RISLUS co-sponsored the 51st annual Conference on New Ways of Analyzing Variation, NWAV51 held at Queens College Oct 13-15. This is the premier conference of the research paradigm founded by William Labov in his work explaining how differences in language forms (such as dropping or pronouncing final /r/ in words like Fourth Floor correlate with social factors).
This year’s theme was “Variation in the World’s Languages” and presentations on multilingualism and understudied languages were particularly encouraged. More than 300 participants from all over the North America, Europe, Asia, and even Australia attended. They presented work on over 30 languages from English and Spanish to Quechua and various indigenous Australian languages. As a way to revive the RISLUS Research Forum after a long absence, we held special sessions on heritage languages, language in urban society, and multilingual literacy. Several of our research associates presented papers and posters, and Founding Director Ricardo Otheguy gave the first plenary talk.
Click here to view abstracts and program.
Here are some photos from the RISLUS-sponsored sessions.
