2021 Call for Proposals

March 20 - 23, 2021
Virtual Conference
Call for Proposals

COVID-19 Note: Those who submitted abstracts for Denver can resubmit those, and new abstracts are, of course, welcome.

The 2021 conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) will be held virtually. Nationally and internationally, the AAAL conference has a reputation as a comprehensive and stimulating conference. Conference participants can look forward to in-depth colloquia, paper, poster, and round-table sessions, as well as topical and thought-provoking plenary presentations, excellent book exhibits, and plentiful opportunities for networking.

Table of Contents

1. Plenary Speaker and Invited Colloquia Information
2. Strands
3. Proposals
   1. Individual Papers
   2. Posters
   3. Roundtable Discussions
   4. Colloquia
4. Proposal Format
5. Evaluation of Proposals
6. Proposal Policies
7. Submission Process
8. Requests for Meeting Spaces
9. AAAL Travel Policy
   

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AAAL is currently accepting submissions

Submission Deadline: July 29, 2020, 4:00 pm EDT

Acceptance/Rejection emails will be sent out in mid-October 2020

Indigenous Language Scholar Support Fund (Opening Soon)

Plenary Speaker and Invited Colloquia Information

We have created an exciting program for the 2022 conference, reflecting the wide range of research interests in applied linguistics. Check out the plenary speakers and invited colloquia below: 

Plenary Speakers

Featured Speakers

Invited Colloquia

Workshops

Strands

Proposals are welcome in the following topic strands:

• Analysis of Discourse and Interaction (DIS)
• Assessment and Evaluation (ASE)
• Bilingual, Immersion, Heritage, and Minority Education (BIH)
• Corpus Linguistics (COR)
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA)
• Educational Linguistics (EDU)
• Language and Ideology (LID)
• Language and Technology (TEC)
• Language Cognition and Brain Research (COG)
• Language, Culture, and Socialization (LCS)
• Language Maintenance and Revitalization (LMR)
• Language Planning and Policy (LPP)
• Phonology/Phonetics and Oral Communication (POC)
• Pragmatics (PRG)
• Reading, Writing, and Literacy (RWL)
• Research Methodology (REM)
• Second and Foreign Language Pedagogy (PED)
• Second Language Acquisition, Language Acquisition, and Attrition (SLA)
• Sociolinguistics (SOC)
• Teacher Education, Beliefs, and Identities (TED)
• Text Analysis (Written Discourse) (TXT)
• Translation, Interpretation and Language Access (TRI)
• Vocabulary and Lexical Studies (VOC)

You must select a primary strand for your submission. This is the strand in which your submission will very likely be reviewed and grouped. If applicable, please choose a secondary strand that also characterizes the submission. This will help conference organizers in preparing the conference program and in some instances, balancing the size and coherence of strands. You must choose a primary strand; the selection of a secondary strand is optional (but recommended).

Proposals

Proposals are invited for individual papers, colloquia, posters, and roundtable discussions. The deadline for proposal submission is 4:00 p.m. on July 14, 2021 (EDT; UTC-4). If you need to renew your membership or create a guest account, you should do so at least 3 hours before the submissions deadline to allow for changes to take place in the system. Requests relating to membership or guest accounts later than this may mean that you are unable to submit your abstract by the deadline. 

Abstract submissions for our conference, March 19-22, 2022, are invited from June 1 to July 14. As a reminder, you are limited to one submission as a first-author. This year, the proposal system will automatically block multiple submissions as the first author.

INDIVIDUAL PAPERS: Papers are formal presentations on a contribution of original knowledge by one or more authors within a thirty-minute period, including 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion.

POSTERS: Posters are especially effective for information that can be presented visually (e.g. charts, graphs, tables, diagrams). Prospective presenters are encouraged to consider posters, because of the opportunity they provide for extended discussion with other researchers.

ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS: Roundtable discussions are an opportunity for informal, in-depth discussions between presenters and attendees on a specific topic. They are particularly well suited for works-in-progress and are not meant to be formal paper presentations.  The purpose is not to present on a finished project but rather to address a specific topic in such a way as to engender whole-group discussion.  The advantage of roundtable sessions is that they allow for stimulating conversations and networking opportunities among participants on shared research interests.

Presenters will be allocated 30 minutes: 10-15 minutes to speak on their topic and 15-20 minutes for group discussion.There will be a time-keeper assigned to each roundtable session.  

COLLOQUIA: Colloquia allow for extended discussion on a particular topic, achieved through the organization of individual presentations that are clearly linked to the colloquium theme and to each other.  A number of colloquia are invited by the conference chair, but most are proposed by AAAL members. Proposals for colloquia can be for either a one-hour or two-hour block of time. 

Two-hour colloquia: The number of presenters and length of each presentation is left up to discretion of the colloquium organizer, as is the decision to include one or more discussants.  Because the purpose of this format is to foster dialogue among attendees, generous time allowance should be made throughout the colloquium for extended audience discussion of the papers presented. Colloquium proposers should, in addition to describing the content to be discussed and the coherence across the individual papers/presentations, state how time will be allocated across paper presentations, discussant remarks (optional), and audience discussion; this should be done without identifying presenters by name in order to preserve anonymity.

One-hour colloquia: One-hour colloquia consist of three individual 10-minute papers within a one-hour time slot proposed by the colloquium organizer(s). Like the 2-hr colloquium proposals, the papers should be closely connected to the same topic. A discussant may (or may not) be invited to provide some brief remarks. Each paper is typically allocated up to two minutes for clarification questions, followed by brief discussant comments (if any), leaving approximately 10 minutes for general discussion.

The advantage of a 1-hour colloquium is that the AAAL program can potentially accommodate more of these than 2-hour sessions and they allow for a more concise presentation of topics and accommodate more presenters at AAAL.

For both 2-hour and 1-hour colloquia, their organizers serve as the liaisons between participants in the colloquium and the AAAL conference program committee and are therefore responsible for all communication among the presenters and discussants.

Proposal Format

Please note the following word limits for all proposal types, including the colloquia components:

Title: 15 Words
Abstract: 300 Words

Please note that for a colloquium proposal:

1. The colloquium organizer(s) must provide an overview of the entire colloquium, including title (15 words) and abstract (300 words), as well as information about the format/timing of presentation and discussion as noted above.
2. Each individual panelist must also provide a title and abstract for their paper in the colloquium.  

Evaluation of Proposals

All proposals are evaluated by a team of reviewers according to each of the following categories:

• Appropriateness and significance of the topic/issue/problem
• Expectation of original research
• Research design if an empirical study, including clearly stated questions, data sources, data collection procedures, and analytic approach
• Conceptual framework if a conceptual study, including integration of topic into current thinking, clear exposition of treatment of topic and contributions to the literature
• Manner of presentation (indicative of a clear and well-organized presentation)

Proposals for roundtable sessions will also be evaluated for each of the following categories:

• Clarity of objectives and intended outcomes of the session
• Methods planned to engage participants in the discussion

Proposals for colloquia will also be evaluated for each of the following categories:

• Appropriateness and significance of the topic
• Presentation of original and on-going research studies OR differing or dissenting perspectives on an important issue
• Coherence and complementarity of the papers
• Manner of presentation
  • Two-Hour Colloquia: clearly indicated schedule of activity with significant amounts of time allocated for discussion of the presentations and audience participation)
  • One-Hour Colloquia: i) three clearly indicated separate papers, each with content that lends itself to a 10-minute presentation; ii) a colloquium organizer (who must be one or more of the authors of the individual papers); and iii) a clearly indicated schedule that allows for a minimum of 20 minutes of discussion following the presentation of the three papers

Please note that if colloquia are accepted, the schedule of activity, including the order of presentations, will appear in the conference program as listed in the proposal and must be respected in the actual presentation of papers.

