CFP Interactional Competences and Practices in a Second Language (Switzerland)

Interactional Competences and Practices in a Second Language (ICOP-L2)
Université de Neuchâtel – Suisse
18-20 January 2017

Throughout the past two decades, interactional competences and practices have gained unprecedented attention in research on second language (L2) acquisition, use and education. Following Dell Hymes’ conceptualization of communicative competence, various lines of research have for long been concerned with pragmatic development in an L2, mostly focusing on the realization of speech acts. Yet, it is only recently that research has started to systematically investigate how people’s capacity to engage in social interaction is affected in their L2 and how their ability to participate in such interaction evolves over time.

When participating in social interactions, we orient to each other, we synchronize our mutual conducts, we make recognizable our actions to others and we finely monitor the trajectories of other people’s actions. Opening a telephone conversation, launching a conversational storytelling, agreeing or disagreeing with others, or simply taking a turn at talk all involve highly organized socially coordinated procedures that, most typically, are experienced by participants as non-problematic in L1 talk. However, what happens when people move into an L2?

Under the heading ‘L2 interactional competences and practices in a second language’ (ICOP-L2), this conference brings together researchers from various horizons (e.g. linguistics, education, sociology) who investigate how people engage in second language talk-in-interaction: What are the basic ingredients of L2 interactional competence? How does such competence vary across situations and over time? How do L2 speakers use the linguistic resources at their disposal to accomplish social actions in coordination with others? How do linguistic and other resources (gaze, gesture, posture) work together in L2 talk? How does social interaction structure learning processes and learning products? How can L2 interactional competence and learning through interaction be addressed in educational contexts? These are among the questions that will be tackled during the conference.

Call for papers
Proposals are invited for individual papers and panels (colloquia). Individual papers will be granted a 30-minute slot including discussion; Panels will cover one or two 90-minute slots. Technical details regarding how to submit will be available soon .

The conference papers and panels will be organized in three thematic strands:

• L2 talk-in-interaction: This strand is concerned with describing the practices of L2 talk and with the (multi)semiotic resources speakers mobilize to accomplish these practices, without necessarily addressing issues of learning.

• Learning-in-interaction: This strand includes research on learning processes, activities and opportunities in social interaction in a variety of settings, including both the language classroom and learning ‘in the wild’.

• L2 interactional competence: This strand includes studies investigating the development of interactional competence over time as well as contributions addressing challenges for the assessment and the teaching of interactional competence.

All papers and panel abstracts need to be submitted before 23:59 local time in Switzerland (GTM +1) on 15 May 2016 through the conference website.

Keynote speakers
Joan Kelly Hall, Penn State University, USA
Søren Eskildsen, University of Southern Denmark, DK
John Hellermann, Portland State University, USA
Spencer Hazel, Nottingham University, UK

Invited symposium
Tim Greer, Kobe University, Japan: Current trends in research on L2 talk-in-interaction (provisional title)

Pre-conference workshops (18 January 2017)
Johannes Wagner, University of Southern Denmark, DK: Designing longitudinal research on interactional competence
Evelyne Berger, University of Helsinki, FI: Building collections
Adam Brandt, Newcastle University, UK, and Olcay Sert, Hacettepe University, TR: Conducting comparative research on L2 interactions

Language, power, ethics and superdiversity (UK)

Language, power, ethics and superdiversity
Friday 13th May  2016, 10.30am – 5.15pm
Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication
King’s College London
Franklin-Wilkins Building Waterloo Bridge Wing Room G552

In an era characterised by increasingly dynamic population mobility, traditional presuppositions about the substance of individual and group identities, and about the social and political semiotics that shape them, seem inadequate. In superdiverse societies, the question of language poses a particularly difficult challenge, owing both to its identitarian and communicative dimensions. These new realities raise new questions, empirical and normative alike: in such circumstances, what constitutes a linguistic identity? How do linguistic identity and political agency interplay? Are all linguistic identities necessarily political, and, if so, are they of equal value? What forms of linguistic prioritisation, e.g. in civic life, education and the job market, may be considered legitimate? Are national governments justifiable in intervening in the linguistic repertoires, practices and identities of citizens and non-citizens? Are some notions of linguistic integration and citizenship more compatible with democratic principles than others? Could these notions be grounded in sufficiently common social and political semiotics? And what role is there for the state in a rapidly globalising world? These and similar questions unavoidably require principled interdisciplinary collaboration between linguists, philosophers, political scientists and public policy researchers.

