Structure, Use, and Meaning Brașov

We are pleased to invite submissions for the 9th edition of Structure, Use and Meaning, an international conference dedicated to advancing our understanding of language across theoretical, empirical, and applied dimensions.

Conference theme

Language defies boundaries. It evolves across communities, adapts to new technologies, and connects speakers in ways both enduring and emergent. The topic for this edition invites us to examine how linguistic diversity flourishes in an interconnected world, how innovation reshapes communication practices, and how language continues to build meaningful connections across contexts, cultures, and communities.

The conference provides a forum for researchers to explore language at the intersection of its formal properties, social functions, and semantic content. We welcome contributions that challenge conventional boundaries – whether disciplinary, methodological, or theoretical – and that focus on the dynamic nature of human language. 

Thematic strands

Diversity

In an increasingly interconnected world, linguistic diversity plays an important role in shaping societies and cultures. Each language spoken in the world carries its own histories, traditions, and worldviews. At the same time, each language differs from others in terms of structure, vocabulary, and the cultural context that influences how people communicate. Linguistic diversity also covers the variety of theories and methods devised in investigating languages (Martin-Jones et al. 2012). In many areas, linguistic diversity is a celebrated asset. In language studies, it highlights the richness of human expression and the relationship between language, culture, and identity over space and time. Nevertheless, linguistic diversity could also be a potential source of conflict in multilingual societies, especially when it comes to choosing one language over the other in specific domains, such as education, government, or broadcasting. Our aim, as scholars, is to embrace linguistic and cultural diversity, to show respect for other languages and cultures, which, eventually, will lead to peaceful communication and friendly relations among the people of the world (Junghare 2013). Thus, we invite contributions on the following topics related to diversity: 

• Multilingualism and translanguaging in contemporary contexts
• Language contact, pidgins, creoles
• Indigenous language research and decolonial approaches to linguistics
• Endangered language documentation, description, and revitalization
• Cross-linguistic research revealing universals and particulars
• Language and identities (race, gender, class, age, disability)

Innovation

Digital communication has fundamentally transformed how meaning emerges in dialogue. In digitally interconnected societies, dialogue extends beyond traditional human-centered models to encompass distributed agency (Cooren 2020) across human users, algorithms, and platform design features. Contemporary digital discourse exhibits temporal fragmentation and multimodal integration. This is visible in social media threads where conversational coherence develops asynchronously over extended periods (Alecu 2025). At the same time, text, emojis, images, and hyperlinks combine to create messages that transcend individual semiotic registers. Platform architectures influence communicative practices: algorithmic curation determines content visibility, predictive text guides language choices, and content moderation systems establish boundaries for acceptable discourse. This represents what scholars call "human-non-human entanglement," where agency is not merely distributed but interwoven (Latour 1996). Digital education transforms traditional schooling, postulating two new foundational pillars: personalisation and adaptation, which drastically change the paradigm of teacher-tutored education. Assistants are the new teachers that ensure communication partners, enhance writing, and summarize texts. Education is no longer confined to the classroom; it has become universally accessible and encourages learner autonomy (Darwin and Burhan 2021). Fastness has become paramount in a system where engagement is rewarded by rapid feedback. We invite contributions examining how digital technologies reshape linguistic structures and practices, including studies of multimodal meaning-making, computer-mediated communication, and emergent forms of collaborative knowledge construction in digital spaces. Topics of interest include: 

• Language in digital spaces: social media, gaming, virtual reality
• Multimodal communication
• Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing
• Computational approaches to syntax, semantics, and pragmatics
• Language use in educational settings
• Language use and arts
• The redefinition of teaching and learning roles
• Personalisation and adaptation in digital education
• The democratization of education
• Learner autonomy and engagement

Connection

In an era marked by unprecedented global connectivity and social fragmentation, language serves as both a bridge and a boundary in human interaction. Across its structural properties, patterns of use, and meaning-making practices, language provides the resources through which individuals and groups establish shared reference, negotiate difference, and construct social relations. Literature in the field of linguistics has long emphasized that connection is not merely interpersonal but also discursive and institutional, emerging from the interplay between linguistic form, communicative practice, and social context. From this perspective, language use becomes a key site where connections are enacted, challenged, or transformed. Research in discourse analysis and sociolinguistics has demonstrated how language both reflects and produces social cohesion, collective identities, and power relations, particularly in contexts of political mobilization, social movements, and institutional interaction. At the same time, work on multilingualism, migration, and translanguaging has highlighted how speakers draw on diverse linguistic resources to negotiate belonging and maintain ties across communities and borders (Wei 2018). Meaning, mediation, and policy further shape the conditions of linguistic connection in contemporary societies. Translation and interpretation studies underscore the role of linguistic mediation in bridging cultural, ideological, and institutional divides (Baker 2018), while research on language policy, planning, and education reveals how official frameworks can promote or hinder participation, access, and inclusion in all areas of human life (Hudley et al. 2024). We welcome contributions that engage with this particular strand through one or more of the following areas: 

• Language's role in community building and social cohesion
• Discourse analysis of political, social, and environmental movements
• Language policy, planning, and education
• Translation and interpretation as bridging practices
• Language and migration: negotiating belonging
• Language and power in institutional contexts

References

Alecu, M. 2025. 2025. Interacțiunea verbală în forum: Perspective lingvistice [Verbal interaction in forum: Linguistic perspectives]. București: Editura Universității din București.

Baker, M. 2018. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation (3rd edition). London: Routledge.

Cooren, F. 2020. Beyond entanglement: (Socio-)Materiality and Organization Studies. Organization Theory 1(3).

Hudley, A.H.C., C. Mallinson, M. Bucholtz (eds). 2024. Inclusion in Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Junghare, I. Y. 2013. Sociolinguistic diversity: Being, Becoming, and Behaving. Bulletin of Transilvania University, Vol. 6(55), no. 1: 71-86.

Latour, B. 1996. Aramis, or the love of technology. Harvard University Press.

Martin-Jones, M., A. Blackledge, A. Crese (eds).  2012. The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism. London/ New York: Routledge.

Darwin, Ng and Burhan. 2021. Digital Media and Its Implication in Promoting Students’ Autonomous Learning. Jurnal Office 319-332.

Wei, L. 2018. Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language. Applied Linguistics 39(1): 9-30.

Scientific committee

TBA

Organizing committee

Elena Buja, Transilvania University of Brașov

Stanca Măda, Transilvania University of Brașov

Răzvan Săftoiu, Transilvania University of Brașov

Alice Bodoc, Transilvania University of Brașov

Cristina Vâlcea, Transilvania University of Brașov

Noemi Uretu, Transilvania University of Brașov