LAHORE - The Institute of Languages (IoL) of the University of the Punjab has organised the 2nd International Conference of the Linguistic Association of Pakistan (ICLAP 2016) in collaboration with Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan here at the Al Raazi Hall.

Ambassador of Spain to Pakistan Carlos Morales graced the occasion as chief guest while PU Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran was guest of honour.

Dean Faculty of Oriental Learning Prof Dr Fakhrul Haq Noori, In-charge IoL Dr Maria Maldonado, Prof Dr Francisco Marcos-Marin from Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA, Prof Dr Maria Lourdes Garcia-Macho from National University of Distance Education, Spain, Dr Elena Bashir from The Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago, Chicago, USA, Dr Tikaram Poudel from Kathmandu University, Hattiban, Lalitpur, Linguistic Association of Pakistan (LAP) president Dr Ghulam Raza and other keynote speakers from abroad and various parts of country and a large number of participants were also present on the occasion.

The programme of the conference consisted of invited talks, workshop/tutorials, paper presentations and panel discussions.

The organisers usually prepare the certificates of the presenters and participants in advance and award them either after completing their session or at the concluding ceremony but interestingly, the organisers of ICLAP 2016 have asked the participants, who came from abroad and various parts of the country, to wait for maximum one-month to get the certificates.

Addressing the concluding ceremony, Dr Fakhrul Haq Noori said that the central theme of the conference ‘Aspects and Approaches in Contemporary Linguistic Studies’ had much importance in present global scenario.

Dr Maria said that the conference aimed at bringing a vast array of topics related to the theme and taking stock of scholarly work in linguistics in order to identify current research interests and point out possible future directions of the field in Pakistan. “Research in the field of linguistics in PU has been happening since 2010 and Oriental College was making efforts to rename the Institute of Languages as Institute of Languages and Linguistics,” she added.