ISAPL History

Leonor Scliar-Cabral

ISAPL was founded forty years ago, on November 2, 1982, in a meeting, organized during a break of The First International Conference of the AILA Commission on Psycholinguístics, which took place at Milano, on Nov. 1-3, organized by Profs. T. Slama-Cazacu and Renzo Titone.

The members of the Founding Committee were: President: Tatiana Slama-Cazacu (Romania); Vice-Presidents: Renzo Titone (Italy), Els Oksaar (West Germany), Wilga Rivers (USA), A. A. Leontiev (USSR); Secretary General: Hans W. Dechert (West Germany); Treasurer: Miguel Siguan Soler (Spain); Committee Members (CM) (for the period 1982-1988): J. P. Bronchart (Switzerland), S. Bruce (Great Britain), L. Scliar-Cabral (Brazil) and A. Tabouret-Keller (France).

According to the approved first Statutes, “its first Committee will function for a period of three years (until the end of 1985). At this time, elections will be held”.

The 1^st International Congress of ISAPL took place at Barcelona, on June 15-20, 1985, organized by Prof. Miguel Siguan Soler and I. Vila at the Univ. of Barcelona. The new board elected for the period 1985-1988 was President: Renzo Titone (Italy); Vice-Presidents: J. Beaudichon (France), I. Kurcz (Poland), S. Savic (Yugoslavia) and M. M. Siguan Soler (Spain); Secretary General: Hans W. Dechert (West Germany) and Treasurer: K. Butler (USA); Committee Members (CM), for the period 1982-1988: J. P. Bronchart (Switzerland), E. Oksaar (Germany), J. Prucha (Czeckoslovakia), L. Scliar-Cabral (Brazil) and A. Tabouret-Keller (France); for the period 1985-1991: N. Waterson (Great Britain), S. Whalen (Canada) and  E. Oksaar (Germany). On the occasion, Prof. T. Slama-Cazacu was elected Honorary President.

The 2^nd International Congress of ISAPL took place at Kassel (West Germany), on July 27-31, 1987, organized at Gesamthoschule Kassel Universität by Prof. Hans W. Dechert, who asked for anticipating the Congress on 1987 instead of 1988, due to “Documenta” activities in Kassel that year, enabling him to get funds for the Congress. So, there were no elections for the new board, which took place on June 1988, during the 2^nd International Conference of the AILA Commission on Psycholinguístics in collaboration with ISAPL, at the Univ. di Roma “La SapienzaI”, being its organizer Prof. Renzo Titone. The board elected for the period 1988-1991 was: Advisory Council (AC): Honorary President T. Slama-Cazacu; Board of Officers (BO),  President: Renzo Titone (reelected); Vice-Presidents: J. Beaudichon (France), H. W. Dechert (Germany), Przetacznik-Gierowska (Poland) and M. Siguan Soler (Spain); Secretary General: M. Danesi (Canada) and Treasurer: J. P. Lantolf (USA); Committee Members (CM) until 1991: N. Waterson (Great Britain); reelected for the period 1988-1994: J. Prucha (Czeckoslovakia), L. Scliar-Cabral (Brazil); elected for the period 1988-1994: P. Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgary), G. Lüdi (Switzerland), K. Meng (Germany) and M. da Graça Pinto (Portugal). On the occasion, Prof. R.Titone was elected Honorary President.

The Proceedings were entitled A case for psycholinguistic cases, G. Appel and H. W. Dechert (Eds.). Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1991.

The 3^rd International Congress of ISAPL took place at Toronto, on July 16-22, 1991, organized by Profs. M. Danesi and Renzo Titone at the Univ. of Toronto, Victoria College. The board elected for the period Jan 1,1992 – Dec 31.1994 was: Advisory Council (AC): Honorary Presidents T. Slama-Cazacu and R. Titone; Board of Officers (BO), President: Leonor Scliar-Cabral (Brazil); Vice-Presidents: Morio Kohno (Japan), Maria da Graça Pinto (Portugal), Jan Prucha (Czeckoslovakia) and Marc Spoelders (Belgium); Secretary General: Stefania Stame (Italy); Treasurer: Miguel Siguan Soler (Spain); Committee Members (CM), until 1994: Penka Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgary), Georges Lüdi (Switzerland). Katharina Meng (Germany); until 1997: Stig Eliasson (Sweden), Eliane Koskas (France), Ernest Moerk (USA) and Smiljka Vasic (Yugoslavia).

