35.3355, Calls: Register and Task Variation in Learner Corpus Research

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-3355. Wed Nov 27 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.3355, Calls: Register and Task Variation in Learner Corpus Research

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Date: 26-Nov-2024
From: Gaëtanelle Gilquin [gaetanelle.gilquin at uclouvain.be]
Subject: Register and Task Variation in Learner Corpus Research


Full Title: Register and Task Variation in Learner Corpus Research
Short Title: VAR4LCR

Date: 07-Jul-2025 - 08-Jul-2025
Location: Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Contact Person: Gaëtanelle Gilquin
Meeting Email: var4lcr at uclouvain.be
Web Site:
https://uclouvain.be/en/research-institutes/ilc/cecl/register-and-task-variation-in-learner-corpus-research.html

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Computational Linguistics;
Language Acquisition; Sociolinguistics; Text/Corpus Linguistics

Call Deadline: 20-Jan-2025

Meeting Description:

To mark the end of a Hoover Seedfund collaborative project between the
Centre for English Corpus Linguistics at the University of Louvain
(UCLouvain) and the Department of English at Northern Arizona
University (NAU), a conference on Register and task variation in
Learner Corpus Research will be organized in Louvain-la-Neuve,
Belgium, on 7-8 July 2025 under the aegis of the Learner Corpus
Association. The conference will be an on-site event only.

RATIONALE
Ample evidence has been provided to demonstrate that language varies
according to register. Much of this evidence for register variation
comes from corpora, which have provided insights into linguistic
patterns associated with distinct registers (see, e.g., Biber 1988,
Biber 2006, Biber & Egbert 2018).
Register variation is an important aspect of any language and language
variety, but it is particularly relevant in the case of learner
language, because L2 learners may not show the same register awareness
as native/expert writers/speakers (cf. Gilquin & Paquot 2008, Larsson
2019).
Learner Corpus Research (LCR) has taken register into account in the
sense that studies have been carried out on the basis of learner
corpora representing certain registers (e.g. essays in Ädel 2006 or
interviews in Götz 2013). However, studies comparing learner language
registers are less common. Yet, the LCR studies that have drawn such
comparisons have highlighted the importance of register for learner
language (e.g. Fuchs et al. 2016, Staples et al. 2018, Larsson et al.
2021).
Related to register is the notion of task, particularly relevant in
LCR since learner corpora are often compiled from data produced as
part of specific pedagogical tasks (e.g. writing a letter, describing
a graph, retelling a movie scene). As with register, LCR studies
comparing different tasks are not very common, but they have
underlined the potential effect of this variable (e.g. Tracy-Ventura &
Myles 2015, Alexopoulou et al. 2017, Gablasova et al. 2017, Goulart &
Dixon 2025).

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
We are pleased to announce that the following speakers have agreed to
give a keynote presentation at the conference:
- Prof. Douglas Biber (Northern Arizona University)
- Prof. Marije Michel (University of Groningen)
- Prof. Shelley Staples (University of Arizona)

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Sylvie De Cock (UCLouvain)
Gaëtanelle Gilquin (UCLouvain)
Sylviane Granger (UCLouvain)
Pauline Jadoulle (UCLouvain)
Magali Paquot (UCLouvain)
Lieven Vandelanotte (UNamur)

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Douglas Biber (NAU)
Sylvie De Cock (UCLouvain)
Jesse Egbert (NAU)
Gaëtanelle Gilquin (UCLouvain)
Sylviane Granger (UCLouvain)
Francesca Grixoni (NAU)
A.J. Holmberg (NAU)
Pauline Jadoulle (UCLouvain)
Tove Larsson (NAU)
Magali Paquot (UCLouvain)
Randi Reppen (NAU)

Call for Papers:

SUBMISSIONS
We welcome submissions which compare two or more registers or tasks in
corpora of learner language, using the methods of corpus linguistics /
LCR, and which analyse the possible effects of register/task on the
linguistic features of learner language. The learner registers/tasks
may, in addition, be compared against some reference corpus data such
as native or expert language. Both quantitative and qualitative
approaches are welcome, with a focus on any aspects of language
(phraseology, grammatical complexity, fluency, etc.).

We are particularly interested in submissions that
- use data representing different registers/tasks produced by the same
L2 learners;
- compare registers/tasks displaying different degrees of formality or
involving different degrees of communicative control;
- combine quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis;
- discuss the methodological issues related to the comparison of
registers/tasks in learner language;
- include under-researched registers/tasks/languages.

There will be three different categories of presentation:
- full paper
- work-in-progress report
- poster

ABSTRACTS
Abstracts should be about 500 words (not including references) and
specify how the paper will contribute to the theme of the conference,
in particular by highlighting the registers/tasks that will be
compared and the corpora that will be used. They should also provide a
clear outline of the aim(s) of the paper, including clearly
articulated research questions, sufficient details about the
methodology and (preliminary) results.

Abstracts should be uploaded to OpenReview
(https://openreview.net/group?id=VAR4LCR/2025/Conference) no later
than 20 January 2025 at 23:59 UTC. If you are new to OpenReview, you
will first have to create a profile. We recommend that you use an
institutional email address to do so, as profiles created without an
institutional email address will go through a moderation process that
can take up to two weeks. Please note that most questions asked as
part of the creation of a profile are optional. Providing your current
institution (under ‘History’) and a link to a webpage that displays
your name and email address (under ‘Personal Links’) will be
sufficient.

IMPORTANT DATES
- Deadline for submission of abstracts: 20 January 2025
- Notification of acceptance/rejection: 15 March 2025
- Conference: 7-8 July 2025



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