Date
28-29 January 2010 (Thursday-Friday)

Topic of the Seminar

The fourth AILA Language and Migration Research Network Seminar focuses on the relationship between language, migration flows and labour processes. Our major concern is to explore the complex relationship between the economic and cultural capital of migrants and its use or exploitation by power institutions in a globalized labour market. We will focus on the role of language in access, selection, social mobility and gate-keeping processes. The seminar will address some of the following key issues:

a) the way language operates as a means of social selection in the workplace for migrants (ie. the role of language skills in recruitment processes or job performance, with attendant issues of measurement and evaluation); 

b) language teaching for migrants and acquisition of language proficiencies on the workfloor (including literacy issues); 

c) the capitalization by employers of migrant language skills in the management of multilingualism (through commodification of language and identity and/or the (non)-recognition of crucial multilingual practices); 

d) the role of language in the regulation of labour market related migration trajectories.

Plenary speakers

Beatriz P. Lorente, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 

Ingrid Piller, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates

Cécile Vigouroux, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Proposals for papers and posters

Please submit by e-mail a 300-word abstract of your paper or poster proposal. Include your name, affiliation, address, phone and e-mail at the end of your abstract. The abstract should include enough detail to allow reviewers to judge the scientific merits of the proposal. Please mention whether you would like to present a paper or a poster.

All abstracts will be reviewed anonymously. Oral papers will be allotted 30 minutes, allowing 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for questions. An extra poster session will be organized.

In order to insure discussion between the participants, no parallel sessions will be organized. As a consequence the number of accepted oral papers will be limited. 

Abstract submissions should be sent to Liselotte Lutz: lutzl@edufr.ch

Deadlines

The submission deadline for proposals for papers is October 1st, 2009.

Acknowledgement of receipt of the abstract will be sent by e-mail as soon as possible after receipt. You will receive notification of acceptance no later than November 1st, 2009.

Inscription

Inscription fees: 150 CHF 

Please fill in the inscription form available on our website:

www.institut-plurilinguisme.ch

Deadline: 27 November, 2009

General Information

General information regarding hotel, program and inscription will be regularly posted on our website: www.institut-plurilinguisme.ch

For information on the AILA Research Network on Language and Migration, please consult the following website: http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~extcmh/ReNLM/index