08.10.2026 -
09.10.2026
ZAS Berlin
Register Variation in Spontaneous Speech
Date: 08-Oct-2026 to 09-Oct-2026
Location: Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS), Meierottostr. 8, 10719, Berlin, Germany
Workshop Description
This international workshop explores the dynamic nature of register variation in spontaneous speech, examining how situational contexts, cognitive processes, and developmental pathways shape our adaptive language use.
To increase communicative efficiency, speakers adapt their speech to different audiences and circumstances according to socio-culturally recognisable and agreed-upon norms of social behaviour – producing distinct speech registers. Drawing on the conception of linguistic register as “those aspects of socially recurring intraindividual variation in linguistic behaviour that are influenced by situational and functional settings” (Lüdeling et al., 2024), this workshop seeks to deepen our understanding of variation in spontaneous spoken registers, in both first (L1) and additional languages (L2/Ln).
Organisers
Malte Belz (HU Berlin), Melissa Ebert (HU), Stephanie Jannedy (ZAS Berlin), Milena Kühnast (HU), Anke Lüdeling (HU), Beate Lütke (HU), Christine Mooshammer (HU), Miriam Oschkinat (ZAS), Nicole Schumacher (HU), Theres Weißgerber (HU), Melanie Weirich (FSU Jena), and Samantha Weller (HU)
Invited Speakers
Alfred Lameli, Philipps-Universität Marburg
Christine Dimroth, Universität Münster
Jane Wottawa, Université le Mans & Martine Adda-Decker, Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle
Registration
Registration is now open. Please register for the workshop until 20-Sept-2026.
The workshop is free of charge, but all participants are kindly requested to register here by Sept 20, 2026.
There will be a conference dinner (self-paid) on Thursday, Oct 8, 2026. If you would like to attend the dinner, please make sure to register as soon as possible.
Venue
The SpoSpe workshop takes place at the Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS).
Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
Eberhard-Lämmert-Saal, Ground floor
Meierottostraße 8
10719 Berlin
Preliminary programme
Thursday, 08.10.2026
| 09:00–09:30 |
Welcome and Registration |
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| 09:30–09:45 |
Introduction |
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Session 1 |
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| 09:45–10:45 | Invited speaker Christine Dimroth (Universität Münster) |
TBA |
| 10:45–11:15 |
Coffee Break |
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| 11:15–12:45 |
Samantha Weller, Nicole Schumacher, Milena Kuehnast, Anke Lüdeling & Beate Lütke (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
Register variation in L1 and L2 spoken grammar explanations |
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Antje Sauermann and Natalia Gagarina (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin & Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)) |
Development of microstructure of spoken narrative register in bilingual children Abstract PDF |
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Wiam Hadji (University of El Oued) |
Analyzing Register Variation in Academic Speech: L2 Students’ Perspectives from an Algerian University Context |
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| 12:45–13:35 |
Lunch break |
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Session 2 |
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14:15–15:15
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Invited speaker |
TBA |
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14:45–16:15
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Stefanie Jannedy, Miriam Oschkinat & Melanie Weirich |
TBA |
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Simon Oppermann & Beat Siebenhaar (Universität Leipzig) |
Elephants, Tigers & Individual Register Variation in East Central Germany |
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Ekaterina Shepel, Felicitas Kleber (Universität des Saarlandes) |
Regional and register-induced variation in creaky voice in German |
| 16:15–16:45 |
Coffee Break |
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| 16:45–17:45 |
Poster Session |
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Olga Dobrunoff & Yuri Dobrunoff (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center) |
Epistemic stance and register adaptation in spontaneous Russian interaction |
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Markus Egg (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
Extended metaphors in dialogue |
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Xiaoting Ma & Karin Madlener-Charpentier (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen) |
Sorry, I can’t make it on Saturday—Register knowledge and flexibility among first and second language users of German in speech acts of refusal |
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Rebecca Schreiber (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
Metalinguistic Awareness and Learner Self-Reflection in Online Tandem Interaction: Insights from the TLLT Pilot Corpus |
18:30 Conference dinner at a local restaurant
Friday, 09.10.2026
| Session 1 | ||
| 09:30–10:30 |
Invited speaker |
TBA |
| 10:30–11:00 |
Coffee Break |
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| 11:00–13:00 |
Robert Lange, Christine Mooshammer, Melissa Ebert, Marie-Theres Weißgerber & Malte Belz |
TBA |
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Jürgen Trouvain (Universität des Saarlandes) |
Contrasting read and spontaneous speech with identical text and speaker |
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Nicholas Catasso (Universität Wuppertal) |
Register-sensitive word order variation and social meaning in (semi-)spontaneous German speech |
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Shiyue Huang (National University of Singapore) |
The Language of “High-End Vibes”: Enregistering and Mocking Zhuliren Talk on Xiaohongshu |
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| 13:00–13:15 | Discussion and closing remarks |
Contact
For any inquiries, please write to: spospe26-sfb1412@lists.hu-berlin.de
Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – SFB 1412, 416591334.