The Department of English at the University of Sargodha (UoS), in collaboration with the Linguistic Association of Pakistan, hosted the 7th International Conference of the Linguistic Association of Pakistan (ICLAP), which started on Nov 10 to bring together researchers and linguists from across the globe, working on various aspects of language to exchange their research work and developments in the field.
The three-day conference featured plenary session, workshops, poster presentations and cultural evening in which more than 500 national experts, researchers and students, including foreign linguists and scholars, participated.
The main purpose of the conference was to introduce advanced approaches in linguistic studies to the students.
The veteran contemporary international linguists and renowned education specialists including Dr Sadaf Munshi, Professor & Chair of the Linguistics Department, University of North Texas, USA; Prof Dr Lawrence J. Zhang, Dean Faculty of Education, and the Social Work University of Auckland, New Zealand; Prof. Dr Charles Hall, Associate Professor of English Al-Faisal University, Saudi Arabia; Prof Dr Shahid Abrar-ul-Hassan, English Language Education Trainer, Yorkville University, British Colombia, Canada; Prof Dr Amra Raza, Dean Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Punjab University; Eric George from the USA; Professor Salvatore Attardo, Texas A&M University-Commerce, USA; Prof Dr Ghulam Raza, President of Linguistic Association of Pakistan (LAP), and Dr Zareena Qasim, In-charge Department of English and event convener, enlightened the audience about the themes of the conference.
The parallel sessions continued for two days providing ample opportunities for collaboration and discussion on various aspects revolving around 12 key themes of the conference. More than 160 research papers were presented by the distinguished researchers virtually and physically who shared their insights and suggested training of students for conducting significant researches in the field of language and literature. On the last day, Prof Salvatore Attardo shed light on contemporary publishing issues. This was followed by talks of Dr Shahid Abrar-ul-Hassan and Dr Malik Ajmal Gulzar, who emphasised the role of mother tongue and code-switching for learning a target language.
A panel discussion on the topic ‘Local Action Plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages’ underscored the significance of indigenous languages and suggested measures to carry out researches for their preservation to revive local linguistic heritage.
Besides plenary sessions, a cultural evening was organised for the national and international participants at Mola Baksh Auditorium. The fantastic performances of renowned Pakistani singer Rahat Bano Multanikar and students of the music society mesmerised the audience.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar congratulated the entire faculty of the English Department on successfully conducting the conference. He said that the conference provided an opportunity
