The 1st ROLE Symposium

The very first conference for the Reframing Our Language Experience (ROLE) Collective took place online on April 12 and April 19, 2024. This pioneering event was hosted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Iowa, marking the official launch of the ROLE Collective. 

Conference Details

The conference involved two parts:

7 invited talks from leading and emerging scholars advocating for shifts away from native speaker/signer norms, plus 10 short talks. 

2. Thematic Workshops (April 19th)

4 structured discussions focused on conceptual issues, action item development, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations. 

Keynote Presenters

Citizenship, security and the ‘undecidability’ language

2. Dr. Yolanda Holt

Native Speaker Ideologies and Speech-Language Pathology: A Recipe for Chaos

3. Dr. Rachel Hayes-Harb

Native speaker ideology and replication research

4. Dr. Vijay Ramjattan

Aestheticizing and Racializing (Non)Nativeness in English

5. Dr. Lina Hou

Interrogating "deaf" native signer ideologies in linguistics research

6. Dr. Wesley Y. Leonard

Towards an Indigenous relational approach to reframing “native speaker”

7. Dr. Evan Kidd

Individual differences in language acquisition

Recordings

Keynote Presentations

This playlist includes recordings of the Symposium introduction and keynote presentations. Recordings of the keynote Q&A sessions are also available.

Short Presentations

This playlist includes recordings of 9 short presentations from the Symposium.

Infographics

Keynote Summaries

Dr. Kamran Khan

Infographic entitled Language as a Border.

Other Topics

Program

View the event schedule and other details in the Symposium program.

1st_ROLE_Symposium_Program.pdf

Announcement

We are pleased to announce the very first conference for the Reframing Our Language Experience (ROLE) Collective, taking place online on April 12 and April 19, 2024. This pioneering event is hosted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the University of Iowa, marking the official launch of the ROLE Collective. Established in 2022 by Dr. Savithry Namboodiripad and Dr. Ethan Kutlu, the ROLE Collective aims to bring together researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and educators in addressing and moving beyond the linguistic injustices perpetuated particularly by native speaker ideologies.


The conference is set to unfold in two parts: a symposium day on April 12, featuring eight invited talks from leading and emerging scholars advocating for a shift away from native speaker/signer norms, followed by 10 short talks. On April 19th, a series of thematic workshops will take place. These workshops will focus on conceptual discussions, action item development, and fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations. This event promises to be a valuable platform for scholars across various stages of their careers to engage with senior scientists and contribute to critical conversations in linguistics and related fields.


Our goal is to challenge harmful linguistic ideologies and advocate for practical changes within academia and beyond. To this end, the conference will also make resources such as infographics, videos, and style guides accessible to a broader audience, including researchers, educators, and the general public.


Join us in this significant endeavor to reshape the landscape of linguistics and foster a more inclusive and just approach to language study and application.


We are happy to confirm the following scholars as our presenters (in alphabetical order):



There will be ASL interpreters and live captioning throughout the whole symposium.


Flyer for the 1st ROLE Symposium. The headline is Rejecting Harmful Native Speaker/Signer Ideologies.

This conference was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2335912, as well as by the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa.


Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in the material produced by this conference are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.