This is a call for papers for a hybrid session at the Northeast Modern Language Association Conference in Pittsburgh, PA which will take place March 5-8, 2026. Please see this link for the CFP and to submit through the NeMLA site: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21963 .

On March 1, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order designating English the official language of the United States while simultaneously revoking a previous executive order from August 11, 2000, called “Improving Access to Services for Persons with Limited English Proficiency.” Despite being unclear if the White House has the power to enact such a policy without Congressional action, many professional linguistic and language-focused organizations throughout the U.S. (e.g., ACTFL, LSA, MLA, AAAL, ATA) reacted quickly by crafting statements explaining their opposition to such an order, employing their knowledge and expertise about the linguistic situation in the United States to counter this new Executive Order.

Meanwhile, on American television, the ways in which bilingualism is represented has begun to evolve. More and more bilingual characters and content including bilingual interactions have proliferated on the small screen. This trend seems to countervail previous instantiations of bilinguals and bilingualism, providing a shift from viewing bilingualism as problematic or a deficit to more positive, normalized portrayals of bilingualism as an asset.

It is in this context of contradictory cultural messages that we invite proposals from various (inter)disciplinary perspectives that consider representations of bilingual speakers and bilingualism on American television, including U.S. territories. Topics may include, for example:

• Portrayals of interactions employing code-switching, code-mixing, code-meshing, and/or translanguaging,
• Use of subtitles in bilingual interactions or how these uses have changed over time,
• How portrayals of bilingualism are different today than they have been in the past,
• What messages the inclusion of bilingual characters or content convey to the audience,
• How portrayals of bilingual speakers reinforce or challenge dominant linguistic hierarchies,
• Representations of language policing, English-only policies, or institutional attitudes toward bilingualism, and
• How bilingual viewers respond to television representations of their languages and cultures, including critiques of authenticity and calls for better representation.

Please submit your proposals by September 30, 2025