Papers:
• Language ethics and the interdisciplinary challenge – Yael Peled, IHSP and Law, McGill University
• Pluricentric linguistic justice: a normative approach to the question of language ownership – Leigh Oakes, French and Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London
• The normative stakes of academic Anglicisation: language/power/knowledge/ethics – Daniel Weinstock, IHSP and Law, McGill University
• Language Revitalization and Social Transformation: Empirical and Normative Questions – Huw Lewis, International Politics, Aberystwyth

Attendance is free, though places are limited.  Book a place online.

 

CFP Language, Literacy and Identity (UK)

Language, Literacy and Identity conference
University of Sheffield, UK
1st – 2nd July 2016

Conceptualising literacy and language is a key task in a world which is on the move, both literally and symbolically. This conference engages with the theme of Language, Literacy and Identity in order to better understand how communities, groups and individuals engage with literacy. It is concerned with exploring how literacy practices and texts affect our sense of who we are, how we relate to each other and our place within the world. We welcome papers considering literacy, language and identity across contexts, and domains of life. We are interested in how multilingual identities shape literacy practices, and in new understandings of the move to visual and digital literacies. This includes work engaging with new paradigms for literacy, including sensory and embodied approaches and the turn to the post-human in literacy research. Our approach is multi disciplinary, with a focus on language and literacy within a wide range of contexts, themes and perspectives.

The Conference will be at The University of Sheffield at The Ridge, S10 3AY.

Abstracts
Please send abstracts via email by 17th April 2016.
Abstracts should be up to 350 words and based on the assumption that presentations will be 30 minutes with 15 minutes discussion. Please signal whether your abstract is for a paper, a Short Fuse presentation or for a poster.

Paper Session
30 minute presentation of research or an argument. 15 minutes questions.

Short Fuse
Specifically for research students. The Short Fuse is a popular slot & is designed to allow many presentations in a focused and lively form.
The format involves: 10 Powerpoint slides only; Total presentation will be 5 minutes; 5 minutes for questions. You should set your slides to advance automatically for your talk.

Poster
You should bring your printed poster with you.

Speakers
Urszula Clark
Guy Merchant
Alexandra Georgakopoulou
Susan Jones

International College at Beijing job ad

The University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) Department of Communication invites applications for a non-tenure-track Instructor position at the International College at Beijing (ICB). The job will commence in September, 2016. Depending on the performance of the individual hired, multi-year renewals are possible.

Located in the Haidian District of Beijing (China’s Silicon Valley), ICB is an international partnership between the China Agricultural University and the University of Colorado Denver that offers complete undergraduate programs in Economics and Communication. All courses are administered and taught by CU Denver faculty in English, and the degree earned is awarded by CU Denver. The ICB program offers a thriving and collegial environment that embodies the best promises of international education, and features classes on diversity, globalization, new media (analysis and production), civic engagement, and more.

The teaching load is 7 courses per academic year. The instructor will be responsible for teaching a range of communication courses including but not limited to New Media Production, Media and Society, Advanced Strategic Communication, Advertising, and Media Writing Skills. This line also includes fulfilling the service role of directing the ICB’s Media Learning Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility serving the ICB program, where students are taught how to analyze and produce a wide range of media. In this capacity, the successful candidate will need to:
1) be familiar with basic studio lighting set-ups and the operation of a variety of professional-grade video cameras;
2) be conversant with the Adobe Photoshop Suite, Apple’s Final Cut X, and other graphic software design platforms; and 3) be an experienced teacher of these skills and manager of such resources.

