Since 2018, UNED’s Language and Society Research Group has hosted a series of biennial international conferences on bilingualism and bilingual education, thus giving researchers the opportunity to present ground-breaking research and eventually cause positive changes in academia and society at large.  

While past editions dealt respectively with the challenges, limits and solutions involved when dealing with bilingualism and interculturality (2018), the relationship between bilingualism and migration (2020), and the confluence of bilingualism and bilingual education with their immediate and extended social contexts (2022), this edition will focus on bilingualism and bilingual education, and how both concepts interact or intertwine with (political) tension.  

Bilingualism and bilingual education have become characteristic features of the world today. Globalization, the internationalisation of employment, the increase in transnational mobility for educational, professional or recreational purposes, and technological development in one language or another are factors that might explain why proficiency in two or more languages is gaining ground. Bilingualism and multilingualism have now become the order of the day, even in traditionally monolingual societies. Nevertheless, in spite of its overall benefits, the spread of bilingual and multilingual proficiency might often pose some challenges and at times lead to tensions or conflicts which may be motivated by political ideologies. 

This international conference thus aims to provide a platform for researchers interested in discussing bilingualism and bilingual education in relation to language conflicts and tensions, no matter their shape and form. We welcome proposals (in English or Spanish) that deal with bilingualism and are related, but not exclusively, to the following topics: 

• Language planning  

• Language conflicts 

• Language ideologies 

• Linguistic rights 

• Linguistic variation and language learning 

• Bilingualism and demographics 

• Bilingualism and bilingual education policies 

• English as a lingua franca 

• Interculturality 

• Bilingualism and gender studies 

• The sociolinguistics of foreign language learning 

• The link between culture and language learning 

• Attitudes towards bilingualism and foreign language learning 

• Heritage languages 

• Linguistic choices and migration 

• Bilingual education in monolingual and bilingual contexts 

• Family bilingualism 

• Bilingualism in immigrant families 

• The impact of new technologies on bilingualism and bilingual education 

Keynote speakers 

Prof. Helen Kelly Holmes (University of Limerick) 

Guest speakers (round tables) 

Dr. Fernando Ramallo (Universidad de Vigo) 

Dr. Inés García Azkoaga (Universidad del País Vasco) 

Dr. Mercè Pujol Berché (Université de Perpignan Via Domitia) 

Dr. Paolo Roseano (UNED) 

Dr. Haraldur Bernharðsson (University of Iceland) 

Dr. Ruth Kircher (European Centre for Minority Issues) 

Submission Guidelines

It is worth noting that the conference will be held in person, in Madrid. Presentations will last 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes for discussion.  Participation is open to all researchers interested in the conference theme. Proposals for papers in English or Spanish are welcome.  The deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 June 2024. 

Your proposal should include: 

• A title (max. 15 words) 

• Key words (max. 5 words) 

• An abstract (300-400 words, not including references), followed by 5-10 references. 

• A short biography (max. 200 words) 

All proposals must be submitted online via EasyChair.

Committees

Organizing committee

Rubén Chacón Beltrán (coordinador). (UNED)

Soraya Almansa Ibáñez (UNED)

Diego  Ardura (UNED)

Montserrat Bermúdez Bausela (UNED)

Cecilia Criado de Diego (UNED)

José María  Díaz Lage (UNED)

Irene  Diego (UNED)

Raymond  Echitchi (Liege University)

Alice Foucart (Universidad Nebrija)

Joseph García Rodríguez (UNED)

Angelica  Giordano Paredes (UNED)

Alicia Luque (Universidad Nebrija)

Beatriz Pérez Cabello de Alba (UNED)

Alicia San Mateo Valdehíta (UNED)

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to lenguaysociedad@flog.uned.es