Recent Call for Papers

Call Deadline: 28-Feb-2013

The Workshop on Working Memory Resources in Language Processing and Acquisition aims at encouraging the scientific debate on the role of working memory in all aspects of L1 and/or L2 processing and acquisition. Many studies have proved that working memory plays a crucial role in both typical and atypical language acquisition (and especially language acquisition by children with language disorders, such as Developmental Dyslexia and Specific Language Impairment) and typical language processing, such as in the accomplishment of particular syntactic and lexical tasks. Furthermore, many studies report that WM plays an important role in the process of learning a second language too.

In spite of this rich tradition of studies, however, many aspects of working memory involvement in language processing and acquisition are still under investigation. In general, the precise role of working memory in language acquisition is not fully understood: how is working memory involved in, say, L1 and L2 grammatical structure learning? What is its role in the implicit learning processes underlying L1 acquisition? Which linguistic computations can be considered ‘complex’ from a working memory point of view, in addition, is still largely speculative and often a matter of a priori theoretical choices. More specifically, while it is acknowledged that working memory resources are involved in syntactic computation (production and parsing of syntactic structures), it is not completely clear to what extent working memory is at play in L1/L2 lexical and morphological learning tasks and lexical production (e.g. rapid naming tasks). In general, it is an important task for future research to achieve a more fine-grained distinction among the constitutive components of WM and a more precise characterization of their interplay in language acquisition and language processing.

The goal of this workshop is to provide a context for discussion on these and other open questions on the crucial relationship between WM and language processing and acquisition.

Invited Speaker:     Naama Friedmann (Tel Aviv University)

Linguistic Subfield: Language Acquisition; Experimental Psycholinguistics; Clinical linguistics; Syntax; Semantics.

Call for Papers:

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

- Working memory and syntactic dependencies resolution;
- WM role in semantic disambiguation tasks;
- Theoretical models of WM and its components;
- Working memory capacity implications for L2 acquisition;
- Working memory limitations and language disorders;
- Working memory and implicit learning interaction in L1 and L2 acquisition;
- The contribution of the distinct WM components to typical language processing;
- Behavioral and neurolinguistic evidence on WM involvement in linguistic computations.

Submissions:

We invite submissions of communication proposals on any topic related to the themes of the workshop. Abstracts (in PDF format) should be submitted for anonymous review through the workshop’s EasyAbs submission page:

http://linguistlist.org/easyabs/workmem.sli2013

Abstracts should be no longer than two pages (including examples and references), in 12-point type, Times font, single line spacing, and 2,5 cm margins. The abstract should include the title and three keywords/phrases that best describe the content of the abstract. It should NOT contain any personal information (e.g. name of the author(s), affiliation(s), address, etc.).

Abstract Evaluation:

The anonymous abstracts will be reviewed by (at least) two reviewers through the EasyAbs system. Evaluation will be based on a rating from 1 (totally negative) to 5 (totally positive) and will be accompanied by a brief commentary. Abstracts obtaining the highest ratings will be selected for oral presentation.

Important Dates:

Abstract submission start: January 1, 2013

Abstracts submission (extended) deadline: February 28 March 21, 2013

Notification of acceptance (extended): April 20 May 2, 2013

Workshop date: September 27, 2013

XLVI SLI Conference: September 26-28, 2013

Organizers:

Karin Martin (University of Verona)
Chiara Melloni (University of Verona)
Maria Scappini (University of Verona)
Jacopo Torregrossa (University of Verona)

Contact e-mail:    workingmemory.sli2013@gmail.com

Scientific Committee:

Fabrizio Arosio (University of Milano-Bicocca)
Camilla Bettoni (University of Verona)
Cristina Burani (Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, CNR, Rome)
Anna Cardinaletti (University of Venice)
Denis Delfitto (University of Verona)
Gaetano Fiorin (University of Utrecht)
Maria Teresa Guasti (University of Milano-Bicocca)
Judith Rispens (University of Amsterdam)
Uli Sauerland (ZAS, Berlin)
Maria Vender (University of Verona)