37.2346, Confs: Panel at the 5th International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics: Microaggressions in Interaction (Online)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2346. Wed Jul 15 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2346, Confs: Panel at the 5th International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics: Microaggressions in Interaction (Online)

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Date: 14-Jul-2026
From: Bernadette Vine [bernadette.vine at vuw.ac.nz]
Subject: Panel at the 5th International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics: Microaggressions in Interaction


Panel at the 5th International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics:
Microaggressions in Interaction
Short Title: ICDP-5

Date: 16-Oct-2026 - 18-Oct-2026
Location: Online
Contact: Bernadette Vine
Contact Email: bernadette.vine at vuw.ac.nz

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis;
Pragmatics; Sociolinguistics

Submission Deadline: 21-Aug-2026

Microaggressions in Interaction
(Co-organised by Bernadette Vine and Janet Holmes)
The concept of microaggression (Pierce 1970) proves useful in
exploring linguistic behavior that causes people to feel
uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unappreciated. Microaggressions can be
defined as any means by which a person is othered or sent signals that
they do not fit or belong. This may be unintentional, and Stollznow
(2020, p. 207) notes that these everyday, subtle “expressions of
prejudice … are so pervasive and normalized that many people may not
recognize them as stigmatizing at all.” Speakers may be unaware of the
impact of their words or actions and may even have intended to build
or maintain rapport. There is evidence however that microaggressions
have a greater detrimental impact than overt discrimination (see e.g.,
Sue and Spanierman 2020).
The term microaggression gained popularity in the 2000s through the
work of psychologist Derald Wing Sue and his colleagues (see e.g., Sue
& Spanierman, 2020) and has proven useful in many fields of research.
Originally coined to refer to racist microaggressions, it is now used
to encompass talk that others people for many reasons. This talk
frequently highlights underlying societal norms and ideologies in
day-to-day interaction. Our assumption is that every interaction can
be viewed as confirming or challenging majority group norms, that is,
reinforcing or contesting the taken-for-granted norms, stereotypes,
and biases around aspects such gender, age, and culture/ethnicity.
Within linguistics, research from the perspective of microaggression
is rare (Holtgraves 2022), although our previous analyses of authentic
workplace interaction have found it a useful concept (e.g., Holmes
2023; Vine and Holmes 2025). For this panel, we invite papers which
explore microaggressions in naturally occurring data that other people
because of perceived differences. This may be culture/ethnicity,
gender or any other aspect that identifies the target as belonging to
an out group.
To submit an abstract, please send a document of no more than 300
words (including keywords and references) to
bernadette.vine at vuw.ac.nz. The deadline for submission is 21 August
2026.
References:
Holmes, Janet (2023) Rapport Management and microaggression in
workplace interaction. In Troy McConachy and Perry Hinton (eds.)
Developing Intercultural Relations: Insights from Linguistics, Social
Psychology and Intercultural Training. In Honour of Helen
Spencer-Oatey, 35–53. Bloomsbury.
Holtgraves, Thomas (2022) Microaggressions in context: Linguistic and
pragmatic perspectives. Perspectives on Psychological Science 18 (4):
733–737.
Pierce, Chester (1970) Offensive mechanisms. In Floyd B. Barbour (ed.)
The Black Seventies, 265–282. Porter Sargent.
Stollznow, Karen (2020) On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past
and Present. Cambridge University Press.
Sue, Derald Wing and Lisa Spanierman (2020) Microaggressions in
Everyday Life. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Vine, Bernadette and Janet Holmes (2025) Exploring the complexities of
problematic talk: Microaggressions in workplace interaction. Journal
of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 19 (3): 352–376.



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