Conference description

Trajectories of typical and atypical language development/acquisition might move parallel or be diverse. The division between atypical and typical courses is not fully understood and might differ within various language domains, such as lexicon, grammar, discourse. Which development is typical for multilingual individuals in these domains? How do theories on a usage-based – nativist continuum scale explain this developmental course? Does the empirical evidence support predictions derived from these theories? And how can testing of various domains help establish the correct diagnosis?

To address the issue of understanding of (a)typical bilingual language development/acquisition and proper diagnosis of DLD, the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) called the Action IS0804 'Language Impairment in Multilingual Society'. As a result of this action, the LITMUS (Language Impairment Testing in Multilingual Settings) tools series were developed to facilitate the identification of DLD in bi-/multilingual children.

Confirmed keynote speakers for Bi-SLI 2022 are:

• Elizabeth Peña (UC Irvine)
• Johanne Paradis (U Alberta)
• Stanislava Antonijevic-Elliott (NUI Galway)
• Anne Wienholz (Universität Hamburg)

Call for papers

We invite researchers from a broad range of fields to share findings on language acquisition in bi-/multilingual children with atypical speech and language development, as compared to typically-developing bi-/multilingual children. As this year’s special theme suggests, research about ways of testing methods and diagnosis with regard to (a-)typical language development is particularly welcome.

To submit an abstract, please use this address: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=bisli2022

Abstract submission deadline: 21 February 2022 (23:59 UTC+1)

Notification of acceptance:  21 March 2022

Types of presentations: 1) paper, 2) poster / short talk (please indicate your preference in the keywords)

Length of abstracts: 450 words – excluding references, title of paper, and an appendix with max. two tables/figures 

Length of paper presentations: 20 min and 10 min for discussion and change of rooms

Presentations will be considered for publication in a volume of the ZAS Papers in Linguistics (ZASPiL) should a sufficient number of authors wish to publish.

Conference dates: 9-10 May 2022

Conference format: hybrid (on-site in Berlin and virtual)

Registration fees will range between approximately 50 € (student) to 120 € (non-student) for on-site participation in Berlin, and 25 € for virtual participation.

We may drop the fees for junior researchers without funding and scholars in the so called Global South upon filling out a statement of situation during the registration period.

Contact: fb2.bisli2022@leibniz-zas.de