The salary is competitive and commensurate with peer institutions. Instructors also receive two round-trip airline tickets between Beijing and your home country, international health insurance, and free on-campus housing. Semesters are 14 weeks long; the fall semester begins in mid-September, and the spring semester begins in mid-February. The University of Colorado offers a full benefits package.

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire. Faculty hired to teach at ICB must be able to meet the requirements to obtain the appropriate visa to work in China.

The Minimum Qualifications for consideration are an M.A. in Communication, two years of experience teaching the kinds of classes listed above, and proven expertise with the video skills noted above. Additional, Preferred Qualifications include a Ph.D. in Communication or a closely allied field. Preference is for an individual who has experience teaching in an international setting and a personal and scholarly interest in diverse cultures. Fluency in or the desire to learn Mandarin is valued, as is an active research agenda and evidence of service capacities.

Applications are accepted electronically ONLY online, refer to job number 04492; the application deadline is May 1, 2016. A complete application will include a Cover Letter, a CV, a list of at least 3 references, and sample syllabi. Questions should be directed to Dr. Hamilton Bean. Applications missing any of the materials listed above may not be considered.

Distinguished Scholarship Awards, IICD of NCA

Call for Nominations
2016 Distinguished Scholarship Awards
International and Intercultural Communication Division
National Communication Association

Nominations are invited for the 2016 International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) Distinguished Scholarship Awards for work copyrighted in 2015. Up to five awards will be given in the following categories:
· Best Book (single-authored or co-authored)
· Best Book (edited or co-edited)
· Best Article (or Book Chapter)
· Best Dissertation and/or Master’s Thesis

Submit all nomination materials via electronic submission to cheny3@ohio.edu and must include the following:
(a) A nomination letter outlining justification for the award
(b) For Article or Book Chapter submissions, send PDF copies only
(c) For Book submissions, send three (3) copies of the complete work (You may ask your publishers to send copies directly as part of their promo)
(d) For Dissertation or Thesis submissions, mail/send three (3) CD-ROM, flash drive, or PDF copies of the complete work.

Mail hard copies (for c & d) to the following address:
Dr. Yea-Wen Chen
School of Communication Studies
Ohio University
Schoonover Center 407
Athens, OH 45701-2979
The United States

Awards will be presented at the International and Intercultural Communication Division (IICD) Business Meeting in Philadelphia at the 2016 NCA Convention. Recipients of the awards will be notified by September 1, 2016 and are expected to be present for the award presentations. Self, peer, or advisor nominations are welcomed. The awards committee will not accept more than one submission of the same (co-)author, whether they are nominated or self-nominated, regardless of category. Works must have been copyrighted during the 2015 calendar year.

Nomination packets must be received by April 25, 2016.

Locating and Dislocating Memory (Ireland)

Locating and Dislocating Memory
COST NETWORK:In Search of Transcultural Memory in Europe
University College Dublin
Graduate Training School: 29 Aug-2 Sept, 2016
Conference: 1-3 September, 2016

The ISTME network (2012-2016) aims to investigate the transcultural dynamics of memory in Europe today. Studying how memories of the troubled twentieth century are transmitted and received across Europe, the Action explores the tension between attempts to create a common European memory, or a unitary memory ethics, on the one hand and numerous memory conflicts stemming from Europe’s fragmentation into countless memory communities on the other.

The final ISTME conference will focus on the ways in which memory is located and dislocated through processes of production, transmission and reception. Given the dynamism of memory at local, regional and transnational levels, how, when and where is memory located and defined? What are the ethical challenges in these acts of location and definition? What are the ways in which memory is continuously dislocated, via mediation, remediation, consensus-making and conflict? In an age of mass migration, how are memories produced by communities that are themselves dislocated? Is memory the object that is being located or dislocated, or is it a signifier of the location and dislocation of particular memory communities? Is the tension between location and dislocation central to the practice of memory? What new methodological approaches to memory studies can usefully be brought to bear on these questions?

