Call for papers for international conference

Conference Title: “Cross-culturally speaking, speaking cross-culturally”

Dates: 6-8 July 2009

Location: Macquarie University, Sydney

Organised by the Department of International Studies, Macquarie University
in cooperation with
the Département des Sciences du Langage, Université Montpellier 3


Organisational board
Bert Peeters (Chair), Brigitte Jandey, Marika Kalyuga, Martina Möllering, Karin 
Speedy (all of Macquarie University); Christine Béal (Université Montpellier 3)

Scientific board
Nathalie Auger (Université Montpellier 3), Astrid Berrier (Université du Québec à 
Montréal), Christopher Candlin (Macquarie University), Françoise Demougin 
(IUFM Montpellier), Jean-Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck College, University of 
London), Cliff Goddard (University of New England), Marie-Noëlle Guillot 
(University of East Anglia), Barbara Hanna (Queensland University of 
Technology), Tony Liddicoat (University of South Australia), Miranda Stewart 
(University of Strathclyde, Glasgow), Véronique Traverso (Université Lyon 2), 
Jock Onn Wong (National University of Singapore)

Guest speakers
Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni (Université Lyon 2) - TBC
Claire Kramsch (University of California, Berkeley) - TBC
Anna Wierzbicka (Australian National University)

Conference blurb
Issues in cross-cultural communication have exercised the minds of thousands 
of scholars world-wide and will no doubt continue to do so in the foreseeable 
future. Cross-cultural communication is often relatively unproblematic (as 
relatively unproblematic, that is, as communication within cultures), but it is a 
well-known fact that problems do develop from time to time and warrant the 
attention of linguists and applied linguists alike. Cross-cultural pragmatic 
failure, as it has been called, occurs because of insufficient knowledge, either 
of the formal rules of the language in which an interaction takes place (rules 
that relate to its lexicon, its phonetics, its syntax), or of more elusive aspects 
related to implicit cultural norms and values, often not adequately taught in 
foreign language classrooms. In the absence of appropriate cross-cultural 
savoir-faire, it can have disastrous repercussions for interpersonal relationships 
and lead to unhelpful stereotyping. 

Like its predecessor, the July 2007 Montpellier conference on which it seeks to 
build,  the present gathering is part of an ongoing cooperative agreement 
between our two institutions and will bring together a number of scholars 
interested in gaining a better understanding, through the study of actual 
communicative behaviour or otherwise, of the various linguistic and pragmatic 
aspects of cross-cultural competence which are required for communication 
across cultural boundaries to be successful. Presenters wishing to analyse 
actual communicative behaviour may choose among the following approaches:

1)	A “comparative” approach which entails side-by-side observation of 
native speakers using their respective native languages in similar contexts or 
interactions

The comparative approach allows similarities and differences in usage and 
expectations in pre-defined communicative contexts to be brought into focus, 
and thus paves the way towards formulating hypotheses on potentially 
sensitive points in cross-cultural situations.

2)	A “cross-cultural” approach which entails analysis of contact 
situations in which speakers belonging to different cultural backgrounds 
interact with one another

The cross-cultural approach allows identification of presumed obstacles in 
cross-cultural communication which appear to generate misunderstanding or 
interpersonal clashes, and thus paves the way towards the identification of 
underlying cultural values which are relevant for one or more of the speakers 
but not for all.

3)	A “pedagogical” approach which relies on observation of 
interlanguage behaviour among peers, comparing it to native performance in 
similar contexts or interactions

The pedagogical approach relies on simulations and allows L1 interferences on 
L2 to be brought into focus and thus complements findings achieved within a 
cross-cultural approach.

Regardless of the approach selected for a particular investigation, presenters 
must make sure always to examine how the linguistic and cultural aspects of 
verbal behaviour are intertwined. In addition, they are asked, whenever 
possible, to go beyond a purely descriptive approach and to envisage the 
theoretical and/or pedagogical implications their data may provide. 

Presentations not based on concrete communicative behaviour (i.e. the 
analysis of linguistic interaction using one of the approaches mentioned above) 
are also invited, and will be especially welcome if they seek to engage with a 
newly developed ethnolinguistic pathways model, preferably honouring its 
requirement to use the natural semantic metalanguage developed by Anna 
Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard. The aim of the model is to facilitate the study of 
cultural values through language, and provides researchers and advanced 
students alike with strategies to gain a better knowledge of values using 
linguistic data. It seeks to illustrate how and to what extent the detailed 
study of communicative behaviour (ethnopragmatics), phrases 
(ethnophraseology), key words (ethnosemantics) and productive syntactic 
patterns (ethnosyntax) can lead to the discovery of putative cultural values 
which are then to become the subject of further investigation leading to either 
the confirmation or the rejection of their assumed status; and also how and to 
what extent, through a detailed study of communicative behaviour, phrases, 
key words and productive syntactic patterns, cultural values typically 
associated with a particular linguistic community can be further corroborated 
(ethnoaxiology). More information on the ethnolinguistic pathways model is 
available on 

http://www.eurolang.mq.edu.au/staff/peeters/Pathways.pdf 

Deadline for submission of abstracts
Single-spaced abstracts written in Times New Roman 12 and not exceeding 
one page (excluding bibliographical references), with 1 inch margins on all 
sides, should be e-mailed to Bert Peeters ([log in to unmask]) by 
15 November 2008. They will be anonymously assessed by two or three 
members of the scientific committee. Acceptances, either conditional or final, 
will be communicated by the end of January 2009, and a provisional 
conference program will be released by the end of February. Although the main 
conference language will be English, abstracts and presentations in French will 
be considered.

Registration fees
The following registration fees will apply:

	Early bird (academic)				
	AUD 200
	Early bird (students / developing countries)		AUD 100
	Regular (academic)					AUD 250
	Regular (students / developing countries)		AUD 125

Early bird rates will be available until April 30. Fees include morning and 
afternoon tea, as well as lunch on each of the three conference days.  

Information about accommodation will be made available at a later stage. We 
will attempt to secure university college accommodation, but other options will 
also be explored.

Concurrent events
This conference takes place at about the same time as a series of other 
events of international significance, organised in Sydney and Melbourne:
-	July 8-10: 3rd Conference of the International Association for 
Translation and Intercultural Studies (Monash University, Melbourne)
-	July 10-12: Ethnography symposium (Macquarie University, Sydney; 
organised by Christopher Candlin)
-	July 12-17: 11th International Pragmatics Conference (Melbourne 
University)