ViLA2 aims to bring together the growing amount of research that takes into account language-internal variation as well as variation between two or more languages in both first and second language acquisition. The conference, a follow-up to a 2012 workshop (Münster, Germany), will be held 3-5 December 2014 at the University of Grenoble. The submission papers is open until 18 May 2014.

In the beginning of the 20th Century, language was studied as clearly defined homogenous systems, independent from other cognitive mechanisms (e.g. social or spatial cognition). However, during the second half of the 20th Century, sociolinguistic studies challenged this perspective considering languages as evolving and heterogeneous systems. This structured heterogeneity is due to their internal dynamics, the contacts between them, and their links with social organization, which is itself evolving, composite and multi-layered. This new perspective has repercussions on language acquisition studies. The language environment the child/learner is confronted to is variable and part of this variation is organized by social factors.

 

It aims to cover the following four thematic issues:
1/ Child acquisition of dialectal varieties of the first language
2/ Child multilingual and multidialectal acquisition within multilingual communities
3/ Acquisition of language-internal variation as well as language mixing in the case of a second language learning in contact with native speakers (e.g. study abroad, migration)
4/ Lifelong second dialect acquisition.


We welcome proposals for 20-minute paper presentations followed by 10-minute discussions that address the above issues, with one more of the following perspectives:
- Description and modeling of the appearance of adult- or native-like sociolinguistic knowledge and patterns
- Cognitive or linguistic underlying mechanisms
- Language socialization
- Acquisition of the indexical field and links between linguistic and social knowledge
- Influence of the environment: family, peers, and teachers
- Studies contrasting or combining theoretical views: formal approaches, constructionist and usage-based approaches, etc.
- Language acquisition and language change
- Combining methods and desirable innovation

 

Research from different disciplinary background is welcome: sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, social cognition, anthropology, social neurosciences, etc. We encourage proposals that bring together cognitive and social issues or that combine experimental and corpus or field methods.

 

INVITED SPEAKERS
Elizabeth Lanza, University of Oslo
Jeff Siegel, University of New England
Vera Regan, University College Dublin
Jennifer Smith, University of Glasgow

 

FORMAT FOR ABSTRACT
Abstracts should be submitted using the OpenConf platform
- 500 words, Times, single-spaced, title centered at top in bold, word count visible, anonymous
- Question clearly stated, significance and originality for the field, methods, analysis, discussion
- Examples, tables, figures, and references on a second page.
- pdf file

English and French are the working languages of the conference.

 

IMPORTANT DATES
- Deadline for submission: 18 May 2014
- Notification of acceptance: 27 July 2014
- Conference date: 3-5 December 2014

FEES
Before 31 OCTOBER
- General: 100€
- Students, post-doc, unaffiliated: 60€
- Gala dinner: 45€
The fees include the three lunches and the coffee breaks.
After 31 OCTOBER
- General: 140€
- Students, post-doc, unaffiliated: 80€
- Gala dinner: 45€
The fees include the three lunches and the coffee breaks.

 

Website:  http://vila2014.u-grenoble3.fr./index.php?pg=1&lg=en