37.2648, Confs: 35th West African Languages Congress (Cameroon)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2648. Wed Aug 12 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2648, Confs: 35th West African Languages Congress (Cameroon)

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Date: 12-Aug-2026
From: Abass Ngoungouo Yiagnigni [abass.ngoungouo at univ-yaounde1.cm]
Subject: 35th West African Languages Congress


35th West African Languages Congress
Short Title: WALC 2027
Theme: African Languages, Innovations, and Social Transformations:
Contemporary Trends in Linguistic Research in Africa

Date: 12-Oct-2027 - 15-Oct-2027
Location: Yaounde, Cameroon
Meeting URL: https://www.westafricanlinguisticsociety.org/

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Computational Linguistics;
Discipline of Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; General Linguistics

Submission Deadline: 31-Jan-2027

The West African Linguistic Society (WALS/SLAO) invites abstracts for
papers to be presented at its 35th West African Languages Congress
(WALC 2027), to be held at the University of Yaounde I, Yaounde,
Cameroon, from 12 to 15 October 2027. The Congress is organised by
WALS/SLAO in partnership with the Department of African Languages and
Linguistics of the University of Yaounde I, whose candidature was
formally endorsed by the WALS/SLAO Executive Council.
Abstracts must not exceed 250 words and must include 5 keywords. They
may be written in English, French, or in any African language
(accompanied by a translation into English or French), and must in
every case also be translated into an African language. Abstracts
should be sent to the Local Organising Committee at
abass.ngoungouo at univ-yaounde1.cm, with a copy to
walsslao.secretariat at ufhb.edu.ci, on or before 31 January 2027.
The West African Linguistic Society (WALS) is a non-profit association
of academics, research workers, fieldworkers and teachers primarily
drawn from the West African sub-region. Some of our prominent members
engaged in the scholarly study of the languages and literatures of
West Africa are resident in other parts of Africa, in the Americas
(Canada and the USA), the European Union (France, Austria, the
Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, etc.), and Asia.
Thematic Axes:
Abstracts may address any of the following eight thematic axes:
Axis 1. Description, Modelling, and Engineering of African Languages
- Description, documentation, and typology of African languages
(phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics);
- Codification, graphic standardisation, and orthography engineering;
- Lexicography, terminology, translation, and linguistic resources
(lexicons, dictionaries, corpora).
Axis 2. African Languages, Education, and Knowledge Transmission
- Language teaching and didactics in bi-/multilingual contexts
(teaching models, interlinguistic transfers, curricula, etc.);
- Design of educational materials (textbooks, digital educational
resources, evaluation tools in national languages, etc.);
- Literacy, literacy practices, and literacy development in African
languages.
Axis 3. African Languages, Sociolinguistic Dynamics, and Multilingual
Governance
- Dialectology, language contact, language policy, and planning;
- Discourse analysis and pragmatics (discursive practices, verbal
interactions, communication strategies in African languages, etc.);
- African languages in the media, digital spaces, and diasporas
(online presence, social networks, language transmission and erosion
in migratory contexts, etc.).
Axis 4. African Languages, Digital Technologies, and Artificial
Intelligence
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) and computational linguistics
(modelling, automatic annotation, AI training corpora);
- Digital learning environments: applications, interactive platforms,
computer-assisted language learning tools;
- Machine translation and multilingual technologies: development of
translation tools, speech recognition, and speech synthesis;
- Digital literacy in African languages.
Axis 5. New Paradigms and Interdisciplinarity in African Linguistics
- New paradigms in African linguistics (linguistics for development,
language ecology, decolonising linguistic knowledge, digital
humanities, etc.);
- African languages, literature, orality, and cultural heritage;
- Interdisciplinarity: linguistics and law, forensic science and
justice, linguistics and anthropology, history, sociology, cognitive
sciences, cultural and environmental studies.
Axis 6. African Languages, Arts, Cultural Expressions, and Traditions
- African languages in the performing arts and entertainment (cinema,
theatre, music, comedy);
- African languages, material cultures, and arts of living (culinary
arts, fashion and clothing arts, crafts);
- African languages, oral traditions, and spiritualities (folklore,
tales, myths, cults, and rites).
Axis 7. Acquisition, Language Pathology, and Sign Languages in Africa
- African language acquisition;
- African languages and speech/language disorders and pathologies
(autism, aphasia, dyslexia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, etc.);
- African sign languages and deaf linguistics.
Axis 8. African Languages, Tourism, and Mobilities
- Cultural immersion and language tourism;
- Multilingual interpretation and cultural mediation;
- Traditional ecological knowledge and biodiversity preservation;
- Intangible cultural heritage and language economics;
- Rehabilitation and revitalisation of heritage languages;
- Linguistic ideologies among Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Key Dates:
- Deadline for Abstract Submission: 31 January 2027
- Notification for Acceptance Letters: 31 March 2027
- Deadline for registration: 30 June 2027
- Arrival of participants: 11 October 2027
- Congress: 12–15 October 2027
- Departure: 16 October 2027
Practical Information:
- Venue: University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon
- Organisers: WALS/SLAO and the Department of African Languages and
Linguistics, University of Yaounde I
- Languages of communication: Any African language, English or French
- Participants: Teachers and researchers in African languages and
literatures; doctoral and master’s students
- Registration fee: Lecturers and researchers: USD 120, Students: USD
80
Abstract Format:
– File format: MS Word 2007 or any more recent version.
– Font: Times New Roman, 12 points; line spacing: 1.5.
– Length: 250 words maximum; 5 keywords; translation into an African
language.
– Please preface your abstract with the following information: name
and affiliation, country/sub-region, research area, chosen thematic
axis, e-mail address and telephone number.
Contacts:
Local Organising Committee:
- Prof. Florence A. E. Oben Tabe, President,
florence.tabe at univ-yaounde1.cm
- Prof. Maxime Manifi Abouh, Head of the Scientific Committee,
maxmanifi at yahoo.fr
Submission of Abstracts :
- Dr. Abass Ngoungouo Yiagnigni, Secretary,
abass.ngoungouo at univ-yaounde1.cm
- WALS/SLAO Secretariat wals-slao.secretariat at ufhb.edu.ci •
https://westafricanlinguisticsociety.org



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