28.529, Calls: Anthro Ling, Applied Ling, Socioling/USA

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-28-529. Thu Jan 26 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.529, Calls: Anthro Ling, Applied Ling, Socioling/USA

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Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2017 14:39:48
From: Humphrey Tonkin [tonkin at hartford.edu]
Subject: Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations

 
Full Title: Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations 

Date: 11-May-2017 - 12-May-2017
Location: New York, NY, USA 
Contact Person: Humphrey Tonkin
Meeting Email: tonkin at hartford.edu

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics 

Call Deadline: 28-Feb-2017 

Meeting Description:

What issues of language and communication are raised, or should be raised, by
the efforts of the United Nations to reach the most vulnerable populations
through the Sustainable Development Goals approved by the UN in 2015? 
Particular attention will be given to language issues surrounding refugees and
their children, migrants, and minority communities.

When the UN General Assembly unanimously approved the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals 2015-2030, proponents foresaw a comprehensive and
cooperative effort extending beyond the United Nations and its Member States
to incorporate civil society in general. The SDGs, they said, should “leave no
one behind” and should emerge from a dialogue in which all parties collaborate
in a spirit of equality. Moreover, the most vulnerable populations need to be
first on the agenda. 

These populations speak a multiplicity of languages often little understood by
development specialists, and they are often isolated or neglected, and
unconnected to those who seek to help. Reaching them requires reaching across
languages, and it implies listening to their concerns, freely expressed. Is
the UN ready for such an effort? Though the SDGs are largely silent on
language issues, sustainability requires two-way, democratic communication in
multiple languages. 

The world is witnessing the largest population movement since World War II:
refugees who must be returned to their homes or resettled, displaced children
who need education, migrants who must acquire new languages to become
productive in new circumstances. In negotiating their way in foreign
environments, they must deal with officials who often do not know their
languages. The SDGs identify problems but say little about reaching these
populations.

To carry out the SDGs through dialogue and understanding, we must reach
vulnerable populations in languages they understand. Preserving cultural
identity while communicating across languages must become a recognized issue:
we must educate through languages young people understand, deliver health care
comprehensibly, and reach refugees and migrants through comprehensible
dialogue. Attaining all seventeen SDGs requires mutual comprehension at every
level. 


The Study Group on Language at the United Nations + The Centre for Research
and Documentation on World Language Problems + the Center for Applied
Linguistics
invite you to contribute to a symposium on

Call for Papers:

Language, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Vulnerable Populations
Th-Fri. May 11-12, 2017 at the Church Center, 777 UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017
Thurs. 9:00-5:00; Fri. 9:15-3:30

The Study Group on Language and the UN drew attention to the absence of
language issues in formulating the SDGs through a symposium it organized in
April 2016 and a subsequent report. We return to this topic in our 2017
symposium, but with special stress on vulnerable populations.

The organizers welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on topics linking the
SDGs with vulnerable populations, such as:

- Language as a factor in sustainable development
- Language policy for refugees, migrants, and displaced populations
- Language & migration
- Language as it relates to race, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, economic
status, or other factors
- Language & education of refugees and migrants
- Language & quality education for vulnerable populations (Goal 4)
- Language & mother-tongue education (Goal 4)
- Language & gender equality (Goal 5)
- Language & economic growth (Goal 8)
- Language & reducing inequalities (Goal 10)
- Language & peace & justice (Goal 16)
- NGOs, language & vulnerable populations
- UN language policy & implementation of the SDGs
- The role of regional or minority languages
- Language & stateless nations

Preference will be given to papers that move the discourse forward by
proposing theoretical and/or research-based strategies for addressing
language-related concerns.

Send proposals (200 words or less) & bio. (50 words) to the organizing
committee at tonkin at hartford.edu, by February 28, 2017.  We expect to make
final decisions on the program by March 15.




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