BAAL 2013

BAAL 2013 will take place at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland's inspiring and dynamic capital.

This year's conference is organised by the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University.

Conference Theme

Over the last number of decades, research in the area of applied linguistics has been transformed by an increasing focus on the social, cultural and linguistic changes brought about by globalisation, increased mobility and transnational flows, new technologies and a changing political and economic landscape. These changes have had major implications for the ways in which we conceptualise the relationship between language and society in the twenty-first century. A new communicative order has emerged in which we find new types of speakers, new forms of language and new modes of communication. The conference theme ‘Opening New Lines of Communication in Applied Linguistics’ addresses the challenges and opportunities that this new communicative order presents in the field of applied linguistics. To understand the complexity of this new (socio)linguistic reality, the conference explores new lines of communication between sub-disciplines within and beyond the field of applied linguistics.

Plenary Speakers

Kathryn Woolard, University of California, San Diego
Jannis Androutsopoulos, Universität Hamburg
Svenja Adolphs, University of Nottingham

Social programme

A memorable social programme is planned which include our gala dinner and céilidh in the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery in heart of Edinburgh.

Conference organiser

Dr Bernadette O'Rourke

Local Organising Committee

Ms Rita McDade, Professor Máiréad Nic Craith, Professor Graham Turner, Professor Isabelle Perez, Ms Elizabeth Thoday, Mr John Cleary, Ms Olwyn Alexander, Dr Michelle Liao, Mr Ashvin Devasundaram.

Conference support

Lucy Setter. Email: lucy@inanyevent-uk.com

Heriot-Watt University

Set in secluded parkland seven miles to the west of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University is ideally located within ten minutes of Edinburgh Airport and central to Scotland’s motorway network with easy access to Glasgow and the north.

The campus is easily accessible by car and there is a regular bus service to the city centre.

Read more about Heriot-Watt University.

Edinburgh

The city of Edinburgh is one of the world's great cities and renowned as a centre of learning and discovery; studying here is a stimulating and inspirational experience.

Offering a unique city environment Edinburgh is culturally diverse, historically significant, socially alive, and visually stunning.

The centre of Edinburgh has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in recognition of its stunning urban landscape in the medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town. In addition, the city encompasses some striking modern architecture including the parliament building and the Museum of Scotland.

And of course Edinburgh is world-famous for its festivals, devoted to theatre, film, books, music, science and politics, which attract 1.4 million visitors to the city each year.

Read more about visiting Edinburgh

Call for Papers

Abstracts are welcome in any area of Applied Linguistics, should be interesting and innovative in some way, and should be of scholarly and academically good quality and indicate clearly objectives, method(s), and results where appropriate. Abstracts which address the conference theme will be particularly welcome.

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF ABSTRACTS: 22nd March 2013

Submitting your abstract

Please go to the BAAL conferences webpage to submit your abstract and follow the steps below (this works best in Internet Explorer 5.5 or better):

1. Register with the submission system. Make sure to save your details in case you want to amend your submission later. You will be sent an e-mail about successful registration and submission guidelines, the latter of which you are free to ignore if you are familiar with online abstract submission.
2. Go back to the abstract submission page, log in to the submission system and start the submission process (you will have to answer a maximum of ten questions). An e-mail confirmation of receipt of abstract will be sent to you immediately. Your contact details will be included in the book of abstracts unless you opt out during the submission process.

If you are unable to submit your abstract online, contact Dawn Knight at Dawn.Knight@ncl.ac.uk

Format

• Title in Times New Roman 12 (do not use all caps, no bold print)
• Text 300 words maximum (including references, if any)
• Times New Roman 12
• Align text left, single-spaced
• Do not use any special fonts, such as bold print or caps (italics fine)
• Do NOT add tables, photos, or diagrams to your abstract
• Do NOT indent your paragraphs, leave one space between paragraphs instead

Abstract type

Indicate the type of abstract that you are submitting during the submission process: individual presentation for parallel sessions; individual presentations for a SIG track; poster; or colloquium.

Individual presentation for the parallel sessions

Individual papers have 25 minutes: 20 for the presentation, 5 for questions.

Individual presentation for a Special Interest Group (SIG) track

If you believe your paper is of interest to a SIG track, you may want to submit it to one of the SIG tracks (all individuals, whether or not officially SIG members, are eligible). The SIG may then wish to include your paper in a track at the annual meeting. Submitting your abstract to a SIG track may or may not lead to your paper being included in a SIG track and has no impact on abstract acceptance to the conference. BAAL has ten Special Interest Groups. They are (1) UK Linguistic Ethnography Forum, (2) Corpus Linguistics, (3) Multimodality, (4) Language Learning and Teaching, (5) Language in Africa, (6) Gender and Language, (7) Vocabulary Studies, (8) Testing, Evaluation and Assessment, and (9) Intercultural Communication.

Poster

We strongly encourage the submission of abstracts for posters. We aim to raise the profile of posters at our conference since we value them as equal to other forms of presentation, and we believe that they tend to receive more feedback than individual papers. All posters will be listed in the book of abstracts, and there will be a dedicated area and time slot for discussion of poster presentations. There will also be a £50 prize for best poster displayed at the conference.

Proposed colloquium paper

Colloquium introduction and individual papers within the colloquium must be submitted separately, due to technical constraints. The organiser of the colloquium should first submit colloquium title and introduction along with an overview of paper titles in the colloquium (max 450 words). The paper abstracts of the colloquium should then be submitted by the organiser one by one, entitled "Paper X of colloquium title: paper title" followed by the abstract (max 300 words per abstract). Colloquia have half a day and a minimum of four papers. Colloquia proposers should plan their half day in four slots, in step with the individual paper slots. If they wish to have a larger number of papers, they may fit two papers into what would normally be a single slot. Colloquia papers should cohere. The order of the papers should not be changed after acceptance.

All presenters have to be BAAL members by the time they register for the conference.

Join BAAL now

During the abstract submission process, you will be asked to indicate whether you want to apply for a scholarship. If so, choose the scholarship you want to apply for. BAAL offers 4 full conference scholarships (for students or early career researchers, with the latter defined as being within 2 years of PhD completion). Monies from a special ring-fenced fund, contributed by donors, will pay for an additional ‘Chris Brumfit scholarship’. Details of the scholarships can be found in the funding section of the BAAL website.

If, following the reviewing process, your abstract is accepted, you will be sent a scholarship form to complete. In this form you will be required to explain why you should be considered for the award(s) (in 100 words). Each candidate will also be required to provide two full references plus a list of other conferences they have attended and any other grants/scholarships that they have received for their studies.

The scholarships are worth up to around £1,000 (this may be flexible depending on the cost of travel for the specific applicant), which goes towards registration, accommodation, meals and travel. All presenters have to be BAAL members by the time they register for the conference.

Conference Programme

The full Conference Programme will be published here in due course.

Social programme

A memorable social programme is planned which include our gala dinner and céilidh in the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery in the heart of Edinburgh.