Aims and Scope

The conference aims to foster discussion among social scientists about the relations between language and work, including occupations, labor processes and employment conditions. Within this broad field, the conference will focus on the central role language plays in labor processes. We start from the centrality of language in the information society, since information is linguistically coded and, for a wide range of products and services, language becomes raw material. Language is thus a key component of productivity, employability, wages, and control. First and additional languages, computer languages, numerical systems, scripts or protocols can be approached as today’s working tools that must be mastered by professionals on an everyday basis. Beyond the classical “language industries” whose outputs are books or translations, today’s conversations and texts are produced in a wide range of workplaces where they can be understood as the final product of the labor process. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective, the conference will bring together scholars engaged in research on workplace language skills and their implications for broader social and economic concerns, including social and economic inclusion, job security, long-life learning, unionization, gender inequalities, and wage differentials.

Topics:

‐Defining and measuring language skills related to job performance
‐Language standardization/agency and production processes
‐“Linguistic-jobs” and “non-linguistic” jobs
‐Non-natural languages in the labor market. Technical and numerical languages.
‐Professions and sectorial language. Jargons, company speak.
‐Language skills, wages, employment, and employability
‐Language as raw material, tool, and product
‐Language, hiring, and promotion
‐Social and economic implications of language work

Confirmed Keynote speakers:

Florian Coulmas (Duisburg Essen University, Germany),
Anthony Pym (UniversitatRoviraiVirgili, Spain),

Abstracts submission and registration

Abstracts proposals should be sent to: Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.. The abstracts should be at least 300 words in length with four keywords and must include the name and affiliation of the authors. Abstracts should in English, alongside other versions if appropriate. Presentations can be in other languages than English, but presenters should provide a summary in English to the organizers and the audience. The proposals will be evaluated by the scientific committee. Accepted contributions will be allocated time slots of 25 minutes for presentation.

Abstract submission deadline: March 15th2018
Notification of abstract evaluation: April 15th 2018
Presenter registration: May 1st 2018

Inscription Fees:

The inscription fees include program folder and coffee breaks.
General price: 100€
Reduced price (for students and membersof supporting institutions): 70€

Grants:

8 registration grants and 4 travel grants will be awarded among accepted authors. Accepted authors should send a Statement of need between April 16th and 20th 2018 to: Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.. Grants will be allocated before May 1st 2018.

Arriving to Tarragona:

http://www.urv.cat/international/en_index.html

www.booking.com/Tarragona/Hotels

Scientific Committee Members:

Amado Alarcón (UniversitatRoviraiVirgili); Till Burckhardt (Université de Gèneve,Swicherland); StéphanieCassilde (Centre d'Étudesen Habitat Durable, Belgic); Florian Coulmas (Duisburg Essen University, Germany); Antonio Di Paolo (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain); Federico Farini (Middlesex University in London, UK); KeijiFujiyoshi (OtemonGakuin University, Japan); Michele Gazzola (Humboldt-Universitätzu Berlin, Germany); Nadezhda Georgieva-Stankova (Trakia University, Bulgaria); Maria Guadalupe González (Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, Mexico); CecilioLapresta (Universitat de Lleida, Spain); Josiah McCHeyman (University of Texas at El Paso, USA); Maria Cristina Morales (University of Texas at El Paso, USA); Anthony David Pym (UniversitatRoviraiVirgili, Spain); Roland Terborg (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico); Ester Torres (UniversitatRoviraiVirgili, Spain); Trinidad Valle (Fordham University, USA); Antoni Vidal(UniversitatRoviraiVirgili); Johanna Woydack (University of Vienna, Austria).

Local Organizing Committee:

Amado Alarcón (URV), Antoni Vidal (URV), Tinka Tabea Schubert (URV), Teresa Sorrosal (URV), Nune Ayvazyan (URV), Maria Jesús Muiños (URV), Teresa Corbella (URV), M. Carmen Molina (URV), Belén López (URV), Josep Ubalde (URV), Carla Aguilar (URV).