The 4^th International Congress of ISAPL took place at Bologna and Cesena, on June 23-27, 1994, organized by Prof. S. Stame at the Univ. Degli Studi di Bologna. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 1995 – Dec 31,1997 was: Advisory Council (AC):  Honorary Presidents T. Slama-Cazacu and R. Titone; Board of Officers (BO), President (reelected): Leonor Scliar-Cabral (Brazil); Vice-Presidents: M. Kohno (Japan), E. Koskas (France), I. Markovina (Russia), and J. Morais (Belgium); Secretary General: M. da Graça Pinto (Portugal); Treasurer: C. Triadó (Spain). Committee Members (CM), until 1997: Stig Eliasson (Sweden), Eliane Koskas (France), Ernest Moerk (USA) and Smiljka Vasic (Yugoslavia). Jan. 1995 – Dec. 2000: P. Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgary), H. Dechert (Germany), J. Prucha (Czeckoslovakia) and S. Stame (Italy). On the occasion, Prof. L. Scliar-Cabral was elected Honorary President.

An important contribution was the publication of Stame, S. (Ed.). Psycholinguistics as a multidisciplinarily connected science. Proceedings of the 4^th ISAPL International Congress, June 23-27, 1994. Universittá Degli Studi di Bologna. Cesena: “Il Ponte Vecchio”, 1996. That year, the number of ISAPL members was around 500.

The 5^th International Congress of ISAPL took place at Porto, on June 25-27, 1994, organized by Prof. Maria da Graça Pinto at the Univ. of Porto. It was another remarkable event. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 1998 – Dec 31, 2000 was: Advisory Council (AC), Honorary Presidents: T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone and L. Scliar-Cabral; Board of Officers (BO), President: J. D. Drévillon (France); Vice-Presidents: M. da Graça Pinto (Portugal), I. Markovina (Russia), E. Moërk (USA) and J. Morais (Belgium); Secretary General: D. Ponterotto (Italy); Treasurer: M. Suenobu (Japan); Committee Members (CM), 1994-2000: H. Dechert (Germany), P. Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgary), S. Stame (Italy) and S Vasic (Yugoslavia); 1998-2004: J. M. Kohno (Japan), J. M. Poersch (Brazil) and A. Salinas (France).

One important scientific product was the publication of Pinto, M. da G., Veloso, J. and Maia, B. (Eds.). Psycholinguistics on the Treschold of the Year 2000 – Proceedings of the 5^th International Congress of the International Society of Applied Psycholinguistics. Porto: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 1999.

The 6^th International Congress of ISAPL took place at Caen, on June 28 – July 1^st, 2000, organized by J. D. Drévillon, at the Univ. of Caen. It was another important event. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 2001 – Dec 31, 2003 was: Advisory Council (AC), Honorary Presidents: T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone and L. Scliar-Cabral; Board of Officers (BO), President: B. Spilner (Germany); Vice-Presidents: J. Arabski (Poland); K. Butler (USA), E. Koskas (France). J. Vivier (France); Secretary General:  D. Ponterotto (Italy); Treasurer: M. da Graça Pinto (Portugal); Committee Members (CM), 1998-2003: J. M. Kohno (Japan), J. M. Poersch (Brazil) and A. Salinas (France); 2001-2006. E. Brosig (Germany), M. Gulea (Romania), I. Nebesta (Czeck Republic) and S. Stame (Italy).

An important contribution was the publication of Drévillon, J. D. and Salinas, A.  (Eds.). Psycholinguistics – a multidisciplinarily connected science. What implications? What applications? Proceedings of the VIth International Congress of the International Society of Applied Psycholinguistics (ISAPL). Paris: Europia, 2004.

