Date:  Sun, 2 Oct 1994 15:18:00 MST

From:  Garland Bills <GBILLS[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UNMB.BITNET>

Subject: Call: Symposium on Language Loss



               CALL FOR PAPERS



        Symposium on Language Loss and Public Policy



             in conjunction with the

   1995 Linguistic Institute of the Linguistic Society of America

             University of New Mexico

            Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA



              June 30-July 2, 1995



The Symposium on Language Loss and Public Policy will bring together scholars

from different disciplines to discuss the linguistic, psycholinguistic,

sociolinguistic, cultural, and policy aspects of language loss. LANGUAGE LOSS

is used here in its broadest sense to subsume three areas of investigation:



   (1) the ATTRITION of native language skills by individual members of

     indigenous and immigrant communities;

   (2) societal SHIFT from the use of the native ethnic language to the use

     of a dominant official language; and

   (3) the consequent DEATH of the subordinate language.



The clear interrelationships among these three areas -- in the linguistic

processes involved and especially in the societal conditions that give rise to

loss -- gives a meeting such as this Symposium considerable scholarly

significance. The fact that the incidence of linguistic and cultural

disruption worldwide is rapidly accelerating also makes the need for such a

Symposium pressing.



The presenters will explore with each other and with other participants in the

1995 Linguistic Institute the accumulated knowledge in the three areas of

language loss in order to arrive at a more global understanding of the

relationships among the linguistic processes in loss, its underlying causes,

its consequences for individuals and societies, and the implications for

policy intervention.



Central objectives of the Symposium will be, in light of what is known about

language loss, to examine its ecological significance, that is, its effects on

individuals, communities, and society as a whole, as well as the policy

implications of what is now seen to be a worldwide and rapidly accelerating

phenomenon. Another important objective is to provide information to members

of the wider community both as an educational objective and as a resource for

those concerned with questions of policy.



Persons intending to submit a formal abstract for the Symposium should send an

expression of interest by November 1, 1994. This preliminary submission should

include a tentative title and specification of the language situation(s)

examined, the area of language loss that will be the emphasis of the report,

and whether the paper will focus on the nature and causes of loss or on the

consequences of loss and policy implications.



The deadline for receipt of formal abstracts providing greater details is

January 31, 1995. Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, and may be submitted

by regular mail, FAX, or electronic mail.



In order to make papers available to other participants in advance of the

Symposium, presenters will be asked to submit pre-publication versions of

their papers by May 15, 1995. Publishable versions of the papers will be due

at the Symposium.



Preliminary expressions of interest, formal abstracts, and requests for

additional information should be directed to:



     Garland D. Bills

     Department of Linguistics

     University of New Mexico

     Albuquerque, NM 87131-1196

     USA



     Telephone: (505) 277-7416 or (505) 277-0324

     FAX: (505) 277-6355

     E-mail: gbills[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bootes.unm.edu