Language(?) in the Media(?): Rethinking the field

This is the fourth in a series of international conferences organized around the role of the media in relation to the representation, construction and/or production of language. Following on from the previous three conferences, the fourth language in the media conference seems like a good occasion to take stock of our focus and revisit some of our basic concepts. Given the mundanity of media as an unremarkable and integrated part of everyday life, does it still make sense to delineate particular domains and activities as ‘media’? Similarly, given the inherent multimodality of contemporary media and the continuing deconstruction of ‘language’ as a monolithic concept within sociolinguistics, can and should we continue to mark out and focus on a particular set of practices as ‘language’, and if so, how? With these questions in mind, we invite you to submit abstracts for papers which explore the representation, construction and/or production of language in the media, but in a way which questions and problematises both ‘language’ and ‘media’. One particular area which seems to be ripe for this type of rethinking is that of minority languages and media, and given the location of the conference in Ireland and the interests of the local organisers, we would like to call in particular for papers which address this topic in an innovative and paradigm-shifting way. Alongside this particular focus, the 2011 conference will continue to prioritize papers which address: standard languages and language standards; literacy policy and literacy practices; language acquisition; multilingualism and cross-/inter-cultural communication; language and communication in professional contexts; language and class, dis/ability, race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality and age; media representations of speech, thought and writing; language and education; political discourse; language, commerce and global capitalism.

Plenary Speakers:

Mike Cormack (Sabhal Mòr Ostaigh , UK )

Nikolas Coupland ( Cardiff University , UK )

Sari Pietikäinen ( University of Jyväskylä , Finland )

Kathryn Woolard ( University of California , San Diego , USA )

Date: 6-8 June 2011

Organisers(s):

Helen Kelly Holmes

Máiréad Moriarty

Aoife Lenihan

Laura Costelloe

Contact: Helen.Kelly.Holmes@ul.ie