8. Forthcoming Meetings

California Indian Conference (San Francisco, Feb. 27-March 1, 1998)

The 13th California Indian Conference will be held in the Seven Hills Conference Center, San Francisco State University, February 27-March 1, 1998. The CIC is an annual gathering for the exchange of views and information among academics, American Indians, students, and other community members. Any topic reflecting humanistic, scientific, artistic, or social concern with California Indian people and their cultural heritage is welcome. The formal abstract deadline was January 5, but late abstracts will be considered if space is available on the program. Contact: Lee Davis, Anthropology, SF State U, San Francisco, CA 94132 (tel: 415/338-6583; e-mail: califia(at)sfsu.edu).

First Nations Oral Literatures (Vancouver, BC, March 5-8, 1998)

A conference on First Nations Oral Literatures will be held at Green College, University of British Columbia, March 5 to 8, 1998, in collaboration with the First Nations House of Learning.

The aim of the conference is to bring storytellers, writers, scholars and graduate students from different disciplines together and invite them to present and talk about their work, as well as give people who are not familiar with First Nations oral texts the opportunity to come into contact with the oldest literature that has developed on the North American continent. Among the keynote speakers, writers and story-tellers who will be attending are: Judith Berman; Robert Bringhurst; Wallace Chafe; Julie Cruikshank; Nora Dauenhauer; Richard Dauenhauer; Marilyn Dumont; Victor Golla; Vi Hilbert; Dell Hymes; Sean Kane; Michael Krauss; David Lertzman; Dawn Maracle; Charles Menzies; Duane Niatum; Robin Ridington; William Shipley; Gerald M. Sider; Shirley Sterling; Marie-Lucie Tarpent; Drew Hayden Taylor; and Dennis Tedlock.

Registration for the conference is possible by mail, e-mail, or over the web. For further information contact: First Nations Oral Literature Conference, Department of English, UBC, #397 - 1873 East Mall, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z1, CANADA (fax: 604/822-6906; e-mail: gudrund(at)unixg.ubc.ca). There is also a conference website at:
http://www.library.ubc.ca/xwi7xwa/

Structure and Constituency in the Languages of the Americas (Saskatchewan, March 27-29, 1998)

The Workshop will be held at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, University of Regina, March 27-29, 1998, organized by Jan van Eijk.

Papers on any of the four core areas of linguistics (phonetics & phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics) are welcome, as are papers that explore the interfaces between these disciplines. The Workshop is entirely open-minded as to which theoretical framework a presenter uses, but linguists who work in a theory of very recent origin should be prepared to give a brief synopsis of their chosen framework. A section on the analysis of texts is also planned, and participants who wish to take part in this should submit a brief text with morpheme-by-morpheme analysis and running translation. (The presentation should address aspects of structure and constituency on the text level, e.g. discourse particles, focus devices, etc.) Depending on the number of participants it may or may not be possible to present both a text and a theoretical paper.

Abstracts should be no longer than a page, and submitted in 4 copies with the author's name and affiliation. They may also be submitted by e-mail. The deadline for submissions is February 6, 1998. Address all correspondence to: Structure & Constituency Workshop, c/o Jan van Eijk, Dept. of Indian Languages, Literatures & Linguistics, Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, 118 College West, Univ. of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, CANADA (e-mail: wscla(at)hotmail.com).

Language Resources for European Minority Languages, Granada, Spain - May 27 1998 (a.m.) From: Briony Williams briony(at)cstr.ed.ac.uk
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 16:31:02 +0000 (GMT)

This workshop will be held in conjunction with the International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), Granada, Spain: May 28-30, 1998.

The workshop will provide a forum for researchers working on the development of speech and language resources for the indigenous minority languages of Europe.

WORKSHOP SCOPE AND AIMS
The minority or "lesser used" languages of Europe (e.g. Basque, Welsh, Breton) are under increasing pressure from the major languages. Some of them (e.g. Gaelic) are becoming endangered, but others (e.g. Catalan) are in a stronger position, with a certain amount of official recognition and funding. However, the situation with regard to language resources is fragmented and disorganised. Some minority languages have been adequately researched linguistically, but most have not, and the vast majority do not yet possess basic speech and language resources (such as text and speech corpora) which are sufficient to permit commercial development of products.

If this situation were to continue, the minority languages of Europe would fall a long way behind the major languages, as regards the availability of commercial speech and language products. This in turn will accelerate the decline of those languages that are already struggling to survive, as speakers are forced to use the majority language for interaction with these products. To break this vicious circle, it is important to encourage the development of basic language resources.

