Symposium on European Minority Languages

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Forwarded from Linguist List:

1st Mercator International Symposium on European Minority Languages and
Research

Short Title: 1st Mercator Symposium
Location: Abersystwyth, United Kingdom
Date: 08-Apr-2003 - 10-Apr-2003
Web Site: http://www.aber.ac.uk/%7Emerwww/indeng.htm
Contact Person: George Jones
Meeting Email: george.jones at aber.ac.uk

Meeting Description:

This two-day symposium will take a wide-ranging look at the research and
information agenda for minority languages in the global age, pinpointing
priorities in the fields of academic research and dissemination of
information and awareness around European minority languages. The
discussion will look at the degree to which the existing corpus of
research and documentation on various aspects of minority languages
supplies the needs of minority language speakers and communities and the
extent to which it facilitates processes of language revitalisation and
normalisation. Presentation This two-day symposium will take a
wide-ranging look at the research and information agenda for minority
languages in the global age, pinpointing priorities in the fields of
academic research and dissemination of information and awareness around
European minority languages. The discussion will look at the degree to
which the existing corpus of research and documentation on various aspects
of minority languages supplies the needs of minority language speakers and
communities and the extent to which it facilitates processes of language
revitalisation and normalisation.

The conference will be an opportunity for participants to present their
own most recent work and to indicate what they see as the 'cutting edge'
of research and information activity in their field. Contributions will be
welcomed from those working with minority languages and their promotion in
other professions. The discussion will seek to bring together academic
research and language promotion, examining ways in which one can supply
the needs of the other.  NOTE: The last date for presenting papers is
January 28, 2003.

We envisage that the major strands of the conference may include the
following, although we remain open to propositions which may not precisely
fit any of these categories, or which may relate to more than one:

1. Minority Languages and the Media, including particularly the
internet
2. Minority Languages and Education
3. Minority Languages, Legislation and Language Planning
4. Minority Languages and Economics
5. Minority Languages in New EU Member States / Eastern Europe
6. Minority Languages and Linguistics (including descriptive
	linguistics, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics etc)
7. Language transmission / acquisition
8. Territory and migration in relation to minority languages
9. Language and cultural change in the wake of globalisation

We also want to emphasise certain 'overarching' themes, i.e. ones which
cut across all the above categories, for instance globalisation and the
linkage between research and language promotion or revitalisation. In all
categories emphasis should be on innovative work, the identification of
lacunae, and perceived needs of communities at both at grass roots level
and in the political sphere.

For further information
Mercator Media
george.jones at aber.ac.uk