Memorial's Linguistics Department plays host to the annual conference of the Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association, Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7. The conference, in its 33rd year, features over 30 papers on a wide range of language-related topics. Many focus on the conference theme of the effects of globalization on local languages and dialects, as well as on the languages of eastern Canada. All daytime talks take place in Memorial University’s Business Administration building.

A highlight of the conference will be an evening keynote address by

Dr. Sylvie Dubois, of Louisiana State University, titled Distinctive Paths of Linguistic Resistance: The Case of Cajun Vernacular English and Creole African-American Vernacular English. Louisiana’s Cajun community has in a couple of generations moved from dependence on the fishery and other rural industries to a focus on cultural tourism and the oil and gas industry. Cajuns’ responses to these social and economic changes may be particularly resonant for a local audience. Dr. Dubois’ talk will be in room AA-1043 in the Arts building, on Friday Nov. 6, from 7-8 p.m. A reception and cash bar will follow. 

The entire conference is open to all members of the university community, as well as the public. Further information, including a complete program, is available from the conference website at www.mun.ca/linguistics/APLA2009/.

 

 

Information and interview requests may be directed to apla33@mun.ca, or the Linguistics Department at 737-8134.

 

Background: The Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association/l’Association de linguistique des provinces de l’Atlantique (APLA/ALPA) was founded in 1977 as a bilingual association with the goal of promoting the study of languages and linguistics in Eastern Canada. Though its membership is constituted primarily by researchers in the Atlantic area, it also includes members from all over the country, as well as from outside Canada. Over the past quarter century, the association’s annual conference – hosted each year by a different university – has played a primary role in fostering communication among Atlantic-area anglophone and francophone researchers in linguistics, languages and cognate disciplines. Each annual conference is built around a theme of significance not only to the local area, but also to the discipline as a whole. The last APLA conference hosted by Memorial occurred in November 2002, and had as its theme ‘Linguistic Approaches to Literacy.’