Keynote speakers:
Professor Astrid Erll, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt
Professor Michael Rothberg, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Professor Francoise Vergès, Collège D’études Mondiales, Paris

Proposals
Please submit your proposals for papers of 20 minutes via email by 15 April 2016. Proposals should be no longer than 300 words and should be accompanied by a brief biography (100 words). Proposals for panels (3 x 20min) are also welcome, as are proposals for papers that draw attention to recently published work which relates directly to the areas of inquiry outlined above.

A limited number of scholarships covering travel and accommodation expenses for conference speakers are made available by COST. Please indicate in your proposal whether your participation in the conference will be dependent on financial support.

Working Groups: This Network consists of three working groups: 1. Politics 2. Media 3. Migration. Please indicate on your proposal with which thematic area (if any) your paper is associated.

Calouste Gulbenkian Prize

Calouste Gulbenkian’s long path, from his childhood in Istanbul to the latter years of his life in Lisbon, shaped his personality and influenced the Foundation that he decided to create in Portugal as a Portuguese institution.

A pioneer in the oil industry, a demanding art collector, a diplomat and philanthropist, Calouste Gulbenkian was a perfect example of the synthesis of the eastern culture of his birth and origins, and the western culture in which he was educated and lived. Other revealing features of his character were his great sensitivity towards the harmony of nature and a particular taste for admiring its beauty.

Naturally, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s activities reflect these characteristics of the founder’s personality and aim to support efforts to foster the universal values inherent to the human condition, respect for diversity and difference, a culture of tolerance and the conservation of the environment in man’s relationship with nature.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Prize will distinguish an individual or institution whose thoughts or actions make a decisive contribution to, and have significant impact on understanding, defending or fostering the universal values of the human condition: namely, the respect for diversity and difference, a culture of tolerance and the conservation of the environment in man’s relationship with nature.

The Prize of €250.000 (two hundred and fifty thousand euros) is awarded annually.

Nominations
1. Fully-grounded nominations will be presented by third parties.
2. Nominations will be submitted exclusively on-line, between 15 February and 15 May, for the respective year, via the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation website and completed according to the instructions indicated.
3. In addition to the documents presented with the nominations, the panel may request further information from nominees.
4. Each member of the panel may nominate up to three other candidates.
5. The Prize will be awarded at a ceremony on 20 July at the headquarters of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The Prize is open to individuals or institutions, regardless of nationality.
The Prize cannot be awarded posthumously or to an institution that has ceased its activity.

EIUC Venice School of Human Rights

Venice School of Human Rights
Dates: 24 June – 2 July 2016
Type of courses: Lectures in the plenum and smaller seminars
Registration deadline: 13 May 2016
Email: veniceschool@eiuc.org
Scientific Director: Prof. Florence Benoit-Rohmer, Strasbourg University
Project Manager: Ms Alberta Rocca, EIUC Senior Project Manager

Introduction
EIUC Venice School of Human Rights was born in 2010 with the goal of studying today’s challenges in the field of human rights.

It allows its participants coming from all over the world to list these challenges and examine their reasons and possible solutions they can deploy. The EIUC Venice School at the same time, combines theory and practice and its faculty involves both academics and practitioners. The Venice School intends to highlight that the respect for human rights is the responsibility of all, that « Human Rights are our responsibility ».

Courses are scheduled to take place in Venice at the premises of the European Inter-University Centre in Human Rights and Democratisation over a period of 9 days. The courses will be taught in English by internationally recognised experts in the fields of human rights belonging to EIUC’s partner universities and other organisations that support EIUC projects and endeavors.

Participants will benefit from an extremely rich cultural environment including visits to museums, galleries, churches and the Venice Biennale. Finally, they will be able to relax and enjoy walking along the Lido beaches or cycling around the island once the courses finish in the afternoon.

Intercultural Visual Communication

Guest PostsGuest post by Trudy Milburn: Intercultural Visual Communication.

