Welcome to the 2009 conference page. We hope that you will find all the necessary information for attendance at the conference and that your stay will be a pleasant one. Please click on the relevant link below to take you to that section of the page. This page is also available in French by clicking on français on the top right of the page.

You can download the call for papers and initial conference information by clicking here.

Conference details

The 2009 conference is hosted by the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and will take place at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, from 3 - 5 September 2009. The conference is taking place at the Faculty of Humanities, Espace Louis Agassiz, Neuchatel. The Faculty is located 15 minutes by foot from the city center or with bus line number 1 direction "Marin", stop "University". The Faculty is also an easy reach from the train station, either by walking (10 minutes) or with the cablecar (fare: 1 franc). To download a map of the area, please click here.

The theme of this year's conference is "Langue française en contextes". Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Regularities and variations of French
  • Evolution of French
  • Swiss French varieties
  • French as a second language
  • Modality and Evidentiality in French
  • Semantics and pragmatics of French

This conference aims to bring together researchers with an interest in French in all of its forms and in all of its representations, both spoken and written. In particular, participants are invited to address:

  1. French linguistics and description of French (with an emphasis on grammatical, semantic, pragmatic and discursive aspects);
  2. French varieties across the French-speaking world and among social French-speaking groups;
  3. sociolinguistics of French;
  4. acquisitional and educational approaches to French as a foreign language such as stages of acquisition and the learner's language representations, learning and teaching strategies, formative and summative assessment, learning contexts.

This list should not be understood as restrictive. Synchronic and diachronic perspectives are possible.

The languages of the conference will be French and English

Organisers and co-organisers

Louis de Saussure (linguistics and discourse analysis, chair), Marie-José Béguelin (French linguistics, head of the Institute of language and communication sciences), Philippe Terrier (French as a second language, vice-president of the university of Neuchâtel), Steve Oswald, Patrick Morency, Cécile Barbet, Alain Rihs, Mathieu Avanzi, (PhD students), Rachel Sanchez (administration).
For AFLS: Kate Beeching, Emmanuelle Labeau, Pierre Larrivée

Scientific Committee

AFLS permanent committee: Vera Regan (University College Dublin, AFLS Chair of Research Committee), Kate Beeching (University of West of England), Hélène Blondeau (University of Florida), David Hornsby (University of Kent), Florence Myles (University of Newcastle), Tim Pooley (London Metropolitan University), Rodney Sampson (University of Bristol), David Trotter (University of Aberystwyth)

Neuchâtel 2009 committee: Louis de Saussure (University of Neuchâtel), Jean-Michel Adam (University of Lausanne), Antoine Auchlin (University of Geneva), Marc Bonhomme (University of Berne), Gilles Corminboeuf (University of Neuchâtel), Walter De Mulder (University of Antwerp), Henriette De Swart (University of Groningen), Marc Dominicy (University of Brussels), Laurent Gosselin (University of Rouen), Alain Kamber (University of Neuchâtel), Mikhaïl Kissine (University of Brussels), Jean-Marc Luscher (University of Geneva), Jacques Moeschler (University of Geneva), Arie Molendijk (University of Groningen), Simona Pekarek (University of Neuchâtel), Laurent Perrin (University of Metz), Carine Skupien-Dekens (University of Neuchâtel), Bertrand Sthioul (University of Geneva), Johann van der Auwera (University of Antwerp), Diane Vincent (Laval University Québec).

Important dates
  • Submission of abstract for main conference: 15 April 2009
  • Submission of abstract to doctoral workshop: 1 May 2008
  • Notification of outcome: 15 June 2009
  • End of early-bird registration: 15 July 2009
  • Registration closes: 15 August 2009
  • Conference: 3-5 September 2009

Calls for papers

Submission of abstracts

Paper and poster proposals (papers: 20 minutes presentation plus 10 minutes of discussion) must be sent by 15th April 2009 as a one-page anonymous abstract (excluding bibliography, times 12 pt, single spaced in DOC or RTF format) attached to an email message sent to afls2009@unine.ch. The email message should include the title of the abstract and the name, affiliation and complete address of the author(s) and mention whether the proposal is for a paper or a poster.

Notification of acceptance or rejection

Notification of the outcome of your submission will be sent by 15th June 2009. The scientific committee may transfer a paper proposal to the poster session.

Doctoral (PhD) students' workshop

The morning of the 3rd September will be dedicated to the workshop for doctoral students. Students preparing a thesis are invited to present their research. This has traditionally been an excellent opportunity to meet other doctoral students and specialists in related fields of research and to gain a new perspective of ongoing research in your field in a less formal atmosphere than the main conference. Doctoral students are still welcome to apply for the main conference and should do so according to the guidelines for the main conference. The deadline for the submission of doctoral students' paper proposals is 1st May 2009. They should be sent according to the guidelines mentioned above, although the email message must state that the submission is for the doctoral workshop.

Registration

Registration to the conference is now closed. If you intend to attend the conference and haven't registered yet, please contact the local organising staff by email to afls2009@unine.ch as soon as possible.

The conference dinner will take place on Friday 4th Sept.

Programme

The final programme is now available and can be downloaded as a pdf file by clicking here.

Plenary speakers

  • Georges Kleiber (University Marc Bloch Strasbourg)
  • Andres Kristol (University of Neuchâtel)
  • Carl Vetters (Opal Coast University)
  • Vera Regan (University College Dublin)
  • Marcel Vuillaume (University of Nice)

Information for doctoral workshop

 Doctoral students may be able to benefit from a grant from the AFLS to cover part of their travel expenses depending on their personal situation. A support of up to £150 max. (pounds sterling) can be applied for. Further information and application form will be available shortly.

Accommodation/ Logement

Accommodation can be booked through the Canton of Neuchâtel tourist office website: www.neuchateltourisme.ch.

We have negotiated special rates with a number of local hotels. To download a list, please click here. **These hotels are now full. Please see the tourist office website for alternatives.**

Please note that it is advisable to book as early as possible.

Transport

 By train, Neuchâtel is 1h 15 away from Geneva airport, 1h 30 away from Zurich airport and from Basle airport. Low cost companies fly to Switzerland (for example, easyjet, jet2.com, flyBE, ryanair among others). There is a TGV train connection to Neuchâtel from Paris. National and international train information can be found easily on http://www.cff.ch.

General Neuchâtel info

The conference will be held at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Espace Louis-Agassiz, Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Information and directions are available on the Faculty website: http://www.unine.ch/lettres. The city of Neuchâtel is located in north-western French-speaking Switzerland, at the foot of the Jura mountains and on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, close to the Alps. Neuchâtel has a lovely medieval old town and the local countryside is picturesque. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is located on the lakeside.
The official conference dinner will take place on Friday, Sept. 4th.
An excursion will take place on Saturday 5th afternoon.

General information about Neuchâtel is available on the Canton of Neuchâtel tourist office website.