About Us

Language contact occurs when individuals or groups acquire the language and culture of other groups or when they interact through the language of members of other groups. Among the topics that fall within the purview of language contact one can mention: second or multiple language acquisition, societal or individual bilingualism, minority language maintenance or loss, bilingual education, bilingualism and cognition, the role of language and cultural contact in language change, pidgin and Creole genesis, the linguistic and cultural dimensions of translation, dialect mixture and inter-group relationships in bilingual or multilingual settings. Thus the study of language contact can be approached from the perspective of several complementary disciplines (e.g., literature, translation studies, pedagogy, linguistics, sociology, demography, psychology, political science, human geography, history).

The Centre for Research on Language and Culture Contact (CRLCC) brings together the research activities of the faculty members and students of York University who investigate various aspects of language contact at both societal and individual levels (see the descriptions of the research of the CRLCC members on our web site). The CRLCC members conduct their research in a variety of settings, located in Toronto, Ontario, other Canadian provinces and other countries throughout the world.

The CRLCC promotes research of interest to various programs of Glendon College and/or York University:

And to several of York University’s organized research units, research groups or chairs:

In fulfilling its mandate, the CRLCC relies on the expertise of a network of Associate Members, who are for the most part leading scholars in their fields. Associate Members may be invited to give lectures or courses and are entitled to have their publications posted on the YorkSpace digital repository.

A noteworthy component of the CRLCC is the Research Group on Translation and Transcultural Contact (RGTTC). Its mission is the study of situations of contact between languages, cultures and societies today and in historical contexts.

The concept of translation and the study of actual outcomes of the activity of translation include but are not limited to interlinguistic or intertextual contact as we have been accustomed us to see them by the tradition.

They involve all forms of cultural representations transformed by way of direct or indirect loan procedures or through processes of hybridization, métissage and creolization or, contrariwise, ossified because of institutional factors.

This widest array of forms and situations is logically related to the varieties of semantic networks that convey the notion of ‘translation’ across cultures and languages, in their historical specificity.
The Group provides a forum for researchers interested in all kinds of culture contacts resulting in translations. Current research by members of the Group covers Latin America, Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Asia as well as Canada including northern territories. Approaches build on several disciplines and areas of knowledge development: linguistics, literary studies, cultural studies, history and sociology, cognitive psychology, ethics and philosophy.

Originally called Centre for Research on Language Contact, the CRLC was first chartered by York University’s Senate Committee on Research in 2005. Proposed by professors Ian Martin, Daniel Simeoni, Dorin Uritescu and Raymond Mougeon, the Centre was created as the first organized research unit (ORU) based at Glendon College, with the goal of fostering a vibrant and ongoing programme of collaborative research aimed at:

  • cultivating the independent threads of language research university-wide to promote collaborative, multi- and interdisciplinary research under the umbrella of language contact
  • furthering Glendon’s mission of bilingualism
  • creating opportunities for graduate students to participate in language research and Centre activities
  • advancing research in the University themes of culture and entertainment, and international studies.

The CRLC was rechartered in 2014. As part of the rechartering exercise the centre’s name was changed to Centre for Research on Language and Culture Contact (CRLCC), in order to better reflect the rich and interdisciplinary nature of its membership and its research initiatives.


The Centre has had the following directors:
  • Raymond Mougeon (2006-2010)
  • Dominique Scheffel-Dunand  (2010-2015)
  • María Constanza Guzmán (2015-2017)
  • Dominique Scheffel-Dunand  (2017-2018)
  • Elaine Coburn  (2018-2019)
  • Sylvie Rosienski-Pellerin  (2019-2022)
  • Aurelia Klimkiewicz (2022-present)

The CRLCC includes faculty and student members from both of York University’s campuses (Glendon and Keele), as well as faculty members from outside York University (Associate Members).

York University students who are interested in becoming a member of CRLCC can contact us via e-mail: crlc_crcl@glendon.yorku.ca and fill in the sign up form below. The Executive Council of CRLCC may also consider applications from non York university graduate students.

Executive committee 2021-2022

Director

Aurelia Klimkiewicz – Translation Studies (Glendon)


Faculty

Bruce Connell, Programme Coordinator-Linguistics and Language Studies (Glendon)

María Constanza Guzmán, Hispanic Studies/Translation Studies (Glendon)

Lyse Hébert, Translation Studies (Glendon)

Susan Ingram, Humanities (Keele)

Julie Mcdonough-Dolmaya. Graduate Studies, Translation Studies (Glendon)

Jerzy Kowal, Linguistics and Language Studies and Hispanic Studies (Glendon)

Marie-Élaine Lebel, Language training Centre for Studies in French (Glendon)

Elaine Gold, Canadian Language Museum (Glendon)


Student member 

Fiona Patterson, PhD en Études francophones, Glendon

Jean-François St-Arnault, PhD en Études francophones, Glendon