Proposal Policies

Individuals may submit a maximum of one abstract as first author, whether a paper (including papers presented in a colloquium), a poster, or a roundtable session. This means that an individual can only appear once as a first author on the program. First authors are expected to present the research bearing their name, but all authors are encouraged to share in the presentation of co-authored research.

The first author is considered the presenting author and must register for the conference.

The online proposal system will block the submission of more than one proposal by the same “first author”. Please be highly selective when submitting to avoid rejection by the system.

An individual may take on an additional role as a colloquium organizer or discussant. NOTE: the same person can serve as discussant on only one colloquium at the conference. If asked to serve as a discussant on multiple colloquia, we request that the person choose one and decline other such discussant roles. For papers, an individual may also appear as a co-author/co-presenter of another paper, provided they are not first author.

All proposals (for individual papers, posters, roundtable sessions, and colloquia) must represent original and unpublished work that is not yet available to the AAAL membership (with the exception of material from publications in press).

Proposals for all presentation formats will be double-blind peer-reviewed. Please ensure that any reference made to your previous work within the proposal does not include self-reference information that clearly identifies you or one of your co-authors. Avoid, for example, statements such as In a previous study, we (YOURNAME, date). Any proposal that does not respect the blind review format will be rejected.

Individuals who will not be attending the conference are discouraged from submitting proposals. Conference attendees highly value the discussion period with all authors at the conclusion of conference sessions. Presenters who know that they cannot attend the conference are asked to withdraw their proposals as soon as possible to give another presenter a place on the program. If unforeseen circumstances at the last minute dictate that a presenter cannot attend the conference, a substitute will be permitted.

The author’s confirmation of attendance and presentation signifies that the author will present the paper on the day and time assigned by the conference program committee. AAAL will not respond to or consider requests for a specific time slot.

Submission Process

Before submitting a proposal, please read the brief descriptors for each strand, which are available through the Call for Proposals on the AAAL website. Try to submit your proposal to the strand that most closely relates to your main theme. If you are unsure, please ask a colleague, professor, or supervisor who is familiar with AAAL Conference procedures.

Before submitting a proposal, remember to check your membership status (you need to be a member or have a guest account in order to submit your proposal). PLEASE REMEMBER: If you need to renew your membership or create a guest account, you must do so at least 3 hours before the submission deadline.  Requests relating to membership or guest accounts later than this may mean that you are unable to submit your abstract by the deadline.

Requests for Meeting Spaces

Individuals or groups wishing to use rooms at the conference venue for meetings outside the conference program should make their requests using the Meeting Request Form, which will be automatically submitted to the conference team, no later than 11:59 p.m. on December 1, 2020 (EDT; UTC-4).  Such meeting spaces may be required for sessions with journal editors, editorial board meetings, and other networking opportunities. Requests for meetings will be considered within the inevitable constraints of time and space available.

AAAL Travel Policy

As stated in the AAAL Standing Rules: 

Adjudicated conference presentations may not be done solely by telecommunication procedures; at least one co-author must be physically present at the conference.

i. Although in-person participation is prioritized, exceptions to this policy will be made in certain cases to allow for submission of a voice over PPT and speaker phone for Q&A segment with the session to be managed by a student volunteer. These accommodations may be made in the following circumstances, with supporting documentation of eligibility:

1. Medical circumstance of self or immediate family member which prevents travel
2. Denial or rejection of visa beyond a time frame which reasonably allows for travel accommodations to the conference, at the Conference Chair’s discretion
3. Citizenship of or current residence in a “travel ban” country

For further questions regarding this, please contact info@aaal.org. 

Questions

For questions regarding the academic aspects of the conference, including proposal submission policies, please contact conference@aaal.org.

For questions regarding the practicalities of how to submit a proposal or other technical questions, please contact aaal@confex.com.