37.2497, Confs: Panel at IPC20 - Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative Practices Surrounding Aging and Assistance (Finland)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2497. Mon Jul 27 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2497, Confs: Panel at IPC20 - Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative Practices Surrounding Aging and Assistance (Finland)

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Date: 25-Jul-2026
From: Haruka Sakai [hasakai at hiroshima-u.ac.jp]
Subject: Panel at IPC20 - Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative Practices Surrounding Aging and Assistance


Panel at IPC20 - Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative
Practices Surrounding Aging and Assistance
Short Title: IPC20
Theme: Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative Practices
Surrounding Aging and Assistance

Date: 27-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Contact: Haruka Sakai
Contact Email: hasakai at hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Meeting URL: https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027

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

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

Call for Panel Contributions
IPrA 2027 Panel: Support and Assistance: Linguistic and Communicative
Practices Surrounding Aging and Assistance
Organizers: Haruka Sakai (Hiroshima University), Mao Chida (Chiba
University/Hiroshima University)
This panel discusses the linguistic and communicative practices
surrounding aging and assistance, or care, as processes of social
interaction. Social support and physical assistance are provided in
ways that orient to the autonomy and cognitive and physical capacities
of older adults. However, such assistance may create tension, as it
establishes an asymmetric caregiver-recipient relationship through
interactional processes (Coupland et al., 1988). In particular,
because older adults' experiences of aging vary across multiple
dimensions, the timing and manner of assistance are determined and
negotiated by participants moment by moment. This raises the question
of how assistance is organized within such relationships-specifically,
when and how assistance is offered, accepted, or rejected, and what
types of care systems operate in practice.
This panel brings together research on the interactional processes of
communication involving older adults, drawing on video-recorded data
of naturally occurring interaction analyzed through multimodal
conversation analysis, social interaction analysis, pragmatics, and
the ethnography of communication. These approaches share the
underlying premise that assistance is a collaborative activity rather
than a one-way action (cf. recruitment of assistance; Kendrick & Drew,
2016). Previous studies have demonstrated such collaborative
activities, primarily in care settings, including interactions
involving individuals with dementia. For example, studies have
examined decision-making processes in care settings (Backhaus, 2010)
and the implementation of "autonomous action" as an interpersonal
practice, rather than an impersonal capability (Hosoma, 2025). Thus,
describing interactional processes through linguistic, bodily, and
material resources provides an essential foundation for illuminating
the practices of aging and assistance.
Based on previous research, this panel advances the inquiry in two
directions. First, it broadens the scope from care-oriented facilities
to various everyday settings within local communities. In everyday
settings, participants negotiate whether, when, and how to assist
older adults; this occurs at home, on the street, in community
centers, or during service encounters (Sakai & Sakaida, 2026). This
contrasts with care settings, where roles tend to emerge as part of
institutional work. This perspective enables us to shed light on the
practices of those surrounding older adults (Hyden, 2014; Chatwin et
al., 2022). Second, it expands the dimensions through which assistance
is practiced. Taking into account intercorporeality,
multisensoriality, and technology-mediated care (Hyden et al., 2024;
Mondada, 2019; Nakagawa, 2022), we elucidate support and autonomy by
analyzing which resources are mobilized and how they are deployed in
the negotiation of assistance. The panel thus examines how
participants interactionally manage the balance and tension between
support and autonomy and contributes to interactional research on the
nature of aging and assistance.
We welcome papers that examine these practices through the approaches
outlined above.
Please submit your abstract (max. 500 words) through the conference
website (https://ipra2027.exordo.com/login) by 15 October (23:59
CEST). Please note that an active IPrA membership is required to
submit an abstract. Further information on the conference and
submission process can be found on the official IPC web site
(https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027). If you have any
questions regarding the panel, please feel free to contact the
organizers directly (hasakai at hiroshima-u.ac.jp,
mao.chida.3 at gmail.com).



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