General Session Proposals

Conference theme: “Navigating new realities in diaspora communities”

One notable achievement of the modern language documentation and conservation movement has been the (re)centering of community in language work. Rather than viewing language as an abstract system, documentary practice increasingly begins with the community, is guided by the community, and contributes to ongoing maintenance of language in the community. At the same time the nature of community is changing. Global forces of migration and urbanization have resulted in the displacement of language teachers and learners from their traditional communities, and in many cases these diaspora communities are now larger than the original communities from which they arose. And yet, whether intentionally or not, the practice of language documentation and conservation has largely ignored the diaspora in favor of more traditional undisplaced communities. 

At ICLDC 2025 we propose to initiate a dialogue which will turn the attention of documentary linguistics to the unique needs of diaspora language communities. The challenges are manifold. Teaching methods designed for small monolingual rural communities may not be effective in large multilingual urban settings. Documentation techniques may need to be adapted to deal with contact scenarios and language shift. Moreover, displacement may take many forms, so solutions must be tailored to the unique context in each community. But the challenges are nevertheless real and pressing. As the pressure of conflict and climate change increasingly threaten our world, the future of the world’s Indigenous languages may well hinge on the ability of our field to engage effectively in diaspora settings. 

While we especially welcome abstracts that address the conference theme, we also welcome abstracts on other subjects in language documentation and conservation, which may include but are not limited to:

  • Archiving and mobilizing language materials 
  • Assessing success in documentation and revitalization strategies 
  • Community experiences of revitalization
  • Ethical issues
  • Indigenous language education
  • Indigenous sign languages
  • Justice in language work
  • Language and its relation to health and well being
  • Language planning
  • Language reclamation and revitalization
  • Lexicography, grammar, orthography and corpus design
  • Methods of assessing ethnolinguistic vitality
  • Multidisciplinary language documentation
  • Recognizing/fostering relationships in language work
  • Remote language work
  • Technology in documentation and reclamation
  • Topics in areal language documentation
  • Training and capacity building in language work

Presentation formats

Papers will be allowed 20 minutes for presentation with 10 minutes of question time.

Posters will be on display throughout the day of presentation. Poster presentations will run during the lunch period. Poster presentations are recommended for authors who wish to present smaller, more specific topics, or descriptions of particular projects. 

How to prepare your abstract proposal

  • Content: Abstracts should describe the content of the proposed paper or poster.
  • Abstract Length: Please limit your proposal to 400 words, not including references. 
  • Format: Upload your abstract as a PDF or MS Word file. 
  • Language: Abstracts should be submitted in English, but presentations can be in any language. We particularly welcome presentations in languages of the region discussed.
  • Authors may submit no more than one individual and one co-authored proposal (including participation in a Workshop or Talk Story Session proposal), or no more than two co-authored proposals. In no case may an author submit more than one individually-authored proposal.
  • Proposals will undergo blind review, so so please do not list your name, affiliation, or contact information within the proposal file. (Author names appearing in reference lists or citations are fine and don’t need to be anonymized.)
  • Proposals for general sessions are due by September 30, 2024, with notification of acceptance by November 1, 2024.

Most Impactful Paper Awards

Awards for Most Impactful Paper will be given to the six abstracts deemed to have highest potential impact on conference participants by (i) students and/or (ii) members of an underrepresented language community who are actively working to document their heritage language and are not employed by a college or university. If you or one of your co-presenters is eligible, go ahead and mark yourself as eligible accordingly. The Award will come with an honorarium of US$500. If your proposal receives an Award, we will contact you to discuss which eligible person(s) will receive the honorarium. NOTE: Please be advised that the honoraria are considered taxable income under U.S. tax laws. U.S. citizens and residents can expect to receive a 1099 form to figure into their annual tax return for 2025. Non-U.S. citizens/residents will have the applicable taxable amount (typically 30%) deducted from the scholarship check prior to receipt.

Submit a proposal (deadline September 30, 2024)

The call for workshop/talk story proposals can be found here, with a deadline of August 31, 2024.

Timeline

  • July 2, 2024: Call for Proposals announced
  • August 31, 2024: Proposals for Workshops and Talk Story Sessions deadline
  • September 20, 2024: Notification of acceptance to Workshops and Talk Story Sessions (updated)
  • September 30, 2024: Proposal deadline for general sessions
  • November 1, 2024: Notification of acceptance for general sessions
  • November 1, 2024: Accepted Presenter Registration opens
  • November 30, 2024: Accepted Presenter Registration deadline
  • December 1, 2024: Registration opens to the general public and continues until full.
  • March 6-9, 2025: 9th ICLDC

Questions?  Feel free to contact us at icldc@hawaii.edu