The workshop is a very small first step towards encouraging the development of such resources. The aim is to share information, so that isolated researchers will not need to start from nothing. An important aspect will be the forming of personal contacts, which at present do not exist. The aim is to make it easier for isolated researchers with little funding and no existing corpora to begin developing a usuable speech or text database. There will be a balance between presentations of existing language resources, and more general presentations designed to give background information.

Technical areas covered will include:
_ Presentation of existing speech and text databases for minority languages, with particular emphasis on their design and their annotation.
_ Presentation of existing lexicons for minority languages, with particular emphasis on fast production methods.
_ Encouragement of standardisation, using the recommendations formulated by the EAGLES Working Groups.
_ Presentation of the EU's policy towards minority languages, and the situation of minority languages in Europe.

Papers are invited that will describe existing speech and language resources for minority languages (speech databases, text databases, and lexicons), also papers based on the analysis of these resources. Presentations will last 20 minutes each. All presentations will be given in English, since it cannot be assumed that each listener will speak all the minority languages discussed.

Organizers:
_ Briony Williams University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
_ Climent Nadeu Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Catalunya, Spain
_ Alex Monaghan Dublin City University, Ireland

PAPER SUBMISSION
Papers should not exceed 4,000 words or 10 pages. They can be submitted in one of two ways: hard copy or electronic submission. They should be in A4 size and in English.

A) Hard copies:
Three hard copies should be sent to:
Dr. Briony Williams
CSTR
80 South Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1HN>
Scotland, UK

Please also send an email to Briony Williams (briony(at)cstr.ed.ac.uk) informing her of the hard copy submission. This is in case the hard copy does not reach its destination. This email should contain the information specified in the section below.

B) Electronic submission:
Electronic submission may be in self-contained Latex, Postcript or MS-Word format. Submissions should be sent to briony(at)cstr.ed.ac.uk. An electronic submission should be accompanied by a plain ascii text email message giving the following details:

# NAME : Name of first author
# TITLE: Title of the paper
# PAGES: Number of pages
# NOTE : Any relevant instructions about the format etc.
# ABSTR: Abstract of the paper
# EMAIL: Email address of the first author
# ADDR: Postal address of the first author
# TEL: Telephone number of the first author
# FAX: Fax number of the first author

IMPORTANT DATES
Paper submission deadline February 27
Paper notification March 27
Camera-ready papers due April 22
Workshop May 26

CONFERENCE INFORMATION
General information about the main conference:
http://www.icp.inpg.fr/ELRA/conflre.html
Specific queries about the conference should be directed to: LREC Secretariat
Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación
Dpto. de Traducción e Interpretación
C/ Puentezuelas, 55, 18002 Granada, SPAIN
Tel: +34 58 24 41 00 - Fax: +34 58 24 41 04
reli98(at)goliat.ugr.es

Discourse Across Languages & Cultures (Milwaukee: 10-12 Sept. 1998) "Discourse Across Languages & Cultures" (the 24th University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Linguistics Symposium) will be held September 10-12, 1998.

Papers are sought that discuss written, spoken, or signed discourse from a cross-linguistic and/or cross-cultural perspective. It is part of the purpose of this symposium to initiate a dialogue among the various disciplines and sub-disciplines that are involved in this study and abstracts are welcome from scholars representing any of the following fields of study where the focus of the paper is on cross-linguistics and/or cross-cultural comparison:

discourse analysis, text linguistics
contrastive rhetoric, rhetorical typology
translation studies, genre studies

Abstracts should be sent to: '98 UWM Symposium Committee, Dept. of English, U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413. The deadline for receipt is February 2, 1998.

For further information visit the Conference website:
http://www.uwm.edu:80/Dept/
English/98Symp.html

or contact Michael Darnell at the address above (tel: +1-414/962-1943; fax: +1-414/229-2643; messages: +1-414/229-4511; e-mail: darnell(at)csd.uwm.edu).

Minority Languages in Context. Diversity and Standardisation (Chur, Switzerland: 21-23 Sept 1998)

Call for Papers (Deadline 16th February 1998)
Organising Committee:
Anna-Alice Dazzi-Gross, Mike Makosch, Lorenza Mondada, Jean-François de Pietro

Themes addressed by the congress
The aim of the congress is to stimulate the study and discussion of contextual dimensions within which minority languages are spoken, shared and taught. The congress will provide a forum for the exchange and discussion of descriptive and comparative reports from a variety of regional and national settings including those in Switzerland. The contexts within which minority languages evolve can be described from differing points of view along a continuum between two opposing poles. At one end of the continuum lay attempts to achieve stability and homogeneity which are usually articulated through projects aiming at the planning and normalisation of minority languages in order to present these codes as having equal status to adjacent majority languages. At the other end of the continuum we find destabilisation and heterogeneity observable at points of contact and overlap between minority and majority languages and often leading to hybrid forms which challenge traditional notions of linguistic code. These two poles involve a variety of actors and agents of differing social and institutional status, all exercising varying degrees of influence on the language situation in question.