The 7^th International Congress of ISAPL was agreed to be in Germany, on 2003, organized by B. Spillner, but he withdrew the charge and the Congress ended up being held in Cieszyn, on September 06-09, 2004, sponsored by the Univ of Silesia and organized by J. Arabski. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 2005 – Dec 31, 2008 was: Advisory Council (AC), Honorary Presidents: T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone, L. Scliar-Cabral; Board of Officers (BO), President: M. da Graça Pinto (Potugal); Vice-Presidents: J. Arabski (Poland), M. Paradis (Canada), D. Ponterotto (Italy); Secretary General: C. Préneron (France); Treasurer: J. M. Poersch (Brazil); Committee Members (CM): S. Stame (Italy), Coordinator, E. Brosig (Germany), D. Gabrys-Barker (Poland), M. Kohno (Japan), E. Koskas (France), L. Piotrovskaya (Russia) and J. Veloso (Portugal).

The Proceedings of the 7^th International Congress of ISAPL were entitled “Chalenging tasks for psycholinguistics in the new century”, edited by J. Arabski, Katowice: Univ. of Silesia, 2007, 662 p. The full Proceedings were also published on a CD-ROM, entiled “Chalenging tasks for psycholinguistics in the new century, Proceedings of the 7^th International Congress of International Society of Applied Psicholinguistics”.

The 8^th International Congress of ISAPL took place at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, on November 18-22, 2007, organized by J. M. Poersch. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 2008 – Dec 31, 2010 was: Advisory Council (AC), Honorary Presidents: T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone, L. Scliar-Cabral and, according to the Statutes ammends, not as HP, M. da Graça Pinto and S. Stame; Board of Officers (BO), President: G. Mininni (Italy); Vice-Presidents: J. Arabski (Poland), Penka Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgary) and J. M. Poersch (Brazil);  Secretary General: J. Veloso (Portugal); Treasurer: H.-M. Sarter (Germany); Committee Members (CM), Until 2010: E. Brosig (Germany), D. Gabrys-Barker (Poland), E. Koskas (France); Until 2013: A. Manuti (Italy), Coordinator, I. Condrea (Rep. of Moldova), L. Nadrag (Romania),  K. Petrova (Bulgaria).

The Proceedings were published under the title Psycholinguistics Scientific and technological challenges, organized by J. M. Poersch (Ed.). Porto Alegre: EdiPucrs, 2010.

The 9^th International Congress of ISAPL was held at Bari, on June 28 – July 1^st, 2010, organized by G. Mininni, at the Univ. of Bari. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 2011 – Dec 31, 2013 was: Advisory Council (AC), Honorary Presidents: T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone, L. Scliar-Cabral, M. da Graça Pinto and S. Stame; Board of Officers (BO), President: N. Ufimtseva (Russia); Vice-Presidents: J. Arabski (Poland), K. Hummel (Canada), G. Mininni (Italy) and H. M. Sarter (Germany); Secretary General: D. Ponterotto (Italy); Treasurer: O. Georgieva (Bulgaria); Committee Members (CM), 2011-2013: D. Gabrys-Barker (Poland), E. Koskas (France), A. Manuti (Italy), R. Kyutchkova (Bulgaria), I. Markovina (Russia), A. Monção (Portugal) and B. E. Wong (Malaysia).

On April, the 5^th, 2011, one of ISAPL founders and its most important ideator, first Honorary President, Prof. Tatiana Slama-Cazacu passed away. Among the many hommages tributed, we may cite a whole ISAPL Bulletin, v. XIX, n. 1, April 2011- v. XIX, n. 2, Sept. 2011, edited in memoriam.

