The aim of this Conference is to analyse the relationship between the changing media culture and the (re-)production of language(s) and linguistic practices within these challenging landscapes. Media convergence represents the cultural, creative, economic and social processes that are at play in the relationships between different media organizations, cross-media and multiplatform development, multimedia concepts, designs and applications. Media convergence creates new audiences and new producers of communication, not only through participatory cultures and social networking but also as governments, public agencies and private corporations create communicative spheres and platforms in order to interact with citizens and consumers.
These scenarios present significant challenges and opportunities for languages and communication. At the same time, sustaining and developing linguistic diversity, promoting multilingualism and languages continue to be at the forefront of the European Agenda, not only for the EU's official languages but also in the context of regional, minority/minorised and other languages across the globe.
Call for Papers
Contributions to this Conference are sought from a wide range of participants from all parts of the world, both new and established scholars, university students as well as practitioners and policy makers, whose work or research is focused on this specific juncture of media and languages.
Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:
1. Linguistic vitality and the creative media: frameworks, indicators and
experiences
2. Relation between various media in different languages
3. User-generated content, multilingualism and plurilingualism
4. Minority languages in social networking
5. Official and non-official languages in converged media environments
6. Life Long Learning, Languages and Media
7. Linguistic diversity through media portrayal and representation
8. Multilingual applications and multimedia
9. Multilingual media practices: products, processes, consumers and audiences
10. Media products for multilingual consumers
This call for papers invites three types of proposals:
1. Individual Papers: These presentations will address current research (or practice) related to the main topics mentioned above and should be 20 minutes in length with additional time allocated for questions and discussion. Please send
an abstract of 300-500 words.
2. Panel Presentations (1 hour): These sessions provide an opportunity for two or more colleagues to present their work in the form of a series of papers, round table discussion or group presentation. These cohesive panels should also include time for questions and debate. Please send a 500 word abstract.
3. Audiovisual Posters (variable length but generally not over 30 min): These sessions are aimed at practitioners (both professionals and academic) who wish to showcase their work during the Conference. Please send a brief description of 300-500 words. These may be linked to Individual Papers or to Panel Presentation, if desired.
All abstracts and descriptions should be sent to: mercator
aber.ac.uk by January 15th, 2010. Notification will be given by 12th February 2010. Full papers should be sent by April 9th, 2010. During the Conference, papers and presentations may be delivered in English or Welsh (with simultaneous translation into English provided). Other languages may be used through prior arrangement, please specify this in your abstract.
Abstracts can be received in Catalan, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Frisian, Galician, German, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish or Welsh.
Please include the following details with your submission:
Full name and title; Academic or professional affiliation; E-mail address; Title of the presentation; Specific requirements for presentation or exhibition.