The congress will address three thematic areas highlighting the full range of this continuum.

1: Standardisation of Minority Languages
2: Minority and Majority Languages:
coexistence, relationships and overlap
3: Minority Languages at School

Scientific and Practical Organization
The thematic development of each day will take place in a series of parallel sessions run by those having responded to the call for papers and whose contribution has been accepted by the scientific committee. Two types of session are foreseen:

_ Papers: 20 minutes presentation followed by 20 minutes discussion
_ Workshops: 90 minutes within which data and/or hypotheses can be presented, analysed and discussed in an interactive way.
Responses to the call for papers should be sent to the scientific committee (c/o L. Mondada, Romanisches Seminar, University of Basle, Stapfelberg 7/9, CH 4051 Basle)

Deadlines:
Response to call for papers: 16th February 1998
Notification of acceptance by the scientific Committee: 31st March 1998
Definitive programme: 30th June 1998
Enrolment fees:
Speakers: SFr. 50.- (including dinner on Tuesday evening and the published congress proceedings)
Participants:

		paid by	paid 
		30.4.1998	afterward
students		SFr. 50.--	SFr.  70.-
VALS members	SFr. 80.--	SFr. 110.-
non-members	SFr. 100.-- SFr. 130.-
(including the published congress proceedings)
Dinner on Tuesday evening:	 SFr. 50.--

The Native Tongue / La langue maternelle (Paris: 19-21 March 1999)
First Announcement and Call for Papers
University of Paris 7-Denis Diderot

Invited speakers:

Henri Meschonnic, Regine Robin, Rachel Ertel, Stella Baruk, Charles Melman, Morris Halle, Antoine Culioli , Claire Blanche-Benveniste

Abstracts are invited for 30-minute talks on any sociolinguistic, psycholinguistic or psychoanalytic aspect of the relationship of speakers to the mother tongue, whether in a multicultural-multilingual setting or in a context of language substitution, language attrition, language loss or language revival. The role of language in the structuring of the self will also be considered. Papers may be presented in French or in English. Authors are asked to send:

* four (4) copies of an anonymous abstract
* one additional camera-ready copy with the author's name and
affiliation (to be published in the hand-book if the paper is accepted for presentation).

Abstracts should be no more than one page (A4 or letter size) in length, with an additional page for references if necessary.

Please include one more page containing:

* the title of the paper
* the name and affiliation of the author(s),
* the primary author's postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, and fax number.

Papers presented at the conference will be published in the form of a special issue of a major French journal (negociations are underway) and presentation implies consent to such publication.

All abstracts should be sent to: Marina Yaguello/Cyril Veken UFR d'Études Anglophones, Université Paris VII 10, rue Charles V, 75004 Paris, France

Requests for information (e mail only) should be addressed to maya(at)paris7.jussieu.fr or veken(at)paris7.jussieu.fr A web site will be opened in early 1998.

Schedule:

Expression of interest: 30 January 1998
Submission of abstracts: 30 May 1998
Notification of acceptance: 30 September 1998
Final camera ready copy due: 1 February 1999

2nd International Symposium on Bilingualism (Univ. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: 15-17 April, 1999)
(dates provisional)

Submissions are invited for oral or poster presentations, on all aspects of bilingualism. Papers which are based on empirical research and which seek to forge new links between established fields (e.g. linguistics, psychology, speech & language pathology, sociology, and education) or to develop new sub-fields are particularly welcome. All submissions will be peer-reviewed, anonymously, and selected on the grounds of originality, clarity, and significance of findings and conclusions.

Special features of the Symposium include panel sessions on: i) cross-linguistics studies of language acquisition and disorder; ii) bilingual social interaction; iii) trilinguals; iv) grammar and code-switching; v) childhood bilingualism; vi) acquired communication disorders in bilinguals; and vii) bilingualism and the deaf community, and a Round-table on Issues of identification and intervention in multilingual/multicultural speech therapy clinics.

Important dates:
31 Jan 1998: 2nd announcement
1 Sept 1998: Deadline for abstract submission
31 Oct 1998: Notice of acceptance
1 Jan 1999: Closing date for registration

For further details, please contact:
Mrs Gillian Cavagan, ISB organising committee, Department of Speech, Univ. Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK. E-mail: gillian.cavagan(at)ncl.ac.uk;

Fax: +44-191-222-6518; or consult: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~nspeech

Contents.