Accents

Accents 2026

ŁÓDŹ, 10 - 12 DEC 2026

19TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE ACCENTS OF ENGLISH

Accents, Identity & Digital Voices

'Accents' is an annual conference organized by the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics at University of Lodz, Poland. It brings together researchers and teachers interested in native and non-native accents of English, approached from a variety of theoretical and/or practical perspectives. The key issues discussed each year include individual accent characteristics, the dynamism of accent usage, accent teaching and learning, and the methods and tools for accent studies. The leitmotif of Accents 2026 revolves around two main phenomena: (1) the accent and identity interplay as well as (2) technological advances in L2 pronunciation acquisition and instruction; both observed and researched across diverse contexts, regions, countries and continents.

Plenary speakers (in alphabetical order):

Prof. Rob Drummond, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Prof. Jonás Fouz-González, Universidad de Murcia, Spain
Prof. John M. Levis, Iowa State University, United States of America

Pre-Conference Workshop will be held by

Prof. Radek Skarnitzl, Charles University, Czechia

Call for papers

We invite proposals for papers, workshops and posters referring to the main theme ‘Accents, Identity & Digital Voices’ as well as other issues related to native and non-native accents of English, including, but not limited to the ones mentioned below:

accent and identity,
modern technology use in pronunciation learning/teaching
accents in natural environment: World Englishes, immigrant context, sojourners, etc.
accents in varied educational contexts: ESL, EFL, ELF, ESOL, EAP, EMI, etc.
phonological variation across time and space
bilingualism and multilingualism
ASR, CAPT, HVPT
native and non-native verbal interactions
the role of pronunciation in oral communication
pronunciation in discourse
suprasegmentals/prosody/fluency
intelligibility/ comprehensibility/ acceptability
segmental features and accuracy
speech perception and/or speech production
pronunciation teaching, pronunciation instruction and instructed learning
classroom-based research
laboratory-based investigations
pronunciation assessment
pronunciation teacher training

Deadline for abstract submissions is August 15th, 2026. Please send an abstract of up to 400 words in word document, NOT pdf, (the word limit does not include references) to accents@uni.lodz.pl with the intended format (paper, workshop or poster), Author name(s) and affiliation written under the title. The proposals will go through the process of anonymous peer review, after which notifications of acceptance will be sent out by September 20th, 2026.
Information on our previous conferences can be found at https://filolog.uni.lodz.pl/accents under Abstracts. Please send all conference related questions to accents@uni.lodz.pl
All information regarding the registration fee, conference venue and recommended conference hotel will be available in early autumn.

We look forward to seeing you in Łódź!

Venue and accommodation

CONFERENCE VENUE

The conference is planned for three full days, December 10-12, 2026. The conference will be held at the Faculty of Philology and the University Conference Centre (Kopcińskiego 16/18) of the University of Lodz.

ACCOMMODATION

We recommend the University Conference Centre - please go to Registration Form (available below in early autumn) to book a room.