语言科学与健康福祉国际研讨会（1号通知）
Call for Papers (1st round)
International Symposium on Language Science and Human Well-Being
Language Resources for Better Well-Being Across the Human Lifespan
November 14th, 2026, Hong Kong SAR, China 

We are pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the International Symposium on Language Science and Human Well-Being (ISLSHW 2026), jointly hosted by Tongji University, City University of Hong Kong, and the China Association for Medical Language and Translation Studies, to be held in-person at City University of Hong Kong on 14 November 2026. Centered on the theme “Language Resources for Better Well-Being Across the Human Lifespan”, the symposium seeks to create an international platform for cutting-edge interdisciplinary dialogue, bringing together leading researchers from linguistics, communication studies, psychology, neuroscience, clinical medicine, rehabilitation sciences, sociology, artificial intelligence, and allied disciplines.

The conference will focus on the pivotal role of language in promoting physiological, psychological, and social well-being, facilitating clinical communication, rehabilitation processes and all-round health. We particularly welcome submissions that investigate how linguistic practices both reflect and contribute to well-being in everyday interactions as well as in institutional and professional settings. The symposium encourages theoretical and methodological diversity, inviting contributions grounded in diverse research traditions—including but not limited to sociolinguistics, communication studies, psycholinguistics, clinical linguistics, discourse analysis, and linguistic anthropology—and employing a wide array of approaches, such as experimental, ethnographic, corpus-based, conversation-analytic, and computational methods, and mixed-methods paradigms.

Plenary Speakers (In alphabetical order by surname)
Prof. Junhan Chen, University of Hong Kong
Prof. Lihe Huang, Tongji University
Prof. Mian Jia, City University of Hong Kong
Prof. Ping Li, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Prof. Shuo Lu, Shenzhen University
Prof. Stefano Occhipinti, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Prof. Jack Pun, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Prof. Olga Zayts-Spence, University of Hong Kong

Conference Structure
The symposium will feature plenary speeches by invited keynote speakers, alongside parallel sessions for individual presentations and roundtable discussions, to facilitate in-depth interdisciplinary exchange.

Conference Themes
We invite submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following integrated themes (submissions exploring intersections across themes are especially welcome):

• Language and Neurocognitive Health: Neural mechanisms of language processing; bilingualism/multilingualism and cognitive reserve; language disorders in neurological and psychiatric conditions.
• Clinical Linguistics and Communication Disorders: Assessment and intervention for aphasia, apraxia, developmental language disorders, and related conditions.
• Narrative Medicine and Therapeutic Discourse: Illness narratives in healing processes; patient-provider communication; empathy, rapport, and effectiveness in clinical encounters.
• Language, Emotion and Resilience: Linguistic mechanisms of emotion regulation; expressive writing and trauma recovery; self-narrative and psychological well-being.
• Sociolinguistics and Health Equity: Language diversity, dialects, and barriers to care access; linguistic discrimination; health communication in multilingual and multicultural societies.
• Child Language Development and Early Intervention: Early linguistic environments and their long-term impacts; bilingualism in child development; policies and practices for early language support and intervention.
• Language, Aging and Quality of Life: Age-related language changes; communication strategies to support cognitive health and social engagement in older adults; assistive technologies for aging populations.
• Language in the Digital Age and Well-being: AI applications in language disorder screening and therapy; social media language and mental health; ethical considerations in digital communication technologies.
• Language in Crisis and Trauma Support: Communication strategies in disaster response; psychological first aid through language; community resilience and linguistic coping mechanisms.
• Language Services in Healthcare: Medical interpreting and translation; health literacy; training for healthcare professionals in effective communication.
• Language Intervention in Health Communication: Public health message design; persuasive health messaging; applied health communication research. 

 

Submission Guidelines
The official language of the conference is English. Abstracts should be written in English and submitted anonymously as an attachment via the online system (https://easyabs.linguistlist.org/submit/ISLSHW/). Submitted abstracts should be formatted in 12-point Times New Roman with 1.5 line spacing and standard margins, adhering to the APA style for all citations and references. Each submission should also include 3~5 keywords to facilitate the review process.

Proposals are invited in two formats:

1. Individual Papers: Abstracts should not exceed 500 words (not including references).
2. Work-in-Progress Roundtables: Abstracts should not exceed 300 words (not including references). Ideal for early-career researchers and pilot studies.

The abstract should state the research aims and question(s), describe the methods briefly, summarize key results, and clearly show the paper’s contribution to the conference themes. A second page may be used for figures and tables if relevant. 

Paper Selection Criteria
All submissions will undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process. Reviewers will assess submissions based on:

• Originality and relevance to the conference theme
• Clear contextualization and theoretical grounding
• Internal coherence, clarity of structure, and logical flow
• Rigor and appropriateness of methodology
• Clarity, significance, and potential impact of contributions

  

Important Dates

• Deadline for paper submission: 1 July 2026 (12:00 PM Beijing Time)
• Notification of acceptance: 1 September 2026
• Conference date: 14 November 2026

Registration Fee
There is no registration fee for this symposium.

Venue
To foster meaningful face-to-face interaction, the symposium is planned as an in-person event at the City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.