In February 2015 I had the opportunity to travel to Italy with my family and friends.  The first day in Milan, my friend Bethany remarked that she was surprised there was so much graffiti in the city.  As in many cities, Milan, Bologna and Rome have their share of writing-on-walls.  What my friend didn’t see initially was any potentially positive purpose behind the act.  She merely thought of it as defacing beautiful old buildings.  Rather than simply viewing the writing as criminal, we could think of wall writing as existing in “rhizomatic space” (Nandrea 1999 referencing Deleuze and Guattari), where “inscriptions can begin and end anywhere, can proceed unpredictably in any direction, can form surprising juxtapositions, layerings, and diagonal relations” (p. 111).

Read the full essay.

Zhejiang University job ad: International Studies

Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor/Professor in International Studies
Zhejiang University – College of Humanities and Social Science
Hangzhou, China
Expires: 24th May 2016

About Zhejiang University
Located in the historical and picturesque city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang University is a prestigious institution of higher education with a long history. Qiushi Academy, the predecessor of Zhejiang University, was founded in 1897 and was one of the earliest modern academies of higher learning established in China.

Zhejiang University focuses on assiduous study and research, and science and technological innovation. It has launched a number of international high-end academic platforms and gathered masters, scholars and high-level research teams in various disciplines. In recent years, Zhejiang University maintains a leading position in China in output indicators including publications, patents and etc., and has made abundant important achievements in science, technology, humanities and social sciences. Zhejiang University always takes initiative in catering for national and regional needs, and exerts itself to become an influential high-level source of innovation and a pool of talents. In 2015, research fund at Zhejiang University amounted to 3,316 million yuan.

School of International Studies
The School of International Studies specialises in research fields and specialisations for the following areas: Second Language Acquisition, Pragmatics, Language Testing, Studies of Chinese as a Second Language, British & American Literature, Medieval English, Renaissance Literature, Theoretical Linguistics, Intercultural Communication, French Language and Literature, German Language and Literature, Japanese Language and Literature, Russian Language and Literature.

Zhejiang University “Hundred Talent Program”
The newly launched “One-hundred Talents Program” is aimed at attracting outstanding scholars both at home and abroad. To those recruited via this program, the university is to adopt an international academic standard and procedure — the tenure track system.

The university plans to recruit roughly 50 distinguished scholars from both China and abroad by the “One-hundred Talents Program”. Ample funds are available for this program to ensure that scholars have a favourable academic environment and optimum working and living conditions so that they can be dedicated to academic research and the advancement of their fields.

Responsibilities:
He/She who holds this position should engage in high-quality teaching.
Zhejiang University “Hundred Talents Program”(Humanities and Social Science) includes “Type A” and “Type B”.
Type A: The applicant should be engaged in a high-level research, participate in the planning, developing and implementation of academic discipline(s), facilitate international academic communication and research cooperation, promote international reputation, gradually form a leading and competitive role in the academic discipline.
Type B: The applicant should be engaged in a high-level research and establish a research orientation, facilitate international academic communication and research cooperation and become an active and influential scholar in the field.

Qualifications and Requirements:
Type A: The applicant should hold associate professorship or assistant professorship in a prominent international university, and have a certain influence in national and international academia with active thoughts. He/She should have the ability to make certain influential achievements in some fields.
Type B: The applicant should be the outstanding scholar with excellent academic training. Principally, he/she should hold a doctoral degree or accomplish postdoctoral research of a renowned university or renowned discipline. He/She should have certain innovative research achievements with active thoughts as well as a great developing potential.
The applicant is expected to be a proactive learner and work full-time at ZJU

Remuneration:
ZJU will provide decent compensation.
ZJU will provide the position of ZJU100 Professor, qualified to supervise doctoral students. Type A talents can apply for tenured professor or tenured associate-professor directly.
Those qualified may apply for purchasing one of the apartments reserved for talents.
After the application approved, a research start-up fund will be provided according to the difference of disciplines.

Application Details
Contact: Ms. Yang

For application, please provide a detailed resume, certificates of academic degrees, innovative research achievements and samples of major publications. These documents may be sent by email to the contact person listed above.

For further questions, you can email Central Human Resources.