22.3694, Calls: Cognitive Sci, Language Acquisition, Psycholing/Germany

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LINGUIST List: Vol-22-3694. Thu Sep 22 2011. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 22.3694, Calls: Cognitive Sci, Language Acquisition, Psycholing/Germany

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1)
Date: 22-Sep-2011
From: Martin Pütz [Puetz at uni-landau.de]
Subject: 35th International LAUD Symposium
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:36:15
From: Martin Pütz [Puetz at uni-landau.de]
Subject: 35th International LAUD Symposium

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Full Title: 35th International LAUD Symposium 
Short Title: LAUD 

Date: 26-Mar-2012 - 29-Mar-2012
Location: Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany 
Contact Person: Martin Pütz
Meeting Email: puetz at uni-landau.de

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Cognitive Science; Language Acquisition; Psycholinguistics 

Call Deadline: 15-Oct-2011 

Meeting Description:

35th International LAUD Symposium
March 26-29, 2012
University of Koblenz-Landau
Landau/Pf., Germany

Cognitive Psycholinguistics:
Bilingualism, Cognition and Communication

One of the major strands or orientations in Cognitive Linguistics refers to
the branch of Cognitive Psycholinguistics which includes experimental
research geared at cognitive operations underlying the processing of
language and communication (Dirven). In this vein, the Symposium is
intended to bring together specialists from various areas, including
linguistics, psycholinguistics, and anthropological linguistics who
investigate the relationship between language and cognition in
bilingualism, cross-cultural studies and communication research. 

The idea that the language we speak influences the way we think has evoked
perennial fascination and intense controversy. From a more moderate
perspective it is now generally agreed that becoming a competent speaker of
a language requires language-specific modes of on-line processing, i.e.
'thinking for speaking' (Slobin), an assumption which may encompass
bilingual speech and communication patterns. Furthermore, culture exists
and persists in and through linguistic and communication processing. 
Although the last two decades have been marked by extreme skepticism
concerning the possible effects of language on cognition, recent
theoretical and methodological advances in linguistics, cognitive science
and anthropology have given the question new life. Section 1, therefore,
explores the relation between language and thought from a Neo-Whorfian
perspective. It investigates the essential idea of linguistic relativity,
the assumption that culture, through language and communication, may have
an impact on thought and world-view. Section 2 explores language and
cognition in the bilingual mind and bilingual groups by focusing on the
effect of communicative proficiency and language-specific effects on bi-
and multilinguals' thinking. For example, a better understanding of the
ways in which bi- and multilingual individuals represent, process, perform
and experience emotions can provide valuable insights for the fields of
bilingualism and communication studies in general (Pavlenko). Section 3 is
concerned with processes of bilingual language acquisition and strategies
evident in early childhood communication patterns. In line with the
framework of Cognitive Sociolinguistics (LAUD 2010) the 2012 LAUD Symposium
strongly supports a usage-based approach to language and cognition in
bilingual acquisition based on sound empirical methods of data collection
and the use of language corpora.

Confirmed Plenary Speakers: 

Annette De Groot, Istvan Kecskes, John Lucy, Pieter Muysken, Aneta
Pavlenko, Chris Sinha, Li Wei

Conference Fees:

The conference fee is EUR 75 payable on arrival. 

Call for Papers:

Theme Session 1: Theoretical considerations: Language, Culture and Thought

Almost a decade ago, Stephen C. Levinson suggested that most current
thinking in the cognitive sciences underestimates the 'transformative
power' of language on thinking (2002). This section constitutes yet another
attempt to revive this interest in linguistic relativity, i.e. the complex
interaction of language, culture, thought and world-view. Recently, an
increasing amount of attention has been paid to this very issue. One of the
most vocal expressions of these ideas is found in the work of psychologist
Lera Boroditsky who advocates the idea that people who speak different
languages do indeed think differently and that one's native language plays
an important role in shaping habitual thought. To put it bluntly, this
session will tackle the two opposing stances: 'Do the languages we speak
shape the way we see the world' (Boroditsky) or 'is nearly every instance
of this idea in the mass media false or seriously misleading' (Liberman,
Economist Debates, p.4).  

