SCL 26th Biennial Conference

San Andrés, Colombia 2026

Caribbean Languages on the Move:

Tracking Changes in Form, Function, and Status.

The Society for Caribbean Linguistics (SCL) will meet in San Andrés, Colombia from 4th to 6th August 2026 for its 26th Biennial Conference. The Conference will be hosted by the Government of the Department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina under the theme: Caribbean Languages on the Move: Tracking Changes in Form, Function, and Status.

Abstracts on all types of Caribbean languages as well as Creoles and pidgins in general are invited. Caribbean languages include spoken and signed languages, Amerindian languages, Creole languages, standardised, official and non-standardised language varieties, immigrant languages, heritage languages, endangered languages, and religious and ritual languages. 

Abstracts for both presentations and posters will be accepted. The conference organisers are encouraging abstracts on any of the following panel themes:

• Indigenous Languages of the Insular and Greater Caribbean

• Digitisation of Heritage Caribbean Languages 

• Virtual Language Museums

• Caribbean Languages and Reparations

• Relevance of Linguistics in Education in the Caribbean

• Languages in Contact in the Caribbean

• Geolinguistics in the Caribbean

• Language and Communication in the Caribbean

• Translation and Interpreting in the Caribbean

• Language Endangerment and Language Death in the Caribbean

• Language Policies in Multilingual Caribbean Societies

• Language and Identity in the Caribbean

• Speech-Language Pathology in the Caribbean

• Language and Music in the Caribbean

• Forensic Linguistics in the Caribbean

• Linguistic Connections between the Islands (insular Caribbean) and Rimlands (continental Caribbean)

Important dates: 

Conference Dates: 4-6 August 2026 

Early deadline for submission of abstracts: 30 December 2025

Final deadline for submission of abstracts: 29 March 2026

Notification of acceptance: 28 January 2026  (early submissions) & 30 April 2026 (regular) 

Presentations start on the morning of 4 August 2026 and end on the evening of 6 August 2026. There will also be an excursion on the day(s) after the conference. More information will be available in early 2026.

Contact:  secretary@scl-online.net

Submissions open on 13 October 2025 via EasyAbs: SUBMIT HERE