[lg policy] call: Regional Varieties, Language Shift and Linguistic Identities

[Harold Schiffman]

Regional Varieties, Language Shift and Linguistic Identities

Date: 12-Sep-2012 - 15-Sep-2012
Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
Contact Person: Gertrud Reershemius
Meeting Email: < click here to access email >
Web Site: http://www1.aston.ac.uk/lss/research/centres-institutes/interland/regional-varieties/

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics

Call Deadline: 31-Mar-2012

Meeting Description:

Regional varieties have become an important contributor to identity
construction processes, and an increasingly important issue for the
individual and the community in late Modernity: the individual is
under constant and increasing pressure to define who s/he is and has
to choose from an ever growing pool of possibilities to construct
social identity in an increasingly globalized world, which is
perceived as incromprehensively complex. By referring to what is seen
as traditional regional language, dialect and culture, localizing
oneself seems to be a viable way out of this dilemma. This should have
stabilizing effects on lesser used varieties, which have been facing a
gradual process of language shift and divergence towards dominant
contact languages over the hundred years. Unfortunately, at the same
time, modern life does not so much require knowledge of regional
varieties as of standard languages and a good command of English as
the global lingua franca. How can an upwardly mobile individual
combine the requirements of modern life with identity construction on
a regional scale if they so choose? What are the linguistic
consequences for lesser used varieties and their respective contact
languages?

Plenary Speakers:

Prof. Joan Beal, University of Sheffield (UK)
Prof. Barbara Johnstone, Carnegie Mellon University (USA)
Prof. Yaron Matras, University of Manchester (UK)

Call for Papers:

Focussing on the individual speaker and the speech community which is
created by the use of language(s) as social practice, the conference
organizers welcome papers and posters on the following fields of
research:

- Language contact between a lesser used regional variety and a
dominant standard language
- Identity and regional varieties
- Indexicality and enregisterment
- Variation and style
- Postvernacular linguistic and cultural practices
- Emblematic language use and language mixing
- Lesser used regional varieties and the Internet
- Regional varieties and linguistic landscapes
- New approaches to dialectology

Oral presentations will be 20 minutes in length, followed by 10
minutes for discussion. Dedicated time and space will also be
allocated for poster presentations. Abstracts (up to 300 words) should
be submitted by e-mail attachment (Word files) to lss_rvcaston.ac.uk.
Please submit two files, one containing the abstract and details of
the author(s) (name(s), affiliation, email address) and one containing
an anonymous abstract. Under the title for the abstract, please give
four keywords which summarise the paper/poster. In the body of your
email please specify whether the abstract is for a poster or paper
presentation. Further information about the dimensions of posters will
be available online shortly.

http://linguistlist.org/issues/22/22-4603.html

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