Call for abstracts: Symposium on sociolinguistic variation in signed and spoken languages of the Asia-Pacific region, 12-13 July 2019

We are pleased to invite abstracts for our symposium on sociolinguistic variation in signed and spoken languages of the Asia-Pacific region, to be held on 12-13 July 2019 at UCLan. This event, which is also supported by the Leverhulme Trust, features keynote presenters Rachel McKee from the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and Susanne Maria Michaelis from the University of Leipzig in Germany. The abstract deadline is 30 March.

There is a rich array of sociolinguistic research on spoken languages in the Asia-Pacific region, but less on sign languages. This symposium seeks to bring together sociolinguists and other scholars in related fields to share research on both spoken and signed languages in Asia and the Pacific Rim. Areas of interest include:

• language variation and change
• bilingual and multilingual practices, e.g. code-switching and code-blending
• dialectology
• variationist sociolinguistics
• variation and language attitudes
• variation and language ideologies
• styles, identity and social meaning

The languages of the symposium are English, International Sign and British Sign Language. There is no registration fee. We welcome abstracts of one page (including data and references), which should be submitted by 30 March 2019 in electronic form (Word or PDF) to islandsinfo@uclan.ac.uk. Notification of acceptance will be made by 15 April.

If you have any queries or need further details, please contact Nick Palfreyman at islandsinfo@uclan.ac.uk.