Usage, application and development of
the languages of the Caribbean and the Guianas

The Society for Caribbean Linguistics (SCL) and the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics (SPCL) will meet at the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de la Guyane (CCIG) in Cayenne, French Guiana, from Monday 28 to Thursday 31 July 2008.   The Conference follows the inaugural session of the Caribbean Language and Linguistics Institute (CLLI) to be hosted at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

The Conference theme is "Usage, application and development of the languages of the Caribbean and the Guianas."

All information on online registration, air links (Air France, Air Caraïbes, American Airlines and American Eagle, Suriname Airways, and LIAT), visas, accommodation, and a special conference field trip (2 or 3-day trip to the Kali'na in west French Guiana from Friday 1 August) is available here.

Check us out on Facebook.

 

Summary of key dates:

Deadline for submission of abstracts - 15 February 2008

*Extension of deadline for submission of abstracts: 29 February 2008*

Notification of acceptance - 15 April 2008

Deadline for submission of outlines for distribution - before or at the conference

Deadline for submission of full papers - 15 August 2008 (after the conference)

Conference - 28 to 31 July 2008
(arrival Monday 28 July; departure on Friday 1 August, or on the weekend to accommodate the field trip)

 

CALL FOR PAPERS
INVITED TOPICS

Abstracts on all types of Caribbean languages are invited. Caribbean languages include Amerindian languages, creole languages, standard, official and non-standard language varieties, and immigrant languages. As this is a joint conference with the SPCL, papers on non-Caribbean creole languages are also welcome. For Cayenne 2008, abstracts on all aspects of Antillean and Guianese languages are especially invited and strongly encouraged.

Abstracts pertaining to any of the following panel themes are invited (in any sub-discipline of linguistics):


1. Language description: Amerindian languages
This panel, which may be subdivided into several separate ones depending on the submissions we receive, focuses on papers that describe particular aspects of the grammatical system of one Amerindian language or compares such phenomena across two or more Amerindian languages. It invites contributions from all structural subdisciplines such as phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax, morphosyntax, and semantics.

2. Language description: creole languages
This panel, which may be subdivided into several separate ones depending on the submissions we receive, focuses on papers that describe particular aspects of the grammatical system of one creole language or compare such phenomena across two or more creoles. It invites contributions from all structural subdisciplines such as phonology, phonetics, morphology, syntax, morphosyntax, and semantics.

3. Language contact: diachronic and synchronic
This panel invites papers that focus on contact phenomena, and welcomes papers that deal with both linguistic and social aspects of contact. Historically, research in this domain has focused on substrate/substrate influence in creole genesis and on lexical borrowing in relation to Amerindian languages. These topics continue to be of great importance but, in addition, we also want to invite contributions that deal with other, less well represented topics, such as diachronic and synchronic contact, including aspects of code-switching, between different creoles/Amerindian languages, between creoles and Amerindian languages, between creoles/Amerindian languages and the official European languages, including supra-national and local norms, or other local languages, etc. For instance, we still know relatively little about varieties of French, Dutch and English spoken in the region (or other regions of the world) and how they have been influenced by the other languages (Amerindian languages, creoles, etc.) spoken in the various regions. We also know very little about how creoles are practised as L2 varieties.

4. Sociolinguistic contexts and settings
This panel aims to bring together current sociolinguistic research on creoles and Amerindian languages. Traditionally, most sociolinguistic research on creoles has been carried out in the Labovian quantitative paradigm. And most research on sociolinguistic settings and multilingualism in Creole communities has implicitly or explicitly assumed that creole communities are essentially diglossic societies where the local Creole and European language have clearly defined and distinct functions. While these research paradigms continue to be of importance, we would also like to strongly encourage presentations that use qualitative approaches and/or fruitfully combine quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyse a wide range of sociolinguistic/linguistic anthropological phenomena in creole-speaking communities and in Amerindian communities.

5. Language and education
This panel aims to bring together research on the use of creoles and Amerindian languages in the school context. Two broad themes are the focus of this session. First, empirical studies that examine the nature of the educational environment in different countries (e.g., language acquisition studies, studies on class room interactions, comparison of home/school practices, evaluations of student performance). Second, description and assessment of actual experimental projects that aim to implement creoles and Amerindian languages in the school setting.

