.

About Hunan University: Established as a university in 1926, Hunan University, located in the city of Changsha in Central South China, has a continuous history of more than 1,000 years as an institute of higher learning. The Yuelu Academy, founded during the Song Dynasty in the year 976 CE, was one of the four ancient Confucian Academies. The restored Yuelu Academy is now open for public visits and is an integral part of the Hunan University South campus, situated at the foot of Mount Yuelu, which, together with the Academy, is a major tourist attraction. Hunan Province is rich in historic sites and breathtaking landscapes, such as the Zhangjiajie scenic park (where the movie ‘Avatar’ was filmed). The province is home to several minority culture and language groups with stunning rural scenery and picturesque villages and towns.

The LCM International Organizing Committee

• Roberto Bottini, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Trento, Italy
• Barbara Fultner, Denison University, Philosophy and Women’s Studies
• Piotr Konderak, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Logic and Philosophy of Science
• John Lucy, University of Chicago, Comparative Human Development and Psychology
• Aliyah Morgenstern, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, Linguistics
• Esther Pascual, Zhejiang University, School of International Studies
• Victor Rosenthal, Institut Marcel Mauss – EHESS, Paris
• Chris Sinha, Hunan University, Cognitive Science, School of Foreign Languages*

*Chair of the Local Committee for LCM 7.

Dear colleagues,

(Apologies for multiple posting)

We are happy to inform you that the deadline for poster submissions for the 2016 PLIN day, hosted by the Linguistics Research Unit of UCLouvain in Belgium, has been extended to February 15th. The registration deadline for all participants is March 30th.

More information and registration (free for all Belgian participants)

The main objective of the workshop is to bring together specialists from a number of different but related fields to discuss the specificities of language in the new media. The workshop will thus offer a view of different approaches to language in the new media. We are happy to welcome the following keynote speakers:

• Patricia Bou-Franch (Universitat de València): Reconsidering Identities and Relationships in the Social Media
• Walter Daelemans (Universiteit Antwerpen): Profiling Social Media Users with Text  Analysis
• Elisabeth Stark (University of Zurich): The relevance of text messages for grammatical research
• Caroline Tagg (The Open University): Text messaging then and now: how time, technology and trends shape respelling practices over time
• Olga Volckaert-Legrier (Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès): Étude des fonctions des SMS chez les adolescents à travers un corpus longitudinal

Furthermore, Roland Legrand, digital newsmanager of the newspaper De Tijd, will offer a journalistic perspective on this topic.

The poster sessions, which will include time for a short oral presentation of each poster, offer a forum for numerous other research trends. If you’re a PhD student, you’re eligible for the Best Poster Award! We also invite companies which develop research or research-based applications concerning language and new media, to submit a poster proposal.

Posters may deal with language and the new (instant) media in any of the following linguistic domains:

• Discourse analysis
• Language norms and contacts
• Communication
• Sociolinguistics
• Psycholinguistics
• Corpus Linguistics
• Natural Language Processing
• Language Statistics

Important dates:

• Deadline for poster proposal submissions: 15 February 2016
• Notification of acceptance of poster: 1 March 2016
• Registration deadline for all participants: 30 March 2016
• Submission of Power Point Presentations for the posters boost session: 1 May 2016

We are also happy to inform you that the Annual Linguistic Day of the Linguistic Society of Belgium will also be held at UCL, on 13 May 2016, the day after the PLIN day (http://www.uclouvain.be/en-528988.html)

Best regards,

Convenors:
Louise-Amélie Cougnon (Girsef – Cental), Barbara De Cock (Valibel – Discours et variation) and Cédrick Fairon (Cental)

Follow @plindayucl on Twitter for the latest news!

Official Website:http://uclouvain.be/plinday http://www.plindayucl.com/