8. Forthcoming Meetings

The Evolution Of Language, London April 6-9 1998 Organised by Professor Jean Aitchison (Oxford University), Professor Jim Hurford (Department of Linguistics, University of Edinburgh) and Dr. Chris Knight (Department of Sociology, University of East London).

This will be the second conference in a series concerned with the evolutionary emergence of speech. From a wide range of disciplines, we seek to attract researchers willing to integrate their perspectives with those of modern Darwinism.

Focused Themes:
- From Proto-Language to Language
- Modelling Language Evolution

Speakers will include: Derek Bickerton (Hawaii), Paul Bloom (Arizona), Luigi Cavalli-Sforza (Stanford), Robin Dunbar (Liverpool), Dean Falk (New York), Philip Lieberman (Brown), Bjorn Lindblom (Stockholm), John Maynard-Smith (Sussex), Frederick Newmeyer (Washington), Johanna Nichols (Berkeley), Michael Studdert-Kennedy (Haskins Labs).

NAACLT: American Celtic Language Teachers Conference - Call for Papers

The fourth annual National Association of Celtic Language Teachers Conference will be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA June 5-6, 1998. The Conference well be co-sponsored by The University of Minnesota and the Center for Irish Studies at St. Thomas University in St. Paul.

Keynote speakers include Dr. Gearoid Denvir of University College, Galway, Ireland and Dr. Kenneth Nilsen of St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Abstracts for individual papers or panels are welcome on the following topics involving any one of the modern Celtic languages:

Computer-assisted instruction
Dialect choice in language learning
Language acquisition
Language and gender
Language-learning materials
Language policy and planning
Language testing and teacher certification
Syllabus design

Celtic language teachers are welcome to present workshops or presentations concerning methods, materials, and program development. These presentations have traditionally been scheduled for Friday of the conference.

All presentations will be 20 minutes long with a 10 minute discussion period following. Send three double-spaced printed copies of a 300-word abstract with name, address, voice and fax number, e-mail address and institutional affiliation (if applicable) on the first copy. Second and third copy should have no identification. Also send one copy of a 50-word summary to be included in the conference program and booklet of abstracts.

Send printed abstracts and e-mail to:
Robert S. Burke,
NAACLT '98, 6328 Golden Hook Court, Columbia, MD USA
e-mail: roibeard(at)abs.net
or
Dr. Paul W. Birt,
NAACLT '98, University of Ottawa, Modern Languages and Literatures,25 Universite, Suite 138, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
E-mail: pwbirt(at)uottawa.ca.

Deadline: December 20, 1997
More information: Http://www.naaclt.org

ESF: The Convergence and Divergence of Dialects in a Changing Europe
University of Reading, 17-19 September, 1998
First Announcement and Call For Papers

The European Science Foundation are pleased to announce the final conference of the Network on the Convergence and Divergence of Dialects in a Changing Europe, which is currently running as a programme under the auspices of the European Science Foundation. It will include invited lectures by G. Berruto, W. Labov, P. Trudgill and others, as well as lectures by members of the Network.

Papers for this event are welcome from everyone working in the area of dialect convergence and divergence in Europe, both from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective, using qualitative or quantitative methodology. Contributions on the smaller languages of Europe are particularly welcome, as are papers on syntax, prosody and discourse.

Further details about abstract submission, deadlines, costs, etc. will shortly be available from the local organiser, Paul Kerswill, at the following address or (preferably) by e-mail:

Paul Kerswill (ESF), Department of Linguistic Science, The University of Reading, Whiteknights,
PO Box 218, Reading RG6 6AA, United Kingdom
e-mail P.E.Kerswill(at)reading.ac.uk
tel. + 44-118-987-5123
fax + 44-118-975-3365

Peter Auer (Hamburg), co-ordinator
Frans Hinskens (Nijmegen), co-ordinator
Paul Kerswill (local organiser)

Contents.