top of page

Sociopragmatics Symposium 2026

"Sociopragmatics in Interaction: Practices, Identities, and (Emerging) Contexts"

19th – 20th December 2026

Kansai University, Osaka, Japan

SpS2026 is supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) under Grant Number (24K000760).

About

Building on the success of SpS2025, this symposium brings together researchers exploring how meaning is negotiated, enacted, and interpreted in interaction across diverse social and cultural settings. With a focus on sociopragmatics, understood as how social norms and cultural expectations shape language use, the event highlights how participants draw on linguistic and semiotic resources to accomplish social actions, construct identities, and manage relationships in context.

 

The theme invites contributions that explore interaction across both established and evolving environments, including face-to-face encounters, institutional settings, and digitally mediated spaces. While the symposium places particular value on research grounded in established or well-documented settings, it also encourages engagement with emerging contexts. Contributions examining sociopragmatics in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) contexts are especially encouraged. By foregrounding practices, identities, and contexts, the event aims to foster dialogue across methodological and theoretical perspectives and deepen our understanding of how social meaning is dynamically constructed in interaction.

 

Bringing together leading scholars, educators, and early-career researchers, the symposium invites contributions on a wide range of topics, including politeness, speech acts, conversational implicature, intercultural communication, and digital pragmatics. It also seeks to include work on diverse languages and regions, with the aim of fostering a genuinely global dialogue on sociopragmatic research.

 

The symposium seeks to advance understanding of how language functions in context while providing a friendly, supportive, and collegial environment for participants to share their research, exchange ideas, and develop collaborative connections.

Symposium Information

Key Dates

Call for papers opens: 1st May 2026

Call for papers closes: 30th June 2026

 

Notification of Acceptance: 15th July 2026

 

Registration opens: 1st May 2026

Registration closes: 30th November 2026

Venue Information

The event will take place across the Senriyama and Umeda campuses of Kansai University.

Presenter Information

Individual Presentations: 20 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A

This is a free event for presenters and participants

Call for Papers

We invite contributions exploring interaction across a range of environments, including face-to-face, institutional, and digitally mediated settings, as well as work in both first language (L1) and second language (L2) contexts. Topics may include politeness, speech acts, conversational implicature, intercultural communication, and digital pragmatics, with a strong emphasis on diverse languages and regions to encourage a genuinely global dialogue.

The symposium aims to advance understanding of language in context while providing a collegial space for researchers at all stages to share their work, exchange ideas, and build collaborative connections.

Topics of Interest: 

  • Politeness and facework in interaction

  • Speech acts and conversational implicature

  • Intercultural communication and identity construction

  • Digital pragmatics and online interaction

  • Sociopragmatics in L1 and L2 contexts

  • Language, context, and social relationships (including gender)

  • Other related topics.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Abstracts should be 250–300 words and clearly outline the research objectives, methodology, and key findings. References may be included but are not counted toward the word limit.

  • Use the template and submit via the this link.

  • Submissions must be in English.

  • The submission deadline is 30th June 2026 

Get in Touch

Dr Todd J. Allen 

Symposium Convenor 

Thanks for submitting!

© 2025 Todd J. Allen

bottom of page