.:ALASA2025:.

Dear ALASA Conference delegate,

We warmly welcome you to the 26th conference of the African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA), co-hosted by the University of Limpopo and ALASA. We appreciate your participation in what promises to be an inspiring and informative event. Sound linguistic knowledge is essential, not only for communication and related language matters, but also for research and discourse; it provides us, on the one hand, with a proper understanding of speech sounds (phonetics), sound patterns (phonology), word formation (morphology), sentence formation (syntax), meaning (semantics) and other aspects such as language and society (sociolinguistics), language use and context (pragmatics). On the other hand, linguistic knowledge facilitates literary production, analysis and theorisation. It empowers us to better understand and more effectively produce and use our knowledge for the betterment of society in various respects. A profound understanding of linguistics is important for the development of effective teaching and learning, research and community engagement strategies in all countries worldwide, especially in the view of a fast-changing environment that affects human life. ...read more

#ALASA2025

26^th conference of the African Language Association of Southern Africa (ALASA)

Conference Theme:

“African languages beyond expansion and preservation in the digital age”

Sub-themes:

Literature

African literature and poverty alleviation
Literature in African languages
Colonial and postcolonial literature in Africa
Literary theories

Translation, Terminology and lexicography

African languages and translation
African languages and lexicography
Terminology development
Language research and documentation
Artiﬁcial intelligence and translation
Language editing techniques and African Languages

Language policy and planning

Language and education
African languages and policies in Africa
Linguistic imperialism
African languages for speciﬁc purposes

Language in society

Language and the media
Language, gender and identity
Language, culture and identity
Language contact and change, e.g. multilingualism, globalisation
Language and politics
Language and transformation

Language and decolonisation

The role of African languages in the discourses on decolonisation

Language and technology

The use of technology in the teaching of African languages
Human Language Technology (HLT)
Digital Humanities and African language research
HLT and African language dictionaries
African languages in social media