Conference on Rational Approaches in Language Science (RAILS)
13-15 February 2025, Saarbruecken, Germany

We are delighted to announce the upcoming 2nd edition of the conference on „Rational Approaches in Language Science“ (RAILS), which will be organized by the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1102 „Information Density and Linguistic Encoding“. The central theme of this conference is (bounded) rational communication, i.e. the idea that language users continuously strive to optimize their means of communication to effectively convey their intended messages. Thus, rational communication has consequences on how recipients encode and remember information, and it also impacts language variation and change.

RAILS will bring together researchers from various fields investigating how information dynamics, rational communication and memory interact with language use, variation, and change. We welcome contributions on (1) how interlocutors process and update information in diverse situational contexts; (2) how language use is adapted to certain contexts and intended referents and (3) how linguistic and conceptual information is stored and maintained in short- and long-term memory. Ultimately, the goal of the conference is to gain deeper insights into the complexities of language use and its dynamic nature in different settings. We invite submissions from researchers across the language sciences – including speech science, theoretical linguistics, empirical linguistics, psycholinguistics and neuroscience, computational linguistics, as well as language development, change and evolution – who apply rational probabilistic explanations to linguistic phenomena, or bring novel experimental findings to bear on such accounts.

Call for Submissions

We accept submissions for posters and/or talks. Talks are slated for 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for questions.

Submission of planned work is invited for poster presentation only. Note that, if accepted, we expect results to be presented at the conference.

Abstracts should be submitted as a single PDF file via https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/43090/submissions/new.

Authors are permitted one full A4 page of text, plus one additional page for figures/tables and references if necessary.
Abstract review is double-blind. Please leave out all identifying information in the abstract or the meta-data.

Abstract text must be in single-spaced 12pt Arial font, with no indents and 1 inch borders on each side (2.54 cm). The title should be in 12pt Arial, bold and centered, in title case.
Page numbers should be omitted. Figure and table captions should be in 10pt Arial font. Table and figure captions should appear below the table or figure.
References must be in 9pt Arial font, in APA7 format.

Deadline for submission is September 30th, 2024 AOE.

De-anonymized abstracts are due in final form on December 2nd, 2024 AOE.
Author names and their affiliations (in parenthesis) should appear in 10 pt Arial font, bold, centered, under the header. The email address of the corresponding author should appear in 10 pt Arial font, centered, in an extra line below the authors. Please allow for one linespace between the email address of the corresponding author and the body of the abstract.

Please click here for a template.

Important dates

Submissions open: 8 July, 2024  
Submissions due: 30 September, 2024
Notification of acceptance: 11 November, 2024 
Registration period: open until 16 December, 2024
Final abstract submission: 2 December, 2024
Conference:  13-15 February, 2025

Scientific and financial support for this conference comes from the Collaborative Research Center SFB1102 Information Density and Linguistic Encoding.

Program

Keynote speakers

Mark Dingemanse (Radboud University)

Richard Futrell (University of California, Irvine)

Adele Goldberg (Princeton University)

Rachel Ryskin (University of California, Merced)

 

Registration

For registration, please click here.

Practical information

Travel

The large international airports nearest to Saarbrücken are: Frankfurt (FRA) and Luxembourg (LUX) and Paris (CDG and ORY). Traveling from London to Saarbrücken (via Paris) using the Eurostar only takes 5.5 hours. From Frankfurt, Saarbrücken can be reached by train (Deutsche Bahn) directly or with a single transfer. From Luxembourg, there are direct buses from Luxembourg’s main train station to Saarbrücken. The L40 costs 5€ and can be booked via Deutsche Bahn  or SNCB.

Accommodation

It is advisable to book your accommodation as soon as possible, due to popular demand in Saarbrücken around our conference dates. For RAILS participants, we have reserved a block of rooms at Hotel Madeleine (city centre/ single rooms from ca EUR 77 p.n./ breakfast included, available until 20 December).

You will receive a booking code in the confirmation e-mail after registration. If you need further information, please contact us: sfb1102@uni-saarland.de

Other hotel suggestions:

Domicil Leidinger (city centre/ single rooms from ca EUR 90 p.n./ breakfast included)
Mercure Hotel Saarbruecken City (city centre/ single rooms from ca EUR 85 p.n./ breakfast included)
Gästehaus Hotel Weller (between city centre and university campus/ single rooms from ca EUR 60 p.n.)
Hotel Schlosskrug (near to city centre/ single rooms from ca EUR 55 p.n.)

Venue

RAILS will take place at the Campus of Saarland University, Innovation Centre Building A2.1. From the city centre (e.g., bus stop ‘Rathaus’), there are many direct busses to the campus (lines 101,102,109,111,150). The bus stop nearest to the venue is Universität Campus. For bus schedules, see the SaarFahrPlan.

Child Care

During the conference, we provide child care support. Please contact us in case you are interested in making use of this service: sfb1102@uni-saarland.de

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