Call for Papers

Call for Papers

The thematic focus of the Henry Sweet Colloquium 2026 is:

(Non-)Native Speakers in the History of Linguistic Ideas

 

Confirmed plenary speaker: Cécile Van den Avenne (EHESS)

 

We invite contributions on the shifting role and status of the (non)native speaker and (non)native speakerness within the history of linguistic ideas. What might the history of linguistics offer past, present, and future perspectives on the (non-)native speaker? What contributions has the native speaker made to the history of linguistic thought?

Today, the native speaker occupies an important but contested place in linguistic research across various subdisciplines (foreign/second language research, language pedagogy, theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics). We invite papers that consider (or reconsider) the figure and category of the native speaker within the history of linguistic ideas.

Possible topics might include:

  • How the history of linguistics sheds light on the native speaker and related notions such as “(non)nativeness,” “native-speakerism” (Holliday 2006) and “authenticity” (Bucholtz 2003)
  • Definitions, redefinitions, redefinitions of the native speaker within the history of linguistics
  • The historical role of native speaker informants in constructing or shaping the linguistic record
  • Histories of the native speaker as subject of research, norm or ideal
  • Theories of the native speaker within the history of linguistic thought
  • Multilingualism and the native speaker in the history of linguistics
  • History of linguistics considered from the perspective of the native speaker

We also cordially invite papers of panel proposals on any topic in the History of Linguistics and Linguistic Ideas and Practices.

We would particularly like to encourage postgraduate students and early career academics (ECAs) to present their work at the colloquium. We intend to hold a dedicated early career session, which will include two panels on publishing and applying for grants/postdocs. We invite postgraduates in particular to propose twenty-minute ‘work-in-progress’ papers, or posters for this session. You can of course submit an abstract in the normal way. Postgraduate proposals should be clearly labelled PG. 

 

Proposals for open panels 
should be submitted online
by 15 December 2025.

 

 

All other proposals
should be submitted
online by 31 January 2026.

Proposals should include:

 

 

Proposals should include:
  • Name of the organizer(s)
  • Institutional affiliation (if any)
  • Email address
  • Short statement (max. 250 words)
    giving the rationale for the panel
  • References
  • (List of participants if already available)

 

 
  • Name
  • Institutional affiliation (if any)
  • Email address
  • Abstract (max. 250 words, written in
    the language in which paper will be
    presented)
  • References
  • Name of the panel (if applicable)

Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes, allowing for 10 minutes of discussion.

 

If you are not yet a member of the Society, please consider joining (https://www.henrysweet.org/join-the-society). Note that the Henry Sweet Society membership fee incurs a reduced conference fee and includes free access to the journal Language & History (3 issues a year, online-first and back issues: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/ylhi20).

 

Postgraduates, early career scholars and other deserving candidates are encouraged to consider applying for the Martin Burr Travel Bursary (https://www.henrysweet.org/martin-burr-travel-bursary) by 31 May 2026

 

Indicative references

Aneja, Geeta A. 2016. “Rethinking Nativeness: Toward a Dynamic Paradigm of (Non)Native Speakering.” Critical Inquiry in Language Studies 13 (4): 351–79.

Bongio, Thomas Paul. 2010. Mother Tongues and Nations: The Invention of the Native Speaker. Richmond and Berlin: De Gruyter.

Bucholtz, Mary. 2003. “Sociolinguistic Nostalgia and the Authentication of Identity.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 7 (3): 398–416.

Cheng, Lauretta S. P., Danielle Burgess, Natasha Vernooij, Cecilia Solís-Barroso, Ashley McDermott, and Savithry Namboodiripad. 2021. “The Problematic Concept of Native Speaker in Psycholinguistics: Replacing Vague and Harmful Terminology with Inclusive and Accurate Measures.” Frontiers in Psychology 12: 1–22.

Faez, Farahnaz. 2011. “Reconceptualizing the Native/Nonnative Speaker Dichotomy.” Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 10: 231–49

Holliday, Adrian. 2006. “Native-speakerism.” ELT Journal 60 (4): 385–87.

Paikeday, Thomas, and Noam Chomsky. 1985. The Native Speaker Is Dead! An Informal Discussion of a Linguistic Myth with Noam Chomsky and Other Linguists, Philosophers, Psychologists, and Lexicographers. Toronto and New York: Paikeday Publishing.

Slavkov, Nikolay, Sílvia Melo-Pfeifer, and Nadja Kerschofer-Puhalo, eds. 2022. The Changing Face of the “Native Speaker”: Perspectives from Multilingualism and Globalization. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter Mouton.

 

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