cfp.english.upenn.edu

The position of English as a worldwide lingua franca has never been more secure than it is today. However, defining “English” can be a tricky business considering the fact that on the large scale no two nations, or on the small scale, no two speakers will utilize the same variety or aspire to the same mythical standard. What does dialect variation in Present-Day English mean for language learners, teachers, and linguists studying the growth of the language? The Discussion Group on Present-Day English Language seeks proposals for papers on a variety of topics including but not limited to:
What does “dialect” mean?
Teaching English to multilingual and/or multidialectal speakers
The history of English dialects worldwide
Issues of language and dialect prejudice and discrimination
Dialect features in understudied areas
Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words to Elizabeth Bell Canon at canon_eb@yahoo.com by March 13, 2013.