On October 4^th, 2012, in Macerata (Italy), the new ISAPL statutes were approved by a board meeting to be submited to members for discussion and referendum, during the 10^th ISAPL International Congress. It took place at Moscow, hosted by The Peoples Friendship Univ. of Russia and Institute of Linguistics of Russian Academy of Sciences on June 26 -29, 2013, organized by N. Ufimtseva and it was another memorable event. The Assembly General began on June 27, at 7 o’clock PM. On the occasion the statutes changes proposed by the board at the Macerata meeting were approved. The main changes consisted in: 1^st: allowing that ISAPL members could indicate candidates for the elective officees and the site for future International Congresses; 2^nd: ensuring direct ellections and right to vote for members who have paid dues; 3^rd: the Advisory Council (AC) starts to be an advisory organ, without executive functions. In consequence, the following was the board elected for the period Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2016: ISAPL Board, President: D. Gotsiridze (Georgia); Vice-Presidents: N. Ufimtseva (Russia), G. Mininni (Italy), J. Arabski (Poland) and K. Hummel (Canada); Secretary General: A. Manuti (Italy); Treasurer: L. Zhukova (Russia); Committee Members (CM), 2013-2019: D. Ponterotto (Italy), H.-M. Sarter (Germany), O. Georgieva (Bulgaria) and O. L. Heinig (Brazil).

Another important contribution was the publication ISAPL 10^th International Coongress of the International Society of Applied Psycholinguistics – June 26-29, 2013 Moscow, Russia Proceedings.

On February 6, 2013, another ISAPL founder and, also, with Prof. T. Slama-Cazacu, its ideator, Prof. Renzo Titone passed away. Prof. M. Danesi wrote in his honor a note at the journal Italica, 91(1), available at here and I wrote his obituary on the ISAPL Bulettin v. XXI, n. 1, April 2013 – v. XXI, n. 2, Sept. 2013.  

An old aspiration of ISAPL members was to have its Statutes registered. This goal was finally achieved, thanks to the efforts of the Italian colleagues A. Manuti, G. Mininni, M. A. Pinto, D. M. Ponterotto and S. Stame. The Statutes approved by the Assembly General, during the 10^th ISAPL International Congress had to be adapted to the legal requirements of the Italian notary Michele Labriola and translated into Italian. An interim Executive Board has been chosen, for the purpose of the registration, since all should be Italian, as follows: President: D. M. Ponterotto; Vice-President: M. A. Pinto; Secretary/Treasurer: A. Manuti; Executive Board Members: S. Stame and G. Mininni. The Honorary Presidents were officially designated as Honorary Members, as follows: Prof. T. Slama-Cazacu (in memoriam), Prof. R. Titone (in memoriam); Prof. L. Scliar-Cabral (Florianópolis, Brazil), altogether with Prof. M. da G. Pinto (Porto, Portugal).

The 11^th International Congress of ISAPL was held at the Faculty of Humanities, Ivane Javakhishvilli, Tbilisi State University, Georgia, on June 27-10, 2016, organized by G. Mininni, at the Univ. of Bari.  On June 29 elections took place, during the Ordinary General Meeting. The board elected for the period Jan 1, 2017 – Dec 31, 2019 was: ISAPL Board, President: D. Ponterotto (Italy); N. Ufimtseva (Russia); Vice-President:  G. Mininni (Italy); Secretary-Treasurer: A. Lyda (Poland); Advisors: D. Gotsiriddze (Georgia), K. Hummel (Canada), A. Manuti (Italy), B. E. Wong (Malaysia), H.-M. Sarter (Germany), N. Mosiashvili (Georgia) and O. L. Heinig (Brazil). The 12^th ISAPL International Congress site was also chosen, offered by Andrzej Lyda: University of Silesia at Sosnowiec, Poland.

But on December 16, 2018, I received from Andrzej Lyda an e-mail, communicating that the Institute of English would be closed, just as many other institutes at their university. Consequently, they would have no grounds for running for any grants to organize the congress. The situation became quite difficult: being just a few months before the supposed holding of the 12^th International Congress of ISAPL, receiving the news that the promised place had evaporated (since June 26^th, 2016, when Lyda promised the support of the University, nothing had been done, even a Circular was disseminated among ISAPL members to prepare it).

