11.445, Calls: Theoretical/Applied Ling, Nature of Language

Fri Mar 3 03:00:25 UTC 2000

LINGUIST List:  Vol-11-445. Thu Mar 2 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 11.445, Calls: Theoretical/Applied Ling, Nature of Language

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1)
Date:  Thu, 02 Mar 2000 09:51:13 +0000
From:  "M.K.Whong-Barr" <M.K.Whong-Barr at durham.ac.uk>
Subject:  Third Durham Postgraduate Conference - Theoretical and Applied Ling

2)
Date:  Thu, 2 Mar 2000 09:07:01 -0500 (EST)
From:  Rebecca Wheeler <rwheeler at cnu.edu>
Subject:  "The Nature of Language"

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Thu, 02 Mar 2000 09:51:13 +0000
From:  "M.K.Whong-Barr" <M.K.Whong-Barr at durham.ac.uk>
Subject:  Third Durham Postgraduate Conference - Theoretical and Applied Ling

*************************************************************
        The Third Durham Postgraduate Conference
        in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
*************************************************************

                        10 June, 2000

Department of Linguistics and English Language
University of Durham

CALL FOR PAPERS**CALL FOR PAPERS**CALL FOR PAPERS**CALL FOR PAPERS

We are pleased to announce the Third Durham Postgraduate Conference in
Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at the University of Durham on
Saturday 10th June 2000.  The purpose of the conference is to provide
postgraduates with an opportunity to present their research.

Accepted papers will be allotted 20 minutes for presentation and 10
minutes for discussion.

Deadline for abstracts: 14th April, 2000
Notification of acceptance: 5th May, 2000
Conference date: 10th June, 2000

Abstract guidelines: Send 4 camera-ready copies of your abstract (3
without and one with your name and affiliation).
Length: maximum one A4 page; 1.5 spacing; all margins: 3cm.
Font: Times New Roman 12pt.
Title, author's name, affiliation: 14pt bold and centered.

Paper submissions preferred, e-mail submissions accepted (only as
attached file as a Word document).

Address abstracts to:

Karima Soutsane (karima.soutsane at durham.ac.uk)
Department of Linguistics and English Language
University of Durham
Elvet Riverside, New Elvet
Durham DH1 3JT
UK

-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Thu, 2 Mar 2000 09:07:01 -0500 (EST)
From:  Rebecca Wheeler <rwheeler at cnu.edu>
Subject:  "The Nature of Language"

SECOND CALL: "The Nature of Language"

DEADLINE: TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2000

TOPIC: WHAT EVERY EDUCATED PERSON SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LANGUAGE, AND WHY?

CONTEXT:  Information/abstract gathering query from the LSA Undergraduate
Program Advisory Committee which is proposing this topic as a symposium
for the 2001 Annual Meeting.

BACKGROUND: Despite the results of more than half a century of
paradigm-changing work, the American public remains fundamentally
uninformed about the nature of language. Linguistics, the field which has
contributed the most to what we know, has reached a somewhat limited
audience through graduate programs, undergraduate majors and Introductions
to Language and Linguistics. And yet, despite this linguistic presence at
both the undergraduate and the graduate levels, the insights from
linguistics regarding the nature of language barely make the light of
pedagogical day when it comes to reaching not only students and teachers
in the public schools, but also the broader American public.

If public misconceptions about the nature of language as evidenced in the
Oakland Ebonics furor or in ongoing public machinations about "proper
grammar" and "slovenly grammar" are any indication, our efforts at the
undergraduate and graduate levels aren't getting the word out. While
authors such as Pinker, Tannen, McWhorter, Smitherman, Trudgill, and
Wardhaugh write compellingly and comprehensibly for a broader lay audience
(not to mention Baugh, Fillmore, Labov, Nunberg, Rickford, Shuy, Wolfram,
etc., who connect to the press) surely, we linguists need to recraft  and
perhaps reconceive our message so to get our insights out more broadly.

QUERY, CALL:  In this context, I am calling for response to the question,
"what should every educated person know about language and why." That is,
what are the ***core insights of our field regarding the nature of
language***, insights which capture the fundaments of language? Will these
insights help unbind the dogged misconceptions that beleaguer our students
and populace when it comes to language?

IMMEDIATE PURPOSE:  My purpose is to assemble a panel of discussants on
this topic under the aegis of the LSA's Undergraduate Program Advisory
Committee for next year's annual meeting.

LONG-TERM PURPOSE/APPLICATION: Such insights would ultimately coalesce
into educational materials (courses and workshops), adaptable to all
levels of education -- primary, secondary, high school, college, and
graduate teacher education. These educational materials might or might not
be distinct in content from current college level offerings in Language
Awareness and Introductions to Language. The point is to rethink and hone
what fundamentals about language we want to put out into the broader
world.

DEADLINE:  Please submit your descriptions/abstracts/comments in email
form (length no longer than 1000 words) and in hard copy, to me by
TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2000. Hard copy address is

Rebecca S. Wheeler
Assistant Professor
Department of English
1 University Place
Christopher Newport University
Newport News, VA 23606-2998
(rwheeler at cnu.edu)

Thank you! I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Rebecca Wheeler

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