THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
RESHAPING LANGUAGES IN THE MEDIA
'The Fourth Industrial Revolution – Reshaping Languages in the Media' is the overriding theme of 'Languages and the Media', which will be held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin from 3rd – 5th October 2018. In its sessions and workshops, the conference will examine in detail the various developments, innovations and changes that are setting the framework for the future of the audiovisual media industry and the role of languages in it.
We are in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, an age in which the physical, digital and biological worlds are increasingly interlinked by new technologies. This revolution is already having a profound impact on almost all industries and economies.
What will its effect be on the media? How will it transform the use of languages? How will technological innovation lead to change that is "empowering" and "human-centred"?
'Languages and the Media,' the 12th International Conference on Audiovisual Language Transfer in the Media, will examine the ways in which innovative technologies are changing the globalised provision of audiovisual media and the ways we consume it across and within languages. It will consider how audiovisual media is produced, accessed and made accessible to diverse international, national and regional user groups. And it will ask how, to increase their revenue, proliferating transnational distribution channels are able to target diverse multilingual populations with language and accessibility services that are both immediate and disparate.
With an increasing demand for both universal design and personalised user experience, as well as a growing need for trained language professionals, how will the rapidly evolving audiovisual media industry rise to the challenge of the 21st century? As providers of education and entertainment, such as universities, museums and theatres, seek to offer more for their sight and hearing impaired audiences and multilingual patrons, the emergence of new technologies and the breadth of available content are giving rise to increased demands for greater inclusion and accessibility. They are also spurring novel and often spontaneous crowd responses, quick to meet the needs of specific audiences and to exploit the interaction inherent in the new technologies. As machine-to-machine interfaces gain in importance, human and machine interplay within the audiovisual language industry is also set to become a critical factor. How will it affect work processes, training and research?
The need for collaboration between industry, practitioners, researchers and educators is greater than ever before. It is essential if we are to master the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and understand the importance of the role that languages and accessibility will play in the coming years.
Share your experience or your best practice on how to thrive in today's dynamic mediascape and submit your proposal related to the main conference themes.
Proposals that do not fall under the themes but are related to current trends and issues within the sector will also be passed on to the reviewing committee.
You are invited to submit proposals for any of the following:
To hold a pre-conference workshop on October 3To give a presentation in one of the parallel sessions during the main conferenceTo suggest a topic for a panel discussion during the main conference
For details on this year's conference formats please refer to Formats
To submit your proposal, please use the online Form.
The deadline for receipt of all proposals is March 31, 2018.
Accepted papers by registered speakers will be included in the Conference Book of Abstracts
(ISBN: 978-3-941055-50-6).
Full details: http://www.languages-media.com/conference.php
Call for PapersThis is a Call for papers to be submitted to the transLogos Translation Studies Journal, Vo. 9, Issue 1 (June 2026).This issue addresses a wide range of topics, including Translation Theory, Translation Criticism, History of Translation and Translation Studies, Applied Translation, Machine Translation, Computer Technologies in Translation, Translator Training, Technical Writing, as well as interdisciplinary issues in Translation Studies.You can submit your articles to translogos@diye.com.tr. Submission deadline: April 20, 2026.More details: https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/translogos/page/6185
Call for Papers:This is a Call to submit abstracts to a Special Issue of the Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts journal on Making Multilingualism Visible: Visual Methods in Translanguaging and Translation Pedagogies.Editors: Vander Tavares, Ge Song, Liang Cao, and Angel M. Y. Lin.Topics:Visual and multimodal research methodsArts-based and participatory approachesMultilingual identities and repertoiresMultimodal and creative pedagogiesVisual ethnography and digital storytellingMethodological and ethical reflectionsSubmission deadline: May 15, 2026. More details: https://benjamins.com/series/ttmc/callforpapers.pdf
Call for Papers: This is a Call for a conference on 'Who is Responsible for the Archives? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Ethics in a Digital Age'Aston University in Birmingham, UK (and online).Friday 26 June 2026.Themes:Ethics as resilience and environmental sustainabilityEthics as a moral and philosophical issueEthics as a form of social justiceSubmission deadline: 13 April 2026 to AUACConference2026@aston.ac.ukMore information: https://padlet.com/dturner2_23/aston-university-archives-centre-auac-ugu5rgn68k5u52av/wish/Ae2Ravo86dYYQnz4
Call for Papers:This is a Call to submit papers to the 2nd International Conference on Field Research on Translation and Interpreting 2027 (FIRE-T1 2).Tampere University, 3–5 March 2027.Themes and topics:workplace communication, social and socio-technical interaction, coordination, and collaborationmultimodality in T&I practices, processes, and productsthe role of the body, (cognitive) artifacts, and cultural practices in T&I(changing) dynamics of contemporary workplaces; hybridisation of practices and tasks in workplace environments; paraprofessional T&I practicesempirical and conceptual contributions grounded in situated cognitive perspectives such as distributed, extended, embodied, enacted, embedded, and affective cognitionempirical and conceptual contributions grounded in sociological perspectives, e.g., affect and emotions in T&I, practice theory, professional roles and (self-)images, professionals’ agencyapplications and discussions of (micro-)ethnographic and/or ethnomethodological approaches (such as conversation/multimodal interaction analysis) in field research on T&Iinnovative and/or synergetic theoretical and methodological approaches and frameworksthe use of (new) technologies in T&I practicesSubmission deadline: 31 August 2026.More details: https://events.tuni.fi/fireti2027/call-for-papers/
Call for Papers:This is a Call for submitting papers to the 2nd EATPA Symposium on East Asian Translation Pedagogy.Venue and date: University of Toronto, 18-19 June 2027Themes: AI technology and translation pedagogy (navigating across the human-tech divide)Fiction and non-fiction texts in translator training (satisfying industry needs?)Inter-institutional collaboration in translation pedagogy (e.g.: COIL)Language proficiencies for translation classrooms (e.g. are minimum levels required?)Translation feedback & evaluation criteria (e.g. how do we and how should we grade?)Multilingual translation classrooms (a boon for collaborative translation practice?)Multimodal texts and translating beyond words (e.g.: art-spaces and heritage sites)Political ideology and translation pedagogy (e.g. polarisation in cross-linguistic settings)Theory and practice in translator training (e.g. how to effectively connect the two)Abstract submission deadline: 30 September 2026More details: https://easiantpa.leeds.ac.uk/2nd-eatpa-symposium-on-east-asian-translation-pedagogy/
