Corpora and Pragmatics
Speech acts and context-bound interaction
in the light of corpora and data-bases
Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg i.Br. (Germany)
September 14th-17th, 2006

Pragmatics, understood in a broad sense as the analysis of language use in its situational context, may have developed into one of the most dynamic sub-disciplines of contemporary linguistics specifically because by focussing on the functioning of speaking in context, pragmatics points beyond what is said by the mere words and understands the meaning of utterances as a complex product related to multiple basic conditions, which is negotiated by verbal interaction. Due to its scope, pragmatics is by definition an approach of understanding linguistic meaning that is dependent on language data captured in authentic, real-life use. However, in order to be pragmatically analyzable, these language data have to be enriched with para-linguistic and extra-linguistic data, and one must have the possibility to reconstruct its situational links and dependencies.

Corpus linguistics as a methodological approach aiming at collecting, marking-up and documenting real-life language data is confronted with particular challenges when its products corpora and linguistic data-bases are intended to be useful and usable for pragmatic research issues. Among the issues that have to be dealt with are the following: which elements of the extra-linguistic context are selected, how are they encoded, and in which way can they be linked to the verbal data? Which types of annotation methods and which technical options of multimediality and information layering are available in order to document para-linguistic (mimic or gestural-kinetic) action? According to which sociolinguistic or historical parameters are texts and language data chosen in order to arrive at an adequate corpus-based description of the synchronic variation and the diachronic dynamism of speech acts, registers and genres, norms of linguistic behavior, and traditions of speaking? To which extent are frequency values and patterns of co-occurrence information so easily obtained through computer-aided corpus-based research useful for a better understanding of speaking in a context which, according to its basic conception, is oriented towards individual case studies?

In accordance with the organizational principles followed during the two previous conferences, the 3rd Freiburg Workshop on Romance Corpus Linguistics will dedicate two thematically different panels (with corresponding sub-panels) to this large array of research questions:

• Panel A Corpus projects, language data management and analysis tools: This panel will be devoted to the presentation of currently on-going or completed corpus and database projects; the main focus will be on corpus projects which aim at complementing textual and transcription data with context information, situational parameters and meta-information on textual genres and traditions of speaking.

• Panel B Corpus-based pragmatic studies on Romance languages: This panel will focus on contributions based on corpus data and linguistic databases which comprise specific linguistic facts and phenomena relating to different areas of pragmatic research (i.e.: organization of utterances and information structure, discourse markers and strategies of modalization, gender-specific discourse structures, synchronic variability and diachronic change in the realization of speech acts etc.).

Plenary speakers:

• Carla Bazzanella (Torino / Italy)
• Martin-Dietrich Gleßgen (Zurich / Switzerland)
• Lorenza Mondada (Lyon / France)
• Lene Schøsler (Copenhagen / Denmark)

General program of the conference (the detailed programs of the individual panels may be downloaded here; the abstracts of the papers to be read in the panels are available for download here):

Call for papers: The call for papers ended on March 30th, 2006.
Each paper will be attributed a 45 minutes slot (for presentation and discussion). Papers may be read in German, all Romance languages, and English.
The conference proceedings are planned to be published once the conference is over.

Date, place and conference schedule: The workshop is scheduled for Thursday, September 14th, until Sunday, September 17th 2006 (afternoon). The workshop will take place in the building 'Wilhelmstrasse 26' of Freiburg's Albert-Ludwigs University, Humanities' Campus (see the Freiburg (downtown) map and the Freiburg Humanities Campus' map). Freiburg im Breisgau, a renowned university town rich of tradition, is located in Southwestern Germany, on the fringe of the Black Forest mountains, only a few kilometers away from France and Switzerland - and therefore in the very heart of Europe!

Registration, fees and payment options: Participants who wish to read a paper are invited to register before June 30, 2006, whereas participants without paper should register before August 31, 2006; to register, please fill in the registration form and send it to the conference convenor by either mail or fax.
All participants (with or without paper contribution) will be asked to pay a conference fee of 75 EUR (or its equivalent in other currencies); the fee covers the documentation of the conference, refreshments and snacks during conference breaks, the conference dinner and a half-day excursion program through the surroundings of Freiburg. Undergraduate students and unemployed scholars will pay a reduced fee of 55 EUR. Companions of conference participants, who do not actively take part in the scientific program, may register for a 45 EUR fee (but have to send their own registration form).
The conference fee has to be paid when you send your registration form. You may pay by credit card (VISA, AMEX, Mastercard), cheque (participants from certain countries only) and bank transfer. Please find detailed information on payment options on the registration form.

