Subject: cognitive studies in creolistics

6th international cognitive linguistics conference stockholm , 11th - 16th july 1999 . theme session : cognitive studies in creolistics call for abstracts the theme session is intended as a workshop in which papers that are relevant to this topic are invited in order to promote the discussion between creolists and cognitive linguists . the papers may incorporate empirical studies as well as theoretical debates that discuss aspects of description and analysis of mental structures and language processes within the field of creole languages . there are two main strands in the field which are presently discussed , the question of creole genesis as a gradual restructuring process on the one hand , and questions of practical implications of creole research on bilingual education and standardization in the creole societies on the other hand . how can we - from a cognitivist 's point of view - account for the existence of different degrees in a yet consistent pattern of restructuring ? what are the cognitive components that shape language competence in a creole setting where children grow up bilingually , either where the lexifying language of the creole equals the standard or where they differ ? another set of questions that can be raised with respect to this workshop relates to the topic of how studies of creole languages , and other contact language varities ( e . g . pidgins ) might contribute to cognitive linguistic theory in general . for instance , certain structural features of creoles have been said to be ' universal ' in the sense of common to all creole languages ; ( how ) can we explain these features from a cognitivist viewpoint ? how does the structure of creoles ( and again , other contact language varieties ) differ from that of other natural languages , and how can these differences be explained ? ' we would like to organize the papers under the following headings : 1 . aspects of language systems 2 . creolization as language acquisition 3 . bilingualism half - to one page abstracts should be submitted by e-mail to anette nielsen ( vixen @ ling . aau . dk ) by november 1st . 1998 . ( we are very , very sorry for not having sent out this call earlier - there has been a misunderstanding between the theme session and conference organizers . we sincerely hope that you can manage to come up with an abstract anyway . ) notification of acceptance will be by november 15th . further information about the 6th international cognitive linguistics conference can be obtained at the conference website : http : / / bamse . ling . su . se / iclc99 theme session organizers : rebekka ehret and anette nielsen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ get your private , free email at http : / / www . hotmail . com
