SIGN10 announcement and Call for Papers
iSLanDS is excited to report that the next SIGN conference, SIGN10, will take place in Trinidad & Tobago from Monday 9 to Friday 12 December 2024.
More information about the conference, including the keynote presenters and the Scientific Committee, can be found at the SIGN10 website: https://sites.google.com/view/sign10/home. Information about SIGN10 is also available in French and Spanish.
The SIGN10 conference covers topics related to sign languages and deaf communities, such as
- sign language rights, recognition and laws
- sign languages in education
- sign languages and linguistics
- deaf studies and deaf anthropology
- deaf researchers and academics
- deaf advocacy and policy
As usual, signed abstracts can be submitted instead of written ones, and the deadline for submitting abstracts is Wednesday 31 January 2024. These should be submitted by email to signconference10 [at] gmail [dot] com.
In recent years, SIGN conferences have taken place in Turkey, India, China, Brazil and Poland, and have proven popular with researchers and community members alike, thanks in part to the delivery of all presentations in sign language only (International Sign or a local sign language).
iSLanDS co-Director Nick Palfreyman explained: “Originally SIGN10 was due to take place in Nijmegen, but due to the Covid pandemic the arrangements had to be cancelled. We remain hugely grateful to the team that planned to deliver SIGN10 in Nijmegen, and we are delighted that the SIGN conference series will resume again”.
If you need some tips of how to write an abstract, you can use this template.
Prior to SIGN10, there will be a training event for deaf people from across the Caribbean on topics such as research skills, sign language teaching, curriculum design and policy/advocacy. Further details about this will be shared soon.
iSLanDS hosts an international workshop for our CrossMoGram project
Why did the creolist, the sign language linguist and the typologist go to Preston? To attend our CrossMoGram workshop, of course!
Last week we were delighted to welcome experts to our cross-modal workshop, where we discussed the outcomes of the first, conceptual stage of our project Cross-modal perspectives on grammaticalisation: Aspect markers in creoles and sign languages (CrossMoGram).
We invited three sign language linguists, two creolists and a language typologist to join us for discussions about our plans for measuring how creoles and sign languages change. The experts who joined us for the workshop on 3-4 October were:
- Kearsy Cormier (DCAL, UCL)
- Christian Rathmann (Humboldt University, Berlin)
- Hannah Lutzenberger (Tilburg University)
- Stephanie Hackert (LMU, Munich)
- Peter Bakker (Aarhus University)
- Östen Dahl (Stockholm University)
The experts joined the core CrossMoGram team to discuss three sets of parameters that have been developed over the conceptual stage of the project: aspect marker parameters, grammaticalisation parameters, and sociolinguistic parameters. In the second, investigative stage of our CrossMoGram project (November 2023-April 2025) we will be applying these parameters to the creole and sign languages in our samples.
Additionally, we shared the first drafts of our CrossMoGram Database, which we will use to present our findings. This database will become the first ever cross-modal database in the integrated network of databases using Cross Linguistic Data Formats – which includes the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS), the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS), and the Electronic World Atlas of Varieties of English (E-WAVE).
Nick Palfreyman, PI for the UK team, said: “We are hugely grateful to our colleagues for their feedback on our work so far. They have given us much to reflect on as we prepare to begin the next stage of our project. Above all, it was a real treat to have two days to discuss linguistics – as several participants noted, it is very rare to have such opportunities these days”.
A reminder that our online event with visitors from the Caribbean will take place tomorrow (Saturday 13 May) online only from 10am-1pm.
The event features presentations given by deaf researchers from Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. The languages of the event are British Sign Language, International Sign and English.
To receive a Zoom link for the event, simply register using this link. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow, if you can make it!
If you live in Preston, or nearby, why not join us for a drink in the afternoon at The Guild pub on Fylde Road (postcode PR1 2XQ) from 3pm?
Come and learn about sign languages and deaf lives in the Caribbean – Preston, 13 May 2023, 10am-1pm
We are delighted to report that our deaf project collaborators Andre Witter, Yarett Pineiro Rodriguez and Ian Dhanoolal are coming to the UK in May.
UPDATE (5 May) – Due to train strikes, this event will now be online only, and will take place 10am-1pm on Saturday 13 May. If you haven’t already, please register using the eventbrite link below in order to receive a Zoom link, so that you can access the event. If you live in the Preston area and would like to meet with our Caribbean guests, please join us for a drink at the Guild pub in Preston (PR1 2XQ) from 3pm on Saturday 13 May.
Since our Deaf Caribbean Academic Network (DeafCAN) project began in February, we have been busy getting the project off the ground and supporting the core team.
As one of our key project milestones, Yarett Pineiro Rodriguez (from Puerto Rico), Ian Dhanoolal (Trinidad & Tobago) and Andre Witter (Jamaica) are due to come to Preston for a series of project activities from 8-18 May, along with project co-investigator Dr. Ben Braithwaite.
The DeafCAN project aims to build a network for Deaf Academics within the Caribbean, sharing tools to produce research on how to make language policy work for the deaf community in the Caribbean.
As part of this project, we are organising an event to give Yarett, Ian and Andre chance to share information and experiences about deaf lives and sign languages in the Caribbean. The topics covered include sign languages, deaf access and sign language recognition and deaf education.
We have invited several deaf academics and practitioners from the UK to respond to their presentations, including Dr. Robert Adam (Heriot Watt University), Sibaji Panda, Sandra David, and Kevin Buckle (York St John University).
We will also be joined remotely by Professor Hubert Devonish, an expert on creoles at the University of West Indies, to talk about language rights and language policy in the Caribbean.
How to register
The event takes place on Saturday 13 May 2023 from 10am – 4pm in the Mitchell and Kenyon theatre (located in the Foster building on UCLan’s Preston campus). We have 100 free places available, and we plan to livestream the event via YouTube on the day.
You will need to register for the event on eventbrite – you can do this here (link to http://tinyurl.com/deafcaribbean).
BSL and ASL/International Sign interpreters will be provided, along with tea and coffee in the morning and afternoon break. During the lunch break, our event team will be able to point you in the direction of Friargate, where you will find cafes and shops offering lunch.
This project would not be possible without support from our funder, Arts & Humanities Research Council.
We would like to thank Urini Obahor for designing our event poster.
iSLanDS is looking for our next PhD (via MPhil) student to conduct cutting-edge statistical analyses on sign language change!
Applications are invited for a PhD (via MPhil) studentship in the International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies (iSLanDS), funded through the UCLan Doctoral Training Centre for Industry Collaboration.
Studentships are tenable for up to 3.5 years full-time and provide an annual stipend in line with UKRI rates (currently £17,668 per year), subject to satisfactory progress.
Both Home and EU/International Applicants may apply but EU/International Applicants will be required to pay the difference in tuition fees between the UK and EU/International fee rates.
The PhD is entitled Quantitative approaches to the study of sign language change using the Indonesian Sign Language corpus. Further details about the project and studentship can be found here. The deadline for applications is 31 March 2023.
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