27.4604, Calls: Gen Ling, Psycholing, Socioling/Japan

Fri Nov 11 16:32:50 UTC 2016

LINGUIST List: Vol-27-4604. Fri Nov 11 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.4604, Calls: Gen Ling, Psycholing, Socioling/Japan

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Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2016 11:32:42
From: Laura Rosseel [laura.rosseel at kuleuven.be]
Subject: Implicitness & Experimental Methods

Full Title: Implicitness & Experimental Methods 

Date: 07-Aug-2017 - 11-Aug-2017
Location: Tokyo, Japan 
Contact Person: Laura Rosseel
Meeting Email: laura.rosseel at kuleuven.be

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics; Psycholinguistics; Sociolinguistics 

Call Deadline: 24-Nov-2016 

Meeting Description:

Workshop at Methods in Dialectology XVI: Implicitness and experimental methods
in language variation research

Implicitness, whether it is used in the context of language attitude research
(Garrett 2010), work on language regard (Preston 2010) or studies focussing on
the social meaning of language variation (Campbell-Kibler 2007), is a
problematic concept in linguistics. Few researchers have taken up the
challenge of reflecting on, and defining its nature, let alone that anyone has
ever pinpointed its theoretical significance or how exactly we can measure it.

Firstly, from a conceptual point of view, several definitions and
interpretations of implicitness have been put forward, but in linguistics the
focus tends to be on awareness/level of consciousness (e.g. Labov 1972;
Kristiansen 2009; Garrett 2010; Grondelaers & Kristiansen 2013; Preston 2013;
Preston 2015). In social psychology, by contrast, the concept of implicitness
has been questioned extensively and researchers have proposed multidimensional
definitions that recognize more facets in the concept of implicitness than
just awareness, facets which are not usually considered in linguistic
research. Implicitness in this field is usually understood in terms of
automaticity which comprises multiple features (unintentionality,
resource-independence, uncontrollability as well as unconsciousness) that need
not all be present, but can qualify the way in which the outcome of an
attitude measure is implicit (De Houwer et al. 2009; De Houwer & Moors 2010;
Gawronski & De Houwer 2014). Such definitions of implicitness seems to allow
for a conceptualization in terms of gradience, or a continuum between
implicitness and explicitness.

Secondly, when it comes to the theoretical importance of implicitness, it has
been claimed that implicit, private, deep evaluations can access the
perceptual correlates of linguistic change (Grondelaers & Kristiansen 2013;
Kristiansen 2010; Preston 2013). However, studies like Soukup (2013) which
showcases that the use of an open guise technique (where participants are
aware of the fact that one speaker uses different language varieties), claim
to be able to explain language variation in certain contexts. This may raise
questions like: do we always need implicit measures? What is the theoretical
significance of implicitness in the study of language variation and change?
Should it occupy a privileged position when it comes to explaining the driving
force behind language change as suggested by Kristiansen (2010) contrary to
for instance Labov’s (2001) current more anti-subjective position?

Finally, challenging the linguistic conception of implicitness has important
methodological consequences. If we ask ourselves the question what exactly we
mean by implicitness, and if we should find that it is a multifaceted concept,
we should also ask ourselves which aspect of implicitness we are measuring
with specific methods and tools. This goes for traditional sociolinguistic
methods like matched guise experiments, but the question is especially
relevant in the context of the recent upsurge in social psychological measures
to study implicit associations, such as the Implicit Association Test
(Greenwald 1998), in linguistic research (e.g. Campbell-Kibler 2012).

Call for Papers:

This workshop aims to bring together experimental research into language
regard and into the social meaning of language variation, which approaches and
reflects on implicitness from different angles: conceptual, theoretical or
methodological. Contributions to the workshop may deal with questions such as
(but are not limited to):

- What aspects of implicitness play a crucial role for linguistic attitude
research and research into language variation and change?
- How do different interpretations of implicitness relate to different methods
to capture language regard/attitudes/social meaning of language variation?
- What is the relationship between implicit and explicit attitudes? Are they
discrete entities or are they the extreme ends of a continuum?
- What is the link between concepts like implicitness, salience and awareness?
- Which research questions require measuring implicit attitudes/associations
and which ones are better studied using explicit measures or a combination of
both?

We invite researchers to submit a title for 20 minute talks with a 10 minute
discussion slot to laura.rosseel at kuleuven.be by November 24, 2016.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by November 29, 2016.

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