37.2659, Confs: Panel at IPC20 - Investigating Transcultural Pragmatics: Theory and Methodology (Finland)

Thu Aug 13 09:05:02 UTC 2026

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2659. Thu Aug 13 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2659, Confs: Panel at IPC20 - Investigating Transcultural Pragmatics: Theory and Methodology (Finland)

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Date: 12-Aug-2026
From: Marie-Luise Pitzl-Hagin [marie-luise.pitzl-hagin at jku.at]
Subject: Panel at IPC20 - Investigating Transcultural Pragmatics: Theory and Methodology

Panel at IPC20 - Investigating Transcultural Pragmatics: Theory and
Methodology
Short Title: IPC20
Theme: nvestigating transcultural pragmatics: Theory and methodology

Date: 27-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Contact: Marie-Luise Pitzl-Hagin
Contact Email: marie-luise.pitzl-hagin at jku.at
Meeting URL: https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027

Linguistic Field(s): Pragmatics

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

The panel 'Investigating transcultural pragmatics: Theory and
methodology' that will take place at the 20th International Pragmatics
Conference in Helsinki (Finland) from 27 June to 2 July 2027 invites
submissions for contributions.
Panel Abstract:
The study of pragmatics with or from ‘a cultural perspective’
constitutes a long-standing research tradition. Early approaches, like
Blum-Kulka and Olshtain’s Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realization
Project (CCSARP), sought to establish “similarities and differences in
the realization patterns of requests and apologies
cross-linguistically” (Blum-Kulka & Olshtain 1984: 197, italics in
original). The aim for scholars in cross-cultural pragmatics is to
describe “cross-cultural variability” (ibid.) by comparing pragmatic
behavior across different languages.
Cross-cultural approaches were soon supplemented by a growing body of
research on intercultural communication, which studies interaction in
communicative situations among individuals with different
regio-cultural backgrounds (see e.g. Sarangi 1994, Zhu 2014). One
prime example are multilingual contexts in which English functions as
a lingua franca (ELF) and is used in translanguaging practices
alongside other language(s). Drawing on methodologies like
conversation analysis and corpus linguistics, the study of pragmatics
in ELF interactions is closely entwined with intercultural
communication research (see e.g. Pitzl-Hagin, Riegler & Osimk-Teasdale
2026) and a substantial body of research findings has emerged over the
past decades.
Yet, scholars investigating intercultural communication and ELF
contexts increasingly challenge the assumptions of ‘in-between-ness’
implied in ‘inter’cultural communication and suggest transcultural
communication as the more appropriate term and approach (see e.g.
Baker 2022). This conceptualization aligns particularly well with the
transient nature of many transcultural encounters. It has therefore
been suggested that it is time for scholars to start investigating
transcultural pragmatics (Pitzl 2022, Baker 2026). Taking this
paradigm shift towards transcultural pragmatics seriously, however,
brings a number of theoretical and methodological challenges.
This panel invites contributions that address these challenges in
theory and methodology and offer productive ways forward. Following
the conference theme, this panel intends to build bridges between
theory and methodology, inter- and transculturality, pragmatics and
transcultural communication, ELF research and other multilingual
contexts, empirical description and theorization of methods used to
obtain these.
If you would like to participate in the panel, please submit your
abstract (250–500 words) via the conference website
(https://ipra2027.exordo.com/) by 15 October. In step 4 (‘Topics’) of
the submission process, select the panel ‘Investigating transcultural
pragmatics: Theory and methodology’.
References:
Baker, Will. 2022. Intercultural and Transcultural Awareness in
Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108874120.
Baker, Will. 2026. Pragmatics and transcultural communication through
English as a lingua franca. RELC Journal. 1-10.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882261445115.
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana & Elite Olshtain. 1984. Requests and apologies: A
cross-cultural study of speech act realization patterns (CCSARP).
Applied Linguistics 5(3). 196–213.
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/5.3.196.
Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2022. From cross to inter to trans – *cultural
pragmatics on the move: The need for expanding methodologies in lingua
franca research. In Ian Walkinshaw (ed.), Pragmatics in English as a
lingua franca: Findings and developments, 55–80. Berlin/Boston: De
Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501512520-004.
Pitzl-Hagin, Marie-Luise, Riegler, Stefanie & Ruth Osimk-Teasdale.
2026. Inter-/Transcultural Communication and (English as a) Lingua
Franca. Reference Module in Social Sciences. 1-6.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-95504-1.01137-6.
Sarangi, Srikant. 1994. Intercultural or not? Beyond celebration of
cultural differences in miscommunication analysis. Pragmatics 4(3).
409–427. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.4.3.05sar.
 Zhu Hua. 2014. Exploring intercultural communication: Language in
action. London: Routledge.

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