In the context of this theme, we invite abstracts on topics and research
questions like the following:

- Theories of human cognition
- The effect of usage-based approaches to language in bilingual language
acquisition research
- Different construals within language, thought and culture
- Do differences between languages yield different cognitive abilities?
- Does learning new languages change the way we think? 
- The construal of space, time and gender in language and thought
- The role of context in language and cognition
- The extent of linguistic and cultural universals; i.e. nature vs. nurture
- The universalist/relativist debate, e.g. emotionology

Theme Session 2: Cognitive and Linguistic Processing in the Bilingual Mind 

This section intends to explore the way bilingualism affects linguistic and
cognitive performance across the lifespan (Bialystok), i.e. the effect of
linguistic proficiency and processing constraints on bilinguals' divergent
thinking. How does the fact that bilinguals speak more than one language
influence the way they process language? How do bilinguals store
information they acquire in different languages (i.e. common vs. separate
storage?). A great number of issues still remain unresolved in this
interdisciplinary area of language, and cognitive processing and bilingual
data could shed new light not only on bilingual processing but on language
processing in general. Emotionality, executive control processes,
psycholinguistic processes in codeswitching and transfer of
conceptualization patterns generally determine the effects of bilingualism
on theory of mind development, i.e. a detailed understanding of the
functioning of the bilingual mind.

In the context of this theme, we invite abstracts on topics like the following:

- The effects of bilingualism in various areas of cognitive development
- The development of executive control processes
- Models of bilingual speech production
- Development of concepts in the bilingual mind, and the nature of the dual
language system
- Processing constraints of the speaker's bilingual competence
- Cognitive integration of language and memory in bilinguals
- Representation of color concepts in bilingual cognition
- Psycholinguistic aspects of codeswitching/codemixing
- Emotions in multiple languages
- Emotion concepts: Does differential emotionality affect codeswitching and
language choice in bi- and multilinguals?
- The nature and function of gesture in children's communications
- Cognitive processes associated with nonverbal communication (e.g. gestures)
- Transfer or cross-linguistic influence in bilinguals' concepts and
conceptualizations, e.g. in categorization and construal
- Cross-linguistic activation in bilingual sentence processing
- Event conceptualization by early bilinguals (e.g. eye-tracking data)

Theme Session 3: Bilingual Acquisition and Cognitive Development in Early
Childhood

This section focuses on the simultaneous acquisition of two (or more)
languages from birth or what is generally referred to as Bilingual First
Language Acquisition (BFLA). Psycholinguistic processes of acquisition and
production will be discussed from a usage-based perspective. One of the
central questions will be whether the developmental and cognitive path and
time course of language development is the same as that of children
acquiring only one language. The focus will be on case studies in the field
of early bilingual acquisition which requires experimental designs and
empirical methods of data collection (e.g. computer databases). 

In the context of this theme, we invite abstracts on topics like the following:

- Usage-based theories of bilingual language acquisition
- Case studies and methodologies in the field of bilingual acquisition
- Criteria to distinguish simultaneous from successive dual language learners
- Unbalanced bilingual acquisition and uneven development in BFLA
- Concept formation in early bilingual acquisition
- Child bilingual codemixing: linguistic and cognitive constraints in
communication
- Cross-linguistic, cross-cultural (and cross-conceptual) influence
- Pragmatic development in early infancy
- The acquisition and development of early syntactic constructions
- Vocabulary acquisition: e.g. synonymy and idiomaticity in lexical development
- Development of metalinguistic awareness and cognitive flexibility

Submission of Abstracts:

Submissions are solicited for theme session presentations which should last
for 20-25 minutes with 5-10 minutes for questions (maximum 30 minutes total). 

All submissions for presentations should follow the following abstract
guidelines:

- The deadline for abstracts is October 15, 2011.
- The address for submitting the abstracts is Martin Pütz: Puetz at uni-landau.de.
- Abstracts should be no more than 500 words.
- The subject header of your email should include: Abstract LAUD 2012 - name/s.

Please include the following information in the main body of your email:
name of author/s, affiliation, email address, presentation title. Please
also state for which of the 3 theme sessions, as listed above, your
contribution is intended.

Notification of acceptance will be given by November 1, 2011.

Abstract Specifications: 

1 page, 500 words, single-spaced, font size 12 pt, Times New Roman, 2.5 cm
margins on all sides. Diagrams must fit in the page. 

Local Conference Organizers:

Martin Pütz
Email: puetz at uni-landau.de
Monika Reif
Email: reif at uni-landau.de

University of Koblenz-Landau
FB 6 Institut für Fremdsprachliche Philologien
Fach Anglistik
Marktstr. 40
76829 Landau/Pf.
Germany
PH: ++49-(0)6341-280-33-204
Fax: ++49-(0)6341-280-33-200

Organizing Committee Members:

René Dirven (Mechelen, Belgium)
Luna Filipovic (University of Cambridge)
Istvan Kecskes (State University of New York)
Aneta Pavlenko (Temple University, Philadelphia)
Martin Pütz (University of Koblenz-Landau)
Monika Reif (University of Koblenz-Landau)
Justyna Robinson (University of Sussex)
Ulrich Schmitz (University of Duisburg-Essen)







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