Travel: By airplane: The closest international airport is at Basel-Mulhouse (EuroAirport). Between the EuroAirport (exit France) and Freiburg, a direct shuttle service is provided about 12 times a day by Freiburger Reisedienst's AirportBus. The trip takes 55 min and costs 16 EUR (one way) or 30 EUR (return fare).
The Airport Express Co. offers an individual Airliner pick-up and shuttle service between EuroAirport and Freiburg by car or mini-bus - more expensive than the AirportBus, but cheaper than regular taxi fares (from 30 EUR one way / 40 EUR return fare; First class service without waiting time for up to 4 persons 90 EUR one way / 160 EUR return fare). Reservation at least 3 working days before arrival necessary, either by phone at +49 / 7 61 / 51 51 10 or +49 / 1 72 / 8 18 48 61 (24h hotline) or by e-mail to [email protected].
Between Frankfurt Airport Station (Long Distance Station) and Freiburg, there is a direct service by ICE trains every 2 hours; travel time is 2 hours. Between Zurich airport (Switzerland) and Freiburg, there is an hourly train service, with change of trains at Basel SBB station; travel time is also 2 hours. Information: ReiseService Deutsche Bahn, Tel. +49 / 18 05 / 99 66 33.
By train: Freiburg is a regular stop of the ICE/EC long distance trains of the Dortmund-Basel(-Switzerland), the Hamburg-Basel(-Switzerland) and the Berlin-Basel lines, with trains at least at hourly intervals. Information: ReiseService Deutsche Bahn, Tel. +49 / 18 05 / 99 66 33. The conference building is a 5-10 minutes' walk away from the central station.
By car: Leave highway A5 Hamburg-Frankfurt-Basel at exit 62 "Freiburg Mitte". Follow the main road which leads into the city until you reach the first traffic lights; turn left following the "Universität" sign (see Freiburg downtown map). There is no free parking available near to the conference building. Please ask at your hotel for parking facilities or use one of the numerous covered car parks in the city center. There are two of them nearby: Universitätsbibliothek parking and Kollegiengebäude car park (see university campus map).

Accomodation: Conference participants reserve themselves their hotel accomodation. Freiburg offers a huge variety of hotels, though most of them with rather high prices. Please note that at the date of the workshop, there will be other conferences taking place in Freiburg, and September is one of the busiest months of local tourism. Therefore we strongly recommend to reserve your accomodation as soon as possible.
In cooperation with Freiburger Private City Hotels, a total of 58 single and 8 double rooms has been reserved for participants of the 3rd Freiburg Workshop on Romance Corpus Linguistics at special congress rates in the following *** and **** hotels:

• *** City Hotel, Weberstrasse 3 (a 10-15 minutes walk from the conference venue): single room incl. breakfast 79 EUR
• *** Hotel Stadt Freiburg, Breisacher Strasse 84b (15-20 minutes from the conference venue by bus and tramway): single room incl. breakfast 89 EUR
• **** Park Hotel Post, Eisenbahnstrasse 35 (a 5-10 minutes walk from the conference venue): single room 96 EUR; double room 129 EUR, both incl. breakfast
• **** Best Western Premier Hotel Victoria, Eisenbahnstrasse 54 (a 5-10 minutes walk from the conference venue): single room 96 EUR; double room 129 EUR, both incl. breakfast

To reserve a room at these rates, please book with the password "Corpus" at:

• Freiburger Private City Hotels
  Central booking office
  Telephone +49 / 7 61 / 3 08 07 (Monday-Friday 9-16 h)
  Fax +49 / 7 61 / 3 78 74
  E-mail [email protected].

Addresses of other hotels (some cheaper than those mentioned above), guesthouses, bed & breakfast accomodations and youth hostels and of selected hotels in the near surroundings of Freiburg are available on a list that may be downloaded here.

Note for overseas participants: You might want to combine your stay in Freiburg with the attendance at other linguistic conferences in Europe. Please check, e.g., LINGUIST's conference calendar.

Important dates and deadlines:
30 March 2006: deadline for paper proposals
30 April 2006: confirmation of acceptance of papers
30 June 2006: inscription deadline for participants who will read a paper
31 August 2006: inscription deadline for participants without paper
14 September 2006: opening of the workshop

Organizers: Prof. Dr. Rolf Kailuweit (Freiburg University / Dept. of Romance Languages), Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Raible (Freiburg University / Dept. of Romance Languages), Prof. Dr. Stefan Pfänder (Freiburg University / Dept. of Romance Languages), Dr. Claus D. Pusch (Freiburg University / Dept. of Romance Languages).

Contact: For further information please contact:

• Claus D. Pusch
  Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
  Romanisches Seminar
  Werthmannplatz 3
  D-79085 Freiburg im Breisgau
  Tel. +49 / 7 61 / 2 03 31 72
  Fax +49 / 7 61 / 2 03 31 95
  e-mail: [email protected]

The workshop is organized in cooperation with
and receives support from the following institutions:
	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn)
	Albert-Ludwigs-Universität - Rectorship / International Office
	Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe
	Sparkasse Freiburg-Nördlicher Breisgau