6. Language and migration
Migration has from the beginning played an important role in shaping the makeup of societies in the Caribbean and the Guianas. Over the last 20 years or so, migratory movements have much intensified, however, leading to significant spatial reorganisations of populations which in turn have given rise to the reconceptualisation of ethnic boundaries, the creation of new social identities, new ways of negotiating social identities, etc. The goal of this panel is to study a wide range of synchronic but also diachronic contact phenomena that are due to population movements. Topics of interest include but are not limited to patterns of language use in the public domain and among family members, peer-group interactions in multiethnic interactions, work interactions, language use in multiethnic service encounters, attitudes towards so-called migrant populations by the different administrative institutions, language practices by the representatives of administrative institutions in institutional interactions, language attitudes among immigrant populations and indigenous populations.

7. Linguistic practices and new technologies
Although English is still the most widely used language on the World Wide Web, other languages are being widely used in other technology-mediated interactions. The aim of this panel is to investigate the practices of Creole speakers and speakers of Amerindian languages in relation to technology-mediated communication. Possible questions to be investigated are: Do Creole speakers and speakers of Amerindian languages use these languages for e-mail and texting? For what purposes and in which kinds of communications are creoles and Amerindian language being used? Do users engaged in the same kinds of language switching and mixing patterns as in oral communication?

8. Postcolonial pragmatics
Pragmatics, one of the most thriving areas of research in linguistics, is severely under-represented in Creole studies. With regard to Caribbean linguistics, and especially to Creole varieties, only few isolated strands of research can be found so far. This lack of structured research is all the more surprising in that the study of meaning in context, of speech acts, speech events, discourses, conversational analysis and other units of analysis of language in performance is particularly interesting in multilingual and postcolonial spaces in which issues of identity, agency and empowerment are often negotiated in verbal acts. We would now like to fill this gap by hosting a special panel on Postcolonial Pragmatics at the SCL and SPCL conference 2008 in Cayenne. We would like to invite papers on any area of pragmatic research in Caribbean language situations, involving Creole varieties, Caribbean Englishes, Caribbean French, as well as Amerindian languages. Particular emphasis might be placed on issues like:
• Speech acts and politeness research
• Conversation Analysis
• Verbal and nonverbal communication (i.e., gestures) in context
• Discourse communities in the media
• Public vs. private performances of language
• Pragmatics and language change in the Caribbean



ABSTRACTS

Abstracts will be submitted to a joint SCL/SPCL six-member panel for anonymous review, and should be submitted electronically to secretary (a) scl-online.net OR to EasyChair (see below for instructions). Submitters should expect an acknowledgement of receipt from the Secretariat or automated acknolwedgement via EasyChair. If you do not receive any form of acknowledgement, you should e-mail within a week to confirm receipt. This could be 1) due to internet problems or 2) due to incorrect submission of abstracts as per the instructions below - wrongly submitted abstracts will generally receive no acknowledgement.

*DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS - 15 FEBRUARY 2008*
*DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF FULL PAPERS - 1 JULY 2008*


INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS
(ELECTRONIC FORMAT ONLY)

Please follow these seven instructions carefully. If the instructions are not followed, abstracts WILL BE rejected altogether and will not be considered. No acknowledgement of receipt will be sent in the case of such submissions. Late abstracts will not be considered or acknowledged. Please note that there is a limit of one abstract per person, although an individual is allowed to submit a second abstract as part of a group of authors.

1. Word limit: An abstract must be no more than 500 words (see suggestions for successful abstracts below). Please indicate the word count at the bottom of the abstract. Except for the instructions given below, no special form or format is needed for this initial submission of the abstract.

2. At the top of the abstract, put the title.

3. To ensure anonymity, do not put your name in the abstract itself. Your name should only be on the abstract submittal e-mail message.

