Call for papers: Panel on indigenous languages, International Pragmatics Conference, July 2003 - DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS 15 OCTOBER

[McGinnis, Scott]

Call: IPrA conference panel on indigenous languages

Abstracts are invited for the 8th International Pragmatics Conference,
Toronto, Canada, 13-18 July 2003 to contribute to the panel
"Indigenous language stability and change: Multilingualism and
political autonomy", organized by Donna Patrick, Brock University,
Canada (see abstract below).

For more details on the conference and panel submissions see
http://ipra-www.uia.ac.be/ipra/

Please send your abstract by 15 October 2002 to Donna Patrick at
dpatrick at spartan.ac.brocku.ca or the Department of Applied Language
Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada L2S 3A1. Please
state your full name, address and email address in the message. You
can also send your abstract directly to the IPrA Secretariat.


Indigenous language stability and change: Multilingualism and
political autonomy

This colloquium will explore the issue of indigenous language
stability and change in multilingual contexts, where aboriginal
languages are used and valued alongside other languages used in the
community. It will examine indigenous communities that are concerned
with the vitality and 'survival' of their own territory, language, and
way of life but, at the same time, are engaged in political, legal,
and other campaigns that require the use of 'modern' methods,
including a dominant state language. We will investigate how
multilingual resources are used to gain greater autonomy and control
over local institutions, land, and economic activities and the
consequences of these language practices for the 'survival' of
indigenous languages. We welcome papers that explore language
practices in the paradoxical situations in which many indigenous
groups around the world find themselves: trying to protect their
rights and to maintain their cultural and linguistic practices, but
needing to master a dominant state language in order to engage in the
modern political processes necessary to achieve these goals. Possible
topics include the problems of implementing language rights in
multilingual communities and of standardizing languages in these
contexts, the notion of linguistic hybridity, and the role and value
of dominant state languages in minority settings.