At the time, President Ponterotto contacted Prof. Louis Begioni to negotiate the possibility of Rome University Tor Vergata hosting the 12^th ISAPL Congress. On Jan. 25^th, 2019, Prof. Begioni and Prof. Ponterotto sent me a message, suggesting that his department could organize the ISAPL International Congress in 2020. They could offer three amphitheaters and many rooms insofar as we would choose a period without lessons or a Friday and a Saturday. However, given the catastrophic state of their university finances, it would be difficult to obtain a grant. But by proposing that part of the registration fees would be devoted to the Congress organization, it should be appropriate. Indeed, they had a caterer who could offer them advantageous prices.

Consequently, by the Board of Directors’ decision, the 12^th Congress date was postponed to 2020 and, after the local Organization Committee was structured, I assumed the responsibility of editing the Circulars, as well as mobilizing ISAPL members to submit their proposals for Symposia, Round Tables, Workshops, and abstracts to be judged by the Scientific Committee. Four 12^th ISAPL International Congress Circulars were published as well as an Extensive Provisional Program of activities.

The situation became worse, when I received on Nov. 12, 2019, from Prof. Begioni and other local Congress Committee members, a message that, according to the local organizing committee meeting, they were forced to cancel the Congress for bureaucratic reasons related to the current functioning of their university. They were very, very sorry, but it was impossible for them to do otherwise.

With 12 symposia, 5 roundtables and 6 workshops, as well as dozens of submissions for Free Sessions already schedule, not to mention that many colleagues had already made their flight reservations, what explanation would we give them? To further aggravate the situation, on Nov. 17^th, 2019, I received from Dr. Ponterotto, another message, where she wrote: “I would like to inform you that I have resigned from the association ISAPL for personal reasons”.

There was only one way out: to find another University to host the 12^th ISAPL International Congress. A hard work was applied to this task and, finally, we got the University of Aveiro, Portugal, which welcomed us with open arms, represented by Profs. Drs. João Torrão and Maria Teresa Roberto, belonging to the Language and Cultures Dept. We continued to expand the scope of the Congress, with new adhesions. But it became imperative to regularize ISAPL situation. The situation became even more serious, with the Corona virus pandemic:  we were forced programing the Congress online.

Due to the 12^th Congress successive date transfers, in whose Ordinary Meeting, the new Board of Directors should be elected, it made vacant the most decisive ISAPL Board of Directors positions, the President and the Secretary-Treasurer, an untenable situation, at that moment. So, we were obliged to trigger the electoral process for online elections. This had to be done at an Extraordinary Meeting, which took place online, on March 1, 2021, at 1pm (Lisbon zone time), at the ZOOM Platform, room 556 960 208.  The meeting was convened, at the request of more than 50 members, communicated to the ISAPL Board of Directors, on February 22, 2021, as required by the ISAPL Statutes.

According to the new Statutes, the suggested names, after a previous poll, for the ISAPL Board of Directors 2021-2024 mandate, the following names were proposed: President:   Prof. Marcus Maia (Brazil); Vice-president: Dr. Jacques Coulardeau (France); Vice-president Advisors: Prof. Kirsten Hummel (Canada), Prof. Heidemarie Sarter (Germany) and Prof. Natalia Ufimtseva (Russia); Secretary-Treasurer: Prof. Rosângela Gabriel (Brazil); Secretary-Treasurer Advisor: Prof. Angela Maria Vieira Pinheiro (Brazil); Board of Directors Advisors: Dr. Simona Anastasio (France), Prof. Penka Ilieva-Baltova (Bulgaria) and Prof. Mônica Ziegler (Argentina). We then developed an intense campaign among ISAPL members: 65 e-mails sent with 5 returns (wrong address).  The elections were automated, due to the pandemic situation, and the process took place successfully online.

Due to the worsening of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 12^th ISAPL International Congress took place online, from June 3 – 5, 2021, with an extraordinary success.

 The AILA Comission on Psycholinguistics Newletter, edited by H. W. Dechert and M. Raupach, which also became the official ISAPL Bulletin, since its foundation, from April 1992 on, as they could not more publish it in Kassel, I succeded to have it sponsored by the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Florianópolis, Brazil) being the editors, T. Slama-Cazacu, R. Titone, L. Scliar-Cabral and S. Stame. The ISAPL Bulletin was published free of charge two times a year, besides many Special issues.