Workshop on Generative Language Acquisition

UK Workshop on Generative Language Acquisition

Call for Papers

26-27 June, 2026 (Fri-Sat)

Submission deadline: 1 March 2026
Notification of acceptance:15 April 2026

We invite abstracts for a 2-day workshop on generative approaches to language acquisition.

This workshop provides a dedicated UK venue for theory-driven generative acquisition research, bringing together scholars working on syntax, semantics, morphology, phonology, and their interfaces in child language.

Hosted at Ulster University – Belfast, Northern Ireland

Invited Speaker: Professor Rushen Shi (Université du Québec à Montréal)

Special Sessions:

  1. The role of animacy in language acquisition
  2. Impact in language acquisition

We also welcome submissions on core generative acquisition topics, including but not limited to:

  • Binding and anaphora

  • Movement, locality, and constraints

  • Feature acquisition (φ-features, animacy, case, person)

  • Null arguments and object drop

  • Control, finiteness, and clause structure

  • Learnability and representational change

  • Cross-linguistic variation in A/A-bar dependencies

  • Syntax–semantics and syntax–pragmatics interfaces

  • Experimental and computational approaches to generative questions

Abstract Guidelines

  • Length: 500 words.

  • Supplementary page: One additional page permitted for tables, figures, examples, and references.

  • Format: Anonymous PDF.

  • Presentation types:

    • Talks (20 minutes + discussion)

    • Posters

Submit abstracts via OpenReview at https://openreview.net/group?id=UK-WGLA/2026

Deadline: 1 March, 2026, 11:59pm AOE

Special Sessions:

1. The role of animacy in language acquisition

Including its effects on:

  • Argument structure

  • Pronoun interpretation

  • Movement and intervention

  • Object omission

  • Cross-linguistic variation

2. Impact in language acquisition

The workshop will include a dedicated session on impact, focusing on:

  • Policy and educational implications

  • Clinical or therapeutic relevance

  • Public engagement

  • Methodological advances with societal benefits

Registration

Registration will be free of charge.

Location

Ulster University, Belfast campus, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Contacts

Organised by: Ulster University Language and Memory Research Lab
Organiser email: wgla@ulster.ac.uk