On the morning of October 17th, 2014 International Conference on Phonetic Research and Language Learning (ICPRLL) & English Phonetic Conference in China (EPCC) inaugurated in the lecture hall of Foreign Language and International Studies College, HNU. It was sponsored by China English Language Education Association and undertaken by the College. Prof. Chen Xiaoxiang, Doctoral Supervisor of the College, presided over the opening ceremony, and Vice President of HNU Cao Yijia presented at the ceremony and delivered a speech.
During the three-day conference, the international famous linguistic scholar Prof. Daniel Hirst from Aix-Marseille University, France and other more than 200 scholars from China, USA, UK, France, Canada, Chile, Iran, Nigeria, South Africa, South Korea and Sweden conducted academic exchanges on “Phonetic Research and Language Learning”.13 noted experts delivered keynote speeches, like Prof. Sun-Ah Jun from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Prof. Yi Xu from University of London, Prof. Ian Maddieson from University of New Mexico, Prof. Lise Menn form University of Colorado at Boulder, Prof. Yasuhiro Shirai from University of Pittsburgh, Prof. Tracy Derwing from University of Alberta, Prof. Patricia (Pasty) Duff from University of British Columbia, Prof. Murray Munro from Simon Fraser University (SFU), Prof. Chen Hua from Nanjing University, Prof. Hu Jianhua from Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), Prof. Ma Qiuwu from Tongji University and Prof. Chen Xiaoxiang from Hunan University (HNU).
About 150 accepted theses classified into Phonetics and Phonology, Syntax, Pragmatics and Foreign Language Teaching were discussed by 11 groups at the conference, and a Phonetic Research and Language Learning Workshop was held on the evening of October 17th and 18th.
Early in this century, Research Center for Cognition was established in HNU and was approved as one of the Hunan Provincial Humanities and Social Science Research Bases, namely, “Research Center for Language and Cognition” in 2010. With language learning being one of the three key research orientations, the base has undertaken several projects supported by China National Social Science Fund and the Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education and published many high-quality academic works in recent years.
The conference would be another international academic event hosted by College of Foreign Language and International Studies after the 4th International Conference on Cognitive Semantics in 2013.
Translated by Chen Xintong
