Accents in Contact

"Accents" is an annual conference organized by the Department of English Grammar and Phonetics at the University of Łódź, Poland. It brings together researchers and teachers interested in native and non-native accents of English approached from a theoretical and practical perspective. Among many issues discussed each year, the characteristics and the dynamism of accent usage in a natural as well as in a formal teaching contexts come into the foreground, with a growing interest in the methodology and tools for accent studies. The main focus so far has been on accents of English; this year, while continuing to discuss accents from the sociophonetic, psychophonetic and didactic perspectives, we propose to widen the scope of our discussion to include the effects of accent contact not only on English, but also other languages, with the leading theme of "Accents in Contact".

Keynote speaker: James E. Flege, University of Birmingham, Alabama.
Special session: English accents in Europe: Euro-English?
Convenor: Una Cunningham, University of Stockholm, Sweden.

Call for Papers

We invite proposals for papers, workshops and posters related to the main "Accents in Contact" theme as well as other issues related to native and non-native accents of English, including, but not limited to the ones mentioned below:

  • The effect of other languages on the acquisition and usage of English
  • The effect of English accents on the acquisition and usage of other languages
  • Accents in English around the world, "New Englishes", "Euro-Englishes", etc.
  • Variability in accents of English
  • Native- non-native accent continuum
  • Accents in EFL / ESL / ELF
  • Methodology and tools for accent studies
  • Teaching accents / the pronunciation of English

Please notice that each author can propose two contributions if one is intended for the main conference and the other one for a special session. Papers are given 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for discussion, workshops will typically have 45 minute slots. Please specify the intended presentation format in your proposal. The deadline for abstract submission is September 30th, 2012. Please send two copies of an abstract of up to 400 words (excluding references) to accents@uni.lodz.pl, with the intended format, name and affiliation written under the title in one copy. The proposals will go through the process of peer review, after which notifications of acceptance will be sent out by October 21, 2012.

Organisers

The conference is organized by Ewa Waniek-Klimczak (ewaklim@uni.lodz.pl), the head of the Department of English Grammar and Phonetics (Chair of English Language and Applied Linguistics, University of Łódź with the departmental team headed by Magda Zając (conference secretary), Agata Barańska, Ola Matysiak, Adam Dudziński and Przemek Ostalski. Information on our previous conferences can be found at http://www.filolog.uni.lodz.pl/accents2011. Please send all conference related questions to accents@uni.lodz.pl.

Venue

The conference is planned for two full days, December 6, 2012 (Thursday) noon till December 8, 2012 (Saturday) afternoon. The venue for the conference is the University Conference Centre in Łódź, Kopcińskiego 16/18. The venue offers conference facilities, accommodation and meals on the premises. It is conveniently situated near the city centre, with easy access from the airport, train and bus stations. If you need assistance in planning your journey, please contact us at accents@uni.lodz.pl.

Registration

To register, please fill in the registration form (which can be downloaded from here) and e-mail it to accents@uni.lodz.pl. If you would like to receive further conference information without registering yet, please fill in the mailing list information. The deadline for registration and bank payments is November 17, 2012. Please notice that while on-site registration is possible, the payments can be made in cash only.

Payments

There are two payment options: (1) conference package or (2) conference fee + individual needs cost.

  1. Conference package: Regular 350 Euro; PhD/MA students: 280 Euro

    Conference package includes:

    • Registration fee
    • Full board accommodation at the conference centre for two nights, arriving 6.12. leaving 8.12.
    • Conference dinner
    • Sightseeing trip

  2. Conference fee: Regular 200 Euro; PhD/MA students: 120 Euro

    • Bed and breakfast at the hotel center: E 50 per night (single room) or E 40 (double room)
    • Meals: lunch E 10, Dinner E 25, Conference Dinner E 40
    • For an individual cost calculator please see the registration form.

Please make payments to the university bank account: (NOTE: please remember to specify your name and the name of the conference – Accents 2012 with the payment).

IBAN: PL14 1240 3028 1111 0010 0434 7782
BIC/Swift: PKOPPLPW
Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A., II Oddział‚ w Łodzi
Piotrkowska 270, 90-361 Łódź

Participants from Poland are asked to make payments in PLN

  1. Conference package: Regular 750 PLN, PhD/MA students 600 PLN
  2. Conference: Regular 300 PLN, PhD/MA students 200
  • Bed and breakfast at the hotel center: PLN 150 per night (single room) or PLN 120 (double room)
  • Meals: lunch 35 PLN, Dinner 70 PLN, Conference Dinner 120 PLN

For participants from Poland – additional financial information

Osoby, które będą potrzebowałyfaktury prosimy o dokonanie płatności przelewem najpóźniej do 17.11.2012 i przesłanie danych do faktury na adres accents@uni.lodz.pll. Z uwagi na termin konferencji (koniec roku rozliczeniowego), nie będzie możliwe wystawienie faktur za płatności dokonane w późniejszym terminie. Przypominamy, że faktury wystawiane są na autora przelewu, nie jest zatem możliwe wystawienie faktury na uczelnie przy płatności przelewem z prywatnego konta bankowego.