The Workshop Approaches to Discourse-Relational Devices (DRDs): Textual Connectors, Discourse Markers, Modal Particles focuses on the methods of analysis and annotation used in the study of these important discourse-structuring items, drawing on the data and results gathered from corpus-based analyses, applied studies, diachronic, synchronic and sociolinguistic approaches, and from studies dealing with the variation of these items across registers/ languages/ language varieties. We start from the common assumption that these pragmatic classes are demarcated by fuzzy boundaries and terminological distinctions. However, research in this field has also produced some convergent methods of analysis. Individual and collective studies, in various languages, may help provide an overall view of the way in which this field has developed and of its importance from a psycholinguistic perspective.

We invite specialists, early-careeer researchers and PhD students to submit abstracts for 20-minute long oral presentations dealing with (but not limited to) the following issues:

• methods of analysis and annotation for textual connectors, discourse markers, modal particles and theoretical delimitations between these pragmatic categories;
• paths of grammaticalization/ pragmaticalization of lexical items (adverbs, verbs, adjectives, collocations etc.) which result in textual connectors, discourse markers or other pragmatic particles;
• analyses of these items using large amounts of data extracted from corpora and computational studies;
• sociolinguistic approaches to these items;
• variation of these items across registers and language varieties;
• comparative studies of items belonging to these pragmatic classes in one or several languages;
• translation-based analyses of DRDs.

Submissions should be sent as anonymous PDFs to the address discourse.workshop2019@gmail.com, accompanied by a file containing the title of the paper, the authors and their affiliation.

Submissions must be no longer than two single-spaced pages, in Times New Roman 12, including references and examples.

Workshop languages: English and French

Conference fee: 50 euros (payable upon arrival; it includes coffee breaks and two meals)

Important dates for submission

Extended deadline for submissions: August 15, 2019

Extended notification of acceptance: August 20, 2019

Workshop dates: October 15-16, 2019