Call for papers "Plurilingualism and the Labour Market. The Quality of Communication"

[Sara Vecchiato]

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: "PLURILINGUALISM AND THE LABOUR MARKET. THE QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION" 

– UDINE (ITALY), 25th-26th OCTOBER 2012

http://plurilingualismlabourmarketudine.wordpress.com/


The two-day conference is organized by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and the International Centre for the Study of Plurilingualism of the University of Udine, Italy, in cooperation with Do.Ri.F.–University, and is part of a series of initiatives organized by Do.Ri.F on the broad theme of plurilingualism in the labour market. 


Like pluriculturalism, plurilingualism in the labour market has often been analyzed as a cause of misunderstanding and management difficulties, opening the way to the discipline of “intercultural management”. However, plurilingualism is also studied as a personal and professional resource for the European citizen (see the recent conference “Multilingual Competences for Professional and Social Success in Europe” organized in Warsaw in September 2011, by the presidency of the European Council). 

Plurilingual practices involve several professionals in guaranteeing an optimal quality of communication among company members, and between the company and its clients. On the one hand, as a result of international migration, significant demographic changes are altering the structure of the Italian population, notably in the North-East (see the Italian National Institute for Statistics ISTAT demographic indicators, 2010 and 2011). On the other hand, it is one of the most significant features of globalization today, that business internationalization compels communication with more and more counterparts abroad. The emergence of “global English” or “Globish” is one of the possible answers to these communicative needs, and its use can intersect local languages. 
Linguistic and cultural perspectives in the workplace are particularly challenging where communication and cooperation are crucial, in activities such as human resources management, safety and security management, and communication with customers. Effective communication in multilingual and multicultural contexts is of paramount importance in emergency situations, for example in healthcare settings. 


The conference will be organized as follows: it will open on Thursday 25th with a plenary invited talk by Georges Lüdi. On both days, a roundtable debate will be followed by scholars’ contributions. On Thursday 25th, the first round table will gather experts and delegates from companies such as IKEA Italia and Wärtsilä Italia to discuss plurilingual communication in multilingual settings. On Friday 26th, a second roundtable will feature among others the PR officers of some hospitals and healthcare services in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region. Contributors will be given 20 minutes for presentation, followed by 10 minutes for discussion.

New research and innovative papers are solicited on, but not limited to, the following topics:

- terminological needs and solutions for plurilingual communication in the workplace;


- opportunities and challenges in plurilingual human resource management;


- difficulties and proposals for the quality of communication between companies and users.

Important deadlines


Deadline for submission: 15th June 2012
Notification of acceptance: 15th July 2012
Conference: 25th and 26th October 2012


Submission guidelines


Please send an anonymous abstract as an e-mail attachment to sonia.gerolimich(AT)uniud.it and sara.vecchiato(AT)uniud.it. The abstract should outline the topic, the theoretical and methodological framework and the findings. Except for the title and the references, it should not exceed 600 words. Be sure to provide complete contact information in the body of your email (first name, last name, institution, e-mail address). Submissions will be reviewed anonymously by an international scientific committee. Every abstract will be submitted to two anonymous reviewers, with some exceptions (too long, too short or inappropriate abstract). The languages of the Conference are Italian, French and English. A selection of papers presented during the conference will be published in an edited volume.

Organisation
Sonia Gerolimich, Sara Vecchiato (University of Udine)


Scientific Committee
Marcel Burger (U. Lausanne), Sergio Cappello (U. Udine), Nadine Celotti (U. Trieste), Marina Chini (U. Pavia), Lucija Cok (U. Primorska), Michele De Gioia (U. Padova), June Eyckmans (Erasmushogeschool Brussel), Alexandre Duchêne (U. Freiburg), Enrica Galazzi (U. Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Marie-Christine Jullion (U. Milano), Amr Ibrahim (U. Franche-Comté), Danielle Londei (U. Bologna), Carla Marcato (U. Udine), Claire Martinot (U. Paris Descartes), Eugene McKendry (Queen’s University Belfast), Rémy Porquier (U. Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense), Silvana Schiavi Fachin (U. Udine), Miquel-Jordi Strubell Trueta (U. Oberta de Catalunya), Patrick Studer (U. Zürich), Glyn Williams (Bangor U.), Giorgio Ziffer (U. Udine).
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