Welcome to the Purdue Linguistics Symposium 2026!
April 24th-25th, 2026 | WALC 2007
The Department of Linguistics at Purdue University is announcing its annual Purdue Linguistics Symposium (PLS) 2026. We invite scholars working within all theoretical and applied areas of linguistics to submit their research and join us at PLS 2026. Topics include, but are not limited to syntax, semantics, syntax-semantics interface, phonetics, phonology, morphology, L2 acquisition, bilingualism, pragmatics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, sign language, and corpus linguistics. PLS 2026 will be held in person on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University.
About the Symposium
The Purdue Linguistics Symposium is an annual conference collaboratively hosted by the Purdue Linguistics Association and the Department of Linguistics. This year's topics include but are not limited to phonetics, phonology, morphology, L2 acquisition, bilingualism, pragmatics, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, sign language, corpus linguistics and computational linguistics.
About the Department
Purdue's Department of Linguistics is distinguished by a strong applied focus after thorough theoretical training. Our graduate students apply theory while studying areas like bilingualism, language acquisition, corpus linguistics, natural language processing, and sign languages. Our many on-campus linguistic labs provide opportunities for research and collaboration. The Purdue Linguistics Association is our student organization for inquisitive minds interested in probing the depths of language. We create a strong support network for our members' intellectual growth. We foster mentor relationships, inform our members of linguistic research opportunities, host an annual symposium, and more.
Call for Papers
Abstracts for individual presentations and poster presentations should be limited to 500 words (excluding title and references) and should fit on a single page, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font. An additional page containing references, tables, figures, or examples may also be included. Abstracts must not contain any identifying information.
Important Dates:
- Abstract submission open: December 21st, 2025
- Abstract submission deadline: February 21st, 2026 (now closed)
- Author notifications: week of February 27th, 2026
- Registration deadline: March 27th, 2026 ( now closed )
Event Format & Guidelines
The Purdue Linguistics Symposium will feature both poster presentations and oral presentations. Poster boards at the conference will be 36 x 48 inches (Width: 36 inches, height: 48 inches) in vertical orientation. Any poster that fits within these dimensions will be suitable. In case you need a poster template, here you have some web sources from where you can find and download one. Oral presentations will be 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for questions.
Plenary Speakers
Dr. Silvia Perez-Cortes - Rutgers University, Camden
Dr. Silvia Perez-Cortes is an Associate Professor of Spanish in the department of World Languages and Cultures at Rutgers University, Camden. She holds a PhD in Bilingualism and Second Language Acquisition from Rutgers University, New Brunswick (2016), an MA in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (2011), and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Philology from the University of Barcelona (2009). Dr. Perez-Cortes’ research interests lie in the areas of bilingual language acquisition and education in language contact situations. She is particularly interested in analyzing the grammatical development of heritage speakers (both children and adults) to explore how syntax and the lexicon are accessed and represented in the bilingual mind. Dr. Perez-Cortes is also involved in community engagement and is part of the clinical team of several grant-funded projects focused on fostering dual language education and heritage language literacy among Latino families. Her work in all these areas has been published in journals such as Language Learning, Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, Second Language Research and Studies in Second Language Acquisition.
Dr. Yan Cong - Purdue University
Yan Cong is an assistant professor of linguistics in the School of Languages and Cultures at Purdue University. Her general research interests are Natural Language Processing and linguistic indices of language development, decline, and recovery, with a particular focus on meaning-related indices in language intelligence. Her recent work explores optimizing machines to reason about enriched meanings as effortlessly as humans. Her research has been published in venues such as Natural Language Engineering and Computational Natural Language Learning.
Symposium Chairs and Planning Committee
Santiago Castillo Revelo, Chair
Santiago is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at Purdue University. He is the president for the Purdue Linguistics Association 2026. His research interests include Second Language Acquisition, Heritage Language Learning, Bilingualism, and the Syntax-Semantics interface. Presently, he is engaged in research at Purdue's Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism Research Lab, exploring the acquisition of tense/aspect in Spanish among Heritage and Second Language learners.
Yiying Jiang, Co-Chair & Webmaster
Yiying is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at Purdue University. She is also the vice-president and Webmaster for the PLS2026 working along with the Purdue Linguistics Association. She is a member of the Purdue Bilingualism Lab and the Experimental Phonetics and Phonology Lab. Her research focuses on cross-linguistic influence in bilingual speech, tones, speech perception, and acoustic phonetics.
Francisco Clavijo- Francisco is a third-year Ph.D. student in Linguistics, a member of the Second Language Acquisition Laboratory, and the Social Chair of the Purdue Linguistics Association. His research interests include bilingualism, heritage languages, and language acquisition.
Zeyu Feng- Zeyu Feng is a second-year PhD student in Linguistics. She is the Workshop Chair. As a passionate phonetician, she is interested in exploring how adults acquire speech sounds in their second language or additional languages. She is also an amateur gardener, cyclist, baker, and musician.
Ning Zheng- Ning is a Ph.D. student in Linguistics at Purdue University and serves as the Treasurer of the Purdue Linguistics Association. She is a member of the Phonetics and Phonology Lab. Her research interests include acoustic phonetics, bilingualism, speech production and perception.
THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS
Department of Linguistics, Purdue University
Department of English, Purdue University
College of Education, Purdue University
School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Purdue University
School of Languages and Cultures, Purdue University
College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
Purdue Graduate Student Government
