The 2023 LLRC pre-conference calls upon language and literacy researchers to explore: Reckoning with our past, interrogating our present, and reimagining our future. This year’s pre-conference theme aligns with the social justice turn in language, literacy, and applied linguistics “with scholars and language educators paying greater attention to how we can promote social justice and equity in sharing social resources, benefits, and power” (Anya, 2021, p. 1067). We acknowledge our past shortcomings and failures to address injustices, our current efforts to confront inequities and power imbalances in our field, and our capacity, as researchers and educators, to build a more just future.
Our call invites LLRC researchers, educators, activists and community members to re-imagine our pre-conference as a space where we critically examine issues of power, race, coloniality, linguistic competence, and beyond. We encourage authors to grapple with “abyssal thinking that assigns legitimacy only to the knowledge systems and practices stereotypically associated with dominant white monolingual people” (Garcia et al., 2021, p. 205). We call upon scholars in the language and literacy field to share works in progress and engage in a critical dialogue about such questions as: How do we reckon with past and present exclusions in our field? How can we reimagine scholarship, research, and dissemination to be more equitable in an inequitable and turbulent world? How do we reckon with the homogenizing impact of colonialism in language and literacy? What reimagined methodologies, pedagogies, or theories can we use? How can we legitimize and valorize plurilingualism and translanguaging in our research practices, our classrooms, and society at large? How can language and literacy be reimagined in an increasingly digital age?
Pre-Conference Format
Instead of a traditional paper presentation, authors will engage in Exquisite Conversations with other scholars. These are small thematically-grouped break-out presentations and attentive discussion about each author’s paper. To make these Exquisite Conversations possible, papers (including works in progress) will be circulated 2 weeks prior to the pre-conference. Participants are encouraged to read papers of interest in advance to better engage in discussion and come prepared with constructive feedback.
Hybrid Format
This year’s pre-conference will be hybrid. Presenters will indicate if they prefer to present online or in person, however, preferred presentation format is not guaranteed. Virtual presenters will only be able to access the plenary speakers’ talk and the virtual Exquisite Conversation session(s) via Zoom. They will be unable to access the in person Exquisite Conversations.
Masks will be mandatory during our in person pre-conference.
LLRC Pre-Conference Proposal Submission Guidelines
All proposals should be submitted using our Google Form (https://forms.gle/E4DosfsfhFjJM9iR8). Please consult this form for more detailed submission requirements. Your submission will include author information, an abstract (150 words), a research summary (750 words, excluding references), and keywords. DO NOT submit proposals to CSSE directly. You will need a Google account to submit.
The research summary should include the following information:
- Rationale
- Theoretical Perspectives / Framework
- Research design / Methodology
- Findings
- Conclusions
- Three questions from your research that you would like to discuss in your group
- References (not included in word count)
- Research summaries should be in a .doc or .docx format.
- Abstracts and research summaries should not include any identifying information
Please note that submitting to this pre-conference means that you are also willing to review abstracts for this pre-conference. Authors may only submit one paper as first author to this pre-conference.
Deadline for Submission: January 25, 2023
Please check the LLRC website for additional information about the pre-conference as it becomes available, including fees and registration: https://www.llrc-accll.ca/conferencesconférences.
Inquiries can be directed to pre-conference chairs, Nancy Bell and Marika Kunnas at llrcpreconf2023@gmail.com.
References
Anya, U. (2021). Critical Race Pedagogy for More Effective and Inclusive World Language Teaching. Applied Linguistics, 42(6), 1055–1069. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amab068
García, O., Flores, N., Seltzer, K., Wei, L., Otheguy, R., & Rosa, J. (2021). Rejecting abyssal thinking in the language and education of racialized bilinguals: A manifesto. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 18(3), 203–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427587.2021.1935957
