SLRF 2020: Second Language Research Forum 2020 Wyatt Center (Peabody College, Vanderbilt University) Nashville, TN, United States, October 22-25, 2020 |
Conference website | https://my.vanderbilt.edu/slrf2020/ |
Submission link | https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=slrf2020 |
Submission deadline | April 15, 2020 |
Expanding Networks: Theory, Research, and Practice in Second Language Development
The goal of SLRF 2020 is to foster dialogue among disciplines within Second Language Acquisition. This year’s theme is Expanding Networks: Theory, Research, and Practice in Second Language Development at Vanderbilt University. In line with previous SLRF events, we seek to bring together—or strengthen the overarching “network” among—diverse bodies of second language researchers and research, across theory-,research-, and practice-driven inquiries in the field.
We welcome (but are not limited to) submissions in the following areas of research:
1. Cognitive networks
Bilingual/multilingual speakers must learn—and later navigate—the complexity of two languages. Interestingly, acquiring two languages may affect cognition in ways distinct from simply acquiring a single language. The presenters in this strand would explore the ways in which bilingualism/multilingualism shapes behavior, how bilingualism/multilingualism manifests in the brain, and/or developmental and academic trajectories of those acquiring a second language and heritage language learners.
2. Instructional networks
Language teachers rely on multiple networks to improve their practice, drawing upon assessment, curricular resources, peer-collaborative resources, teacher-student relationships, bilingual/multilingual literacy development, technological tools, computer-assisted language learning, as well as the linguistic resources students bring with them to the classroom (e.g., translanguaging). Presenters in this strand might focus on sharing practitioner-oriented resources for promoting effective oral language and literacy development. Participants in this strand may also examine educators’ efforts to protect language minoritized students while supporting second language acquisition to promote transformative social action and equity in education.
3. Social networks
Proposals in this strand may focus on sociopolitical or sociolinguistic dimensions of language use, such as disrupting hegemonic language ideology in order to promote equitable language learning. Topics in this strand might also include school-community partnerships, home/community-based second language learning, and inter-and transnational language experiences.
4. Theoretical and Methodological Networks
Across the field, studies apply multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological networks to frame their questions, drawing on approaches from psychology, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, philosophy, literary analysis, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistic, and psycholinguistic approaches. Proposals in this strand may focus on research methodology and theory, methodological concerns in second language research with an emphasis on networking across academic silos to promote innovative research.
Guidelines for Submissions
1. General submission instructions
All proposals should be submitted by using the submission template (download here). An author may submit up to two submissions (e.g., 2 posters, 1 paper and 1 poster, 2 papers, etc.) as first author, but they may also be a colloquium chair and/or presenter/co-author on additional papers or posters.
An author(s) should complete the submission template and then upload it to the online submission system. The submission templates should be uploaded completely anonymized and in a .doc or .docx format.
2. Instructions for Individual Papers or Posters
Individual paper sessions must be designed for a 20-minute presentation followed by a 10-minute question/discussion period. If submitting individual papers, posters, or works-in-progress:
1. Download the submission template (here)
2. Complete the information in the template, including:
- Title (15 words max)
- Abstract (500 words max)
- Summary (75 words max)
3. Please indicate to which “network” your work applies (i.e., cognitive, instructional, social, theoretical/methodological)
4. Keywords (3 words max)
5. Make sure no authors’ names are present in the template
6. Upload the completed template to the online system in a .doc or .docx file format
3. Instructions for Colloquia
Each colloquium should be planned for a 90-minute block and consist of no more than four papers. A colloquium typically consists of a chair and 3-4 speakers, but other arrangements are possible.
Proposals for colloquia will not utilize the downloadable template for papers/posters. Instead, proposals should be completed using MS Word and submitted directly to the online system in a .doc/.docx or PDF format.
A colloquium proposal should consist of:
1. Colloquium title (15 words max)
2. Brief thematic overview (200 words max)
3. Brief abstracts for each of the papers, including authors’ names (350 words max for each paper)
4. Evaluation of Proposals
Only proposals submitted meeting the guidelines outlined above will be evaluated. Those not meeting the criteria will be rejected. Proposals for individual papers and posters will be evaluated using the following criteria:
1. Relevance to the conference theme
2. Theoretical rationale
3. Rigor of research design
4. Organization and Clarity
5. Notification of Acceptance
Notifications to authors regarding proposal acceptance or rejection will occur approximately late May 2020.
6. Contact
All questions about submissions and SLRF 2020 should be emailed to slrf2020.vanderbilt@gmail.com.