Call For Papers THE MULTILINGUAL INTERNET: LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION IN INSTANT MESSAGING, EMAIL AND CHAT Co-editors: Brenda Danet Susan Herring Hebrew University of Jerusalem Indiana University and Yale University Bloomington brenda.danet@yale.edu herring@indiana.edu In today's multilingual, global world, hundreds of millions of people are communicating on the Internet not only in its established lingua franca, English, but also in many other languages. To date, the research literature in English on the features of computer-mediated communication has focused almost exclusively on emergent practices in English, neglecting developments within populations communicating online in other languages. This is a Call for Papers for a special issue of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, a peer-reviewed online journal. We may also edit a follow-up book on the same theme, containing a wider selection of papers, with a major publisher. Papers may relate to instant messaging, private email, postings to listserv lists and newsgroups, text-only chat, e.g., on IRC or MOOs, visually enhanced chat, or SMS (short message service) in mobile phone use. We invite papers on topics such as: --The influence of the local language on the use of a medium, e.g., the distinctive features of email or chat in languages with specific font-related requirements (e.g., French, Russian, Hindi, Arabic, Korean, Chinese). --Cultural constraints on the use of the medium, e.g., how traditional requirements for deference in Japanese language and culture are realized or modified in online communication; Italian non-verbal and verbal expressivity as realized in typed chat. --Comparison of the distinctive features of email or chat in two or more language-culture groups or sub-groups with differing cultural orientations, e.g., Austrian German versus German German. --Chat in situations of diglossia--differentiation between spoken and written languages and dialects (e.g., Moroccan spoken Arabic and how it is being realized in typed chat). --Code-switching in bilingual or multilingual online communication. --The clash between requirements of formality in the letter-writing tradition in a given language-culture constellation and the trend toward speech-like patterns in online textual communication. --Language and play with culture, including play with identity (e.g., via nicknames). --A comparison of online communication within the same language- culture group but in different languages, e.g., Israeli chat in English versus Hebrew. --The effects of the English language or global "netspeak" (Crystal, 2001) on email and chat in the local language. --Online communication in English by non-native speakers, focusing on language and culture issues. Submission procedures: Potential authors should submit a preliminary proposal of 500-1000 words by November 30, 2002 (earlier submissions are encouraged). The proposal should describe the research question, the data and methods of analysis, preliminary findings/observations and their broader significance, and should include selected references. The proposal should also include a tentative paper title. Authors whose proposals are accepted for inclusion will be invited to submit a full paper of roughly 7,000-10,000 words by April 15, 2003. Since JCMC is an interdisciplinary journal, authors should plan for papers that will be accessible to non-specialists. If you have a potentially suitable paper that is already published or slated for publication elsewhere, we would also like to hear from you, as it might be possible to republish high quality articles in the follow-up book. Questions? Proposal ideas? Please address all correspondence electronically to both co-editors: Brenda Danet (brenda.danet@yale.edu) and Susan Herring (herring@indiana.edu). A Web version of this Call for Papers is available at: http://www.ascusc.org/jcmc/cfpmultilingual.html ------------------------------------------------------------------