The major varieties of English (MAVEN)
British, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand
An international conference at V=E4xj=F6 University College
20=AD22 November 1997
English is used by a constantly growing number of people all over the
world, and several varieties, different Englishes, have been identified.
However, only a limited number of regional varieties of English serve as
models for learners in other parts of the world. The most important of
these are usually considered to be the British, American, Canadian,
Australian and New Zealand varieties.
The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars who are studying
the development of these varieties, and in particular their
interrelationships. The question of how, and to what extent, British and
American English differ is an ever intriguing one for European learners.
How strong is the influence of American vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation on British English? Is there also a current going the other
way? Where does Canadian English stand in relation to British and American?
And what about the influences from Britain and America on the Englishes of
Australia and New Zealand?
The answers to questions such as these have an obvious bearing on language
pedagogy as well as lexicography and language description in general, but
also on research areas like language change and sociolinguistics.
Papers are invited on all aspects of these major varieties of English =AD
pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, pragmatics. Reports on empirical
investigations (studies based on electronic corpora, elicitation tests,
text analysis, observation etc.) are particularly welcome.
Scientific programme
Keynote lecture: Jan Svartvik, Lund, Sweden
Plenary lectures (so far): Janet Holmes, Wellington, New Zealand
Christian Mair, Freiburg, Germany
Peter Trudgill, Lausanne, Switzerland
The organization of paper presentations will depend on the number of
participants.
Publication
We plan to publish the conference proceedings.
Social programme
There will be a conference dinner in the campus castle (must be seen to be
believed) and a herring party at (inside) a glassworks.
Accommodation
Accommodation will be in hotels in town at conference rates. There are
frequent local buses between the town centre and the campus.
Organizing committee
Hans Lindquist, Hans.Lindquist@hum.hv.se
Staffan Klintborg, Staffan.Klintborg@hum.hv.se
Magnus Levin, Magnus.Levin@hum.hv.se (conference secretary)
About V=E4xj=F6 University College
V=E4xj=F6 University College is a growing establishment with over 7,500
students and is expected to be given the right to call itself a university
before the year 2000. The English section of the Department of the
Humanities is growing fast and will appoint its first full professor in
1997. The research project GramTime started in July, 1996, funded by the
Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, and has the the aim of studying
trends in modern English grammar with the help of computer corpora (the
BNC, CobuildDirect and others). For further information, check out our home
page at <http://www.hv.se/hum/html>.
The department is in a new Humanities building on a campus situated
in beautiful surroundings 3 kilometres from the city centre.
About the city of V=E4xj=F6
The cathedral city of V=E4xj=F6 was founded in the 12th century and now has
72,000 inhabitants. It is pleasantly situated among forests and lakes in
the south of Sweden, 200 kms north of Malm=F6, 250 kms south-east of G=F6teb=
org
and 400 kms south of Stockholm. It is an administrative and educational
centre but also has some important technical industry and is right in the
middle of "The Kingdom of Crystal" with famous glassworks like Kosta, Boda
and Orrefors, to mention just a few.
The province of Sm=E5land is also well-known for being one of the
principal areas from which large numbers of poor Swedes emigrated to
America in the 19th century, and the Emigrant Institute, a museum and
research centre, is well worth a visit.
V=E4xj=F6 can easily be reached by daily SAS flights from Stockholm =
or
from Copenhagen in Denmark. There are also direct train connections from
Stockholm, G=F6teborg and Malm=F6/Copenhagen.
Submission of papers
Send in your abstract (approximately 250 words in Word, WordPerfect, RTF or
ascii format) by 15 June, as an attachment to an e-mail message to:
Staffan.Klintborg@hum.hv.se. In addition, include the abstract in the body
of the e-mail message. If you do not have access to e-mail, send in four
copies of the abstract on paper to: Staffan Klintborg, Department of the
Humanities, V=E4xj=F6 University College, SE-351 95 V=C4XJ=D6, Sweden.
Deadlines
Preliminary registration (to get on our mailing-list)
as soon as possible (use form below)
Second circular with details about housing, travel, costs
mid-April 1997
Early registration at reduced rate
by 15 May 1997
Submission of abstracts
by 15 June 1997
Acceptance notification to authors
by 1 August 1997
Registration at normal rate
by 15 September 1997
=46urter information
Contact Magnus.Levin@hum.hv.se
=46or the organizing committee
Hans Lindquist, Ph.D.
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MAVEN V=E4xj=F6 20-22 November
Preliminary registration form
To receive the next circular, send in this form (by e-mail or ordinary
mail) to: Magnus Levin, Department of the Humanities, V=E4xj=F6 University
College, SE-351 95 V=C4XJ=D6, Sweden; e-mail: Magnus.Levin@hum.hv.se.
Name:
Affiliation:
Mailing address:
E-mail:
Phone:
=46ax:
I would like to / would not like to present a paper.
Title of paper, if any:
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Universitetslektor Hans Lindquist Hans Lindquist, Ph.D.
Engelska English Section
Institutionen f=F6r humaniora Department of the Humanitie=
s
H=F6gskolan i V=E4xj=F6 Vaxjo University Colleg=
e
351 95 V=C4XJ=D6 S-351 95 VAXJO, Sweden
Tel 0470-70 85 70 Phone +46 470 70 85 70
=46ax 0470-75 18 88 Fax +46 470 75 18 88
E-post/E-mail Hans.Lindquist@hum.hv.se
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