Call for Papers
Chinaand the West: cross-linguistic perspectives
This conference will be held inBeijing,Chinaon the 12th and 13th of April 2014. Sponsored by the Philological Society of theUKand hosted by theInstituteofLinguisticsin conjunction withNational Research Centre of Overseas Sinology,BeijingForeignStudiesUniversity, the conferenceaims at bridging communication gaps between language scholars from different traditions inChinaand the West in the following areas:
l The genealogies and histories of Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European languages
1. Histories of linguistics inChinaand the West
2. Language contact within and between the two language families
3. Histories of particular languages, including sound change, semantic change, grammaticalization and writing systems
l The structures of Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European languages
1. Linguistic theories inChinaand the West, their applications and development
2. Typological studies of particular languages
3. Contrastive studies of particular languages
l Acquisition of Sino-Tibetan and Indo-European languages
1. Language learning and teaching theories inChinaand the West
2. Differences between the acquisitions of first and second languages
3. Language planning and policy inChinaand the West
Participants
There will be three invited plenary speakers at the conference, one on each of the above themes. The total number of participants will be limited to around 50, to be divided into three theme groups. Each participant will have 30-40 minutes to present their paper.
Abstracts
Those who wish to give papers at the conference should submit their abstracts in no more than 500 English words before 15 October 2013. If the abstract is accepted, a formal letter of invitation will be issued before 31 December 2013.
Fees
A fee of ¥500 Chinese (roughly equivalent to £50 British pounds or $75 US dollars) will be charged to members of the Philological Society participating in the conference. For non-members, the fee will be ¥1000 (roughly equivalent to £100 British pounds or $150 US dollars).
Postgraduate bursaries
The Philological Society is able to offer financial support to a small number of postgraduate students offering papers at the conference, provided that they meet the eligibility criteria of the Philological Society's travel bursary scheme (details of the criteria and application procedure can be found on the Society's website,www.philsoc.org.uk). The number of awards made will be strictly limited and it will not be possible to notify successful applicants until after the deadline for submission of abstracts. Bursary applications to the Society should be made by 1stOctober 2013 and should be accompanied by a copy of the abstract.
Venue & accommodation
The conference will be held in theRunRunShawBuildingon the east campus ofBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity. Conference participants will be accommodated at their own expense in Beiwai Hotel on the west campus of the University and other nearby hotels.
Contact
We welcome papers from anyone with a professional or academic interest in the above themes. To submit your abstract, please contact the conference secretariat (wgyys@bfsu.edu.cn).