4. Special fonts: Please use Doulos SIL (a Unicode font available at http://scripts.sil.org/DoulosSIL_download). If you use any other font in your abstract or your paper, you must also send either (a) a paper copy - ask for the postal address (same deadline), or (b) a PDF file by e-mail, as special fonts often do not transmit accurately, except for IPA extensions in Unicode fonts such as Lucida Sans Unicode. If you send a hard copy, indicate at the bottom of your e-mail that a hard copy has been mailed. You should send your special fonts file via attachment.
If you use the PDF option, and need a PDF creator, go to this site to choose a free downloadable PDF creator: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDF_software. Adobe PDF files can also be created online at http://createpdf.adobe.com/.)

5. Options for submitting your abstract:

Option A - MS Word attachment: Send the abstract as an attachment to secretary (a) scl-online.net, using Microsoft Word and save the document with your last name/surname in the document name, e.g., SURNAME_SCLSPCL2008.doc. When using this option, include points 1 to 6 (below) at the beginning of your e-mail message only:

1. TITLE OF ABSTRACT:
2. NAME:
3. ADDRESS:
4. AFFILIATION:
5. STATUS (lecturer, student*, other):
6. E-MAIL ADDRESS (give more than one, if possible):

*Students must be currently registered in the academic year of the conference and must supply student ID number and proof of registration from their institution. According to the SCL constitution, an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in the regular academic year as a candidate for a degree in a recognised college or university may become a student member on payment of dues. Student membership shall be limited to a maximum of six (6) years.

DO NOT include points 1 to 6 not in the attached Word document containing your abstract.

DO NOT submit your abstract only as a PDF attachment. Use the PDF option in conjunction with the Word option, ONLY when special fonts and formatting are an issue.

Option B - E-mail message to secretary (a) scl-online.net: If the Word option is not available, paste it into the body of an e-mail message. When using this option, please follow the same format as above (use the numbering system given below):

1. TITLE OF ABSTRACT:
2. NAME:
3. ADDRESS:
4. AFFILIATION:
5. STATUS (lecturer, student, other):
6. E-MAIL ADDRESS (give more than one, if possible):

Option C - Via EasyChair
Register with EasyChair (click on "I have no EasyChair account" to create one, then proceed to New Submission). Copy and paste your abstract and title in the given boxes. Put your panel information in the Keywords section. Be sure to tick the box "Abstract Only", and then "Submit Paper."

6. When submitting your abstract, please indicate the panel of your interest (from the list above).

7. Please indicate whether you prefer to present your paper as a poster or as an oral presentation. Once your abstract has been accepted, you will be asked to indicate your multimedia needs, if any.





IMPORTANT NOTE: Please note that all conference papers will be put onto the conference CD for distribution AFTER the conference. The format for the submission of papers will be sent to all those whose abstracts have been accepted and whose papers will have been delivered at the conference.





SOCIETY AND CONFERENCE RULES:
1) ALL authors are expected to be current members, i.e., in good financial standing, of either SCL or SPCL.
2) ALL authors are expected to confirm that they will present their papers at the conference.
3) ALL authors are expected to submit their full papers for distribution on the conference CD. The deadline date is 15 August 2008. (All papers on the CD will be protected pdf files and will be considered drafts for circulation among conference attendees, and will not be considered published documents for distribution.)






SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL ABSTRACTS

1. Abstracts are more often rejected because they omit crucial information rather than because of errors in what they do include. Make sure the abstract clearly indicates your point.

2. Choose a title that clearly indicates the topic of the paper, but is as short as possible.

3. State the problem or research question, with specific reference to relevant prior research.

4. State the main point or argument of the proposed presentation.

5. Cite sufficient data, and explain why and how they support the main point or argument. When examples are in languages or varieties other than standard English, provide word-by-word glosses and capitalise the portions of the examples which are critical to the argument. Explain abbreviations at their first occurrence.

6. Indicate the nature of the research design and the specific hypothesis. If your paper is not yet complete, report the results you have already obtained (or what you expect to obtain) in sufficient detail so that your abstract may be properly evaluated.

7. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future development of the field. Describe analyses in as much detail as possible. Avoid saying in effect "a solution to this problem will be presented." State what the "solution" is/might be. If you are taking a stand on an issue, summarise the arguments that lead you to your position.

8. In-text citations of the relevant literature are usually essential, but do not attach a separate list of references at the end of the abstract.

 

Guyane Française