The international conference "Linguistic Forum 2021: Language policy and language preservation" will be held at the Institute of Linguistics, RAS, on November 11-13, 2021. The conference is part of a series of annual linguistic forums initiated by the Institute of Linguistics RAS in 2019, each dedicated to a socially important aspect of the scientific study of language. The 2019 forum took as its topic the UN Year of Indigenous Languages. The 2020 forum "Language and Artificial Intelligence" was devoted to interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers working at the interface of linguistics and computer science. The topic of the 2021 forum is suggested by the growing attention of society and governments to language policy and particularly to the problem of language preservation. The starting point of the 2021 forum is the International Decade of Indigenous languages, announced by the UN for 2022-2032, as well as the Program for the preservation and revitalization of the languages of Russia, proposed by the Institute of Linguistics in connection with the International Decade.
The forum program will include papers addressing language policy, particularly the problems of the preservation of linguistic diversity, the preservation and extension of functional styles and domains of language use. Particular attention will be given to practical aspects of language preservation in specific linguistic communities, including the work of language activists. The forum will mostly address languages of Russia, but papers dealing with other languages are welcome as well.
The priorities of the forum do not include papers that describe linguistic or sociolinguistic phenomena without a clear connection to language policy and the preservation of linguistic diversity.
The working languages of the conference are Russian and English.
Invited speakers:
- Stephen May (University of Auckland, New Zealand), an international authority on language rights, language policy, bilingualism and bilingual education and critical multicultural approaches to education
- Jasone Cenoz (University of the Basque Country), a leading researcher in the areas of multilingual education, bilingualism and multilingualism who is particularly well-known for her focus on Basque
- Natalja Antonova (House of Karelian Language), organizer of one the most successful Russian projects on the early acquisition of a highly endangered language
Please submit anonymous abstracts at lingforum@iling-ran.ru by August 1, 2021, simultaneously in both .doc and .pdf formats. An abstract should not exceed one page of text; the second page may be used for illustrative material and a list of references. Abstracts should not include the authors’ names, their affiliations, e-mails and phone numbers; all this information must be included in the body of the message. The forum’s Program Committee will review the abstracts and select the most substantial and relevant papers.
It will be decided later whether the forum will be held on-site or on-line. In the case of the on-site mode, a modest participation fee will be charged; its size will depend on available funding.
Important dates
August 1, 2021 – deadline for the submission of abstracts;
September 15, 2021 – decisions on paper acceptance are sent out;
October 15, 2021 – publication of the preliminary program;
November 11-13, 2021 – the forum.