PAC 2023 – Spoken English varieties: interfaces and multidimensional approaches

International conference Wednesday, April 12th to Friday, April 14th 2023 @ Université Paris Nanterre, France

Guest Speakers David Britain, University of Bern, Switzerland Alexander Haselow, University of Münster, Germany Magdalena Wrembel, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland   The PAC programme (Phonologie de l’Anglais Contemporain: usages, variétés et structure - The Phonology of Contemporary English: usage, varieties and structure) is coordinated by Anne Przewozny-Desriaux (Toulouse Jean Jaurès University), Sophie Herment (University of Aix-Marseille), Sylvain Navarro (Paris Cité University) and Cécile Viollain (Paris Nanterre University). The main aims of the programme can be summarized as follows: to give a better picture of spoken English in its unity and diversity (geographical, social and stylistic); to test existing theoretical models in phonology, phonetics and sociolinguistics from a synchronic and diachronic point of view, making room for the systematic study of variation; to favour communication between specialists in speech and in phonological theory; and to provide corpus-based data and analyses which will help improve the teaching of English as a foreign language. To learn more about us, you can visit the programme’s website: https://www.pacprogramme.net/?lang=en.%C2%A0   The 16th edition of the PAC international conference in 2023 will focus on interfaces between phonology and phonetics as well as other levels of linguistic structure in contemporary spoken English varieties on the basis of corpus data. Multidimensional approaches to oral corpora are understood as approaches combining different levels of linguistic analysis and/or tools and methods borrowed from other disciplines (such as sociology, geography, anthropology, computer science, stylistics, psychology, neuro and cognitive sciences, media studies, cultural studies).    The conference will be organized around three days of plenary and thematic sessions focusing on the issues detailed hereafter. We will welcome submissions which address, but are not limited to, these topics. Submissions need not be limited to a single thematic session either and may encompass issues from different themes.       1. Identities, attitudes & representations The following topics and questions fall within the scope of this session:  • What are the current dynamics of linguistic and cultural communities and identities in the English-speaking world? Are there new linguistic and cultural identities currently emerging? • How are these communities and identities self-perceived and represented, notably in audiovisual and/or literary productions? What is their relationship to traditional standard varieties? • What interfaces or multidimensional approaches can best tackle the issues of sociolinguistic evaluation, representation, authenticity and stereotyping?     2. Standard(s), variation & change   The following topics and questions fall within the scope of this session: • What are ongoing changes in contemporary spoken varieties of English (standard and non-standard)? Do they challenge existing theoretical models of speech variation? • What is the impact of regional and social factors on variation and change in the English-speaking world? • What concepts and notions can be borrowed from other disciplines to account for variation and change? • How can corpus phonology shed light on the phonology/phonetics interface? • How do authentic data contribute to empirical approaches in phonology?     3. Suprasegmentals  The following topics and questions fall within the scope of this session:  • What are the suprasegmental characteristics of contemporary varieties of spoken English?  • What interfaces (e.g. prosody/syntax, prosody/pragmatics) or multidimensional approaches (e.g. acoustics, kinesics) can adequately account for the suprasegmental characteristics of spoken varieties of English? • What is the impact of regional and social factors on rhythmic and intonational patterns in spoken English?  • How can intonational variation be described, modeled?  • What tools are most relevant for the (semi-)automatic annotation of prosody?     4. Interphonology & learner corpora   The following topics and questions fall within the scope of this session:  • What are the characteristics of L2 varieties of English? How can the acquisition of L2 phonology best be modeled?  • How can L2 pronunciation be assessed? What are the most relevant criteria to take into account? How can multidimensional approaches to oral performance help provide feedback to learners?  • What is the impact of motivation and self-efficacy on L2 speech productions and perception?  • What are learners’ representations of English teaching norms and stereotypes regarding the different varieties of spoken English?   5. Oral syntax The following topics and questions fall within the scope of this session:  • What is the syntax of contemporary varieties of spoken English? How can it be described? What are its unique features? • Are the tools and methods used to describe the syntax of written varieties of English appropriate/relevant for the study of spoken English syntax? What adjustments and/or developments can be advocated? • To what extent can oral syntax be studied independently from other linguistic levels of structure? What interfaces (e.g. syntax/prosody, syntax/pragmatics) may be necessary to adequately account for the syntactic characteristics of spoken varieties of English? Are all theoretical frameworks equally equipped to account for the specificities of oral syntax? What syntactic phenomena challenge existing models and frameworks? In tackling these issues, comparisons with written data / varieties are not excluded as long as the main contribution is the characterization of oral syntax. Given the exploratory nature of this topic, we will also welcome presentations reporting work in progress on those issues and technical solutions for the multidimensional study of oral syntax.   Dates and deadlines Conference: April 12th to April 14th 2023 Final deadline for submissions: October 3rd 2022 Results of refereeing of abstracts: November 7th 2022

Organised by CREA (Centre de Recherches Anglophones), Université Paris Nanterre TransCrit (Transferts Critiques anglophones), Université Paris 8    with the support of LPL, Aix-Marseille Université CLILLAC-ARP, Université Paris Cité CLLE, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès

Anne Przewozny-Desriaux Prof. in English linguistics | Phonology and sociolinguistics CLLE | CNRS UMR 5263

Dpt of English Studies University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, France https://clle.univ-tlse2.fr/accueil/annuaire/anne-przewozny-desriaux#/%C2%A0 The Corpus Phonology of English: Multifocal Analyses of Variation https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-corpus-phonology-of-english-hb... PAC programme & LVTI project https://www.pacprogramme.net/