Sheffield Hallam University – Center for Intercultural Dialogue

CFP Language Policy Forum 2018 (UK)

Call for papers: Language Policy Forum 2018, 31 May – 1 June 2018, at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Deadline extended to 15 January 2018.

The Language Policy Forum 2018 invites scholars, practitioners and other stakeholders to take stock of what language policy means in times of growing diversity. We are especially interested in presentations that discuss dilemmas (language-related problems in the world) and hopes (possible solutions, perhaps as a result of applying research findings).

Language policy permeates all domains of life, from the workplace, to the home and family, to schools, government, and other institutional settings. It materialises as something that enables some people to participate in these domains of life, and constrains others. The BAAL Language Policy group exists to enable dialogue on all areas of language policy research. We therefore encourage theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions from fields such as (but by no means limited to): sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, political philosophy, economics, education, globalisation, and migration. As well as examining diversity within human populations, we encourage discussions of our own diversity of research practices: topics and data, methodologies, and practical applications. We also encourage pedagogical submissions, exploring innovative approaches to the teaching of language policy in higher education.

CFP Languages and Cultures in 21st Century Transnationality (UK)

Languages and Cultures in 21st Century Transnationality CFP
Languages and Cultures at Sheffield Hallam University,
City Campus, Sheffield, S1 1WB
Friday 9 and Saturday 10 September 2016
Abstract deadline: 31 March 2016

The concept of transnationality is increasingly common currency in the globalized world.

Modern Languages, both implicitly or explicitly, deals with the transnational aspects of cultures and, as a discipline, it is hence ideally suited to have societal impact on the construction of transnational education. Intercultural citizenship, in particular, is becoming a sine qua non in the Twenty-First Century. Modern Languages poses multicultural and multilingual questions about identity, subjectivity and alterity of past, present and future. As academics we represent institutional power and theoretical knowledge; we are mediators between theoretical processes of conceptualization and practical moments of interpretation; information brokers and hence in the fortunate positions to bring about social change.

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars from Applied Linguistics, Intercultural Studies and European Cultural Studies to create intercultural and interdisciplinary synergies that go beyond national borders, linguistic silos or academic canons, and thus echo practices of human mobility. Themes of particular interest in the three streams include, but are not limited to:

Applied Linguistics:
• CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), technology-enhanced learning, film as teaching tool
• language acquisition, language planning
• learner autonomy, student engagement
• multilingualism, translation
• discourse analysis

Intercultural Studies:
• citizenship, identity, multiculturalism, nationhood, race
• intercultural awareness, communication, competence, education, management
• tourism, postcolonialism
• international student migration

European Cultural Studies:
• the transnational currency of popular cultural products
• translations, transpositions, transmediality
• synergies/dialogues across national cultures
• intersections of culture with other fields/disciplines (history, law, literature, sociology, technology)
• dialogues across sociocultural strata (e.g. popular and elite cultures)
• fluidity of identity

We invite proposals for 20-min papers; proposals for panels/symposia are also welcome. 250-word abstracts should be submitted by 31 March 2016 to Dr Anja Louis. Abstracts should include the author’s name, affiliation and email address. Please specify ‘Languages and Cultures Conference’ in the subject of your email. We will acknowledge receipt of all abstracts submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us within two weeks, you should assume we did not receive your email.

Sara Mills Profile

Sara Mills is a Research Professor in Linguistics at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK.

She has published on feminist linguistics, mainly sexism and gender and politeness. Her recent research has specifically focused on politeness, and she is also interested in how groups communicate on social media, languages, and perceptions of “management-speak.”

Work for CID:
Sara Mills wrote KC46: Politeness.