Sociolinguistics Circle

24 April 2026
Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Keynote speakers: to be announced

Call for papers

https://linguistlist.org/issues/36/2075/

We invite abstracts for oral and poster presentations at the 12th edition of the Sociolinguistics Circle, to be held in Brussels on April 24th, 2026.

Contributions should deal with topics in sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, dialectology, variationist linguistics, social dimensions of multilingualism and language contact, language policy and planning, or related disciplines. We welcome submissions from scholars with a connection to the Low Countries and/or on topics relevant to language varieties used in the Low Countries.

Abstracts should be submitted before December 1st, 2025 via e-mail to
sociolinguisticscircle2026@vub.be.
They should be between 300 and 500 words, not including references. Authors may submit a maximum of two abstracts, at most one of which may be sole- or first-authored.
Abstracts should situate the study within the field and clearly identify the research aim, theoretical and methodological framework, main results and implications.

Contributions can be submitted in Dutch, French, or English. Given the Sociolinguistics Circle’s orientation to the Low Countries, we would like to emphasise that contributions in Dutch and French or multilingual formats are warmly welcomed (e.g., presentation in Dutch/French, slides in English).

All submissions will be reviewed by the organising committee. We aim to decide on acceptance before February 1st, 2026.

Affiliated universities and research institutions:

    • Universiteit Antwerpen
    • Universiteit van Amsterdam
    • Vrije Universiteit Brussel
    • Universiteit Gent
    • Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
    • Universiteit Leiden
    • KU Leuven
    • Universität Münster
    • Universiteit Namen
    • Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
    • Universiteit Tilburg
    • Universiteit Utrecht
    • Fryske Akademy, Leeuwarden
    • Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal
    • Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam
    • NL-Lab, Humanities Cluster (KNAW)

Previous editions:

  • Sociolinguistics Circle 11 (2025) – Universiteit Leiden
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 10 (2024) – Universiteit Groningen
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 9 (2023) – Meertens Instituut, Amsterdam
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 8 (2022) – KU Leuven
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 7 (2021) – Universiteit Antwerpen
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 7 (2020) postponed due to COVID
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 6 (2019) – Universiteit Utrecht
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 5 (2018) – Universiteit Maastricht
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 4 (2017) – Universiteit Tilburg
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 3 (2016) – Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 2 (2015) – Universiteit Gent
  • Sociolinguistics Circle 1 (2014) – Universiteit Groningen

Organization

Main organizers:
Philipp Krämer
Laura Rosseel
Wim Vandenbussche
Rik Vosters