We are pleased to announce the 37th edition of the International Conference on Foreign / Second Language Acquisition (ICFSLA), to be held in Szczyrk, Poland, in May 2026. Organised annually by the Institute of Linguistics at the University of Silesia, ICFSLA has, for over three decades, served as a vibrant forum for scholars from around the world to engage in discussions on current developments in second and foreign language acquisition, applied linguistics, multilingualism, and language pedagogy.

The upcoming edition of ICFSLA will take place under exceptional circumstances, which we feel bound to acknowledge openly and respectfully. In 2025, the global linguistic community suffered a profound loss with the passing of Professor Istvan Kecskes, the founding figure and intellectual force behind the Intercultural Pragmatics Association (INPRA) and its biannual conferences. As co-organisers of what was to be the 11th INPRA conference, we at the University of Silesia had been preparing to host the event jointly with Professor Kecskes. Sadly, his passing in February 2025 put an end to these plans.

In light of this, and in close consultation with colleagues and members of the ICFSLA scientific community, we have made the decision not to take over the organisation of INPRA, as we believe its unique identity should not be continued without its founder’s guidance and vision. However, as a longstanding partner and committed advocate of intercultural pragmatics research, we also feel it is our duty to honour Professor Kecskes’ immense contribution to the field and to provide a space for its ongoing exploration.

For this reason, the ICFSLA 2026 conference will take the form of a tribute edition, with the central theme dedicated to intercultural pragmatics and its intersection with language learning, teaching, and technology-enhanced communication. We warmly invite papers that explore the role of pragmatic competence in second and foreign language acquisition, both in traditional and digitally mediated environments, and that investigate how learners navigate meaning, intention, and cultural appropriacy across communicative contexts.

In line with our conference's forward-looking ethos, we are also keen to include a novel area of inquiry: the pragmatics of human–AI interaction.

As AI-driven Large Language Models (LLMs) become increasingly present in educational and communicative practices, new questions arise about how users interpret, adapt, and negotiate meaning in exchanges with artificial agents. We believe that these interactions represent a new frontier in intercultural communication – one that both reflects and reshapes the pragmatics of human-human dialogue.

Possible areas of focus include, but are not limited to:

* Intercultural pragmatic competence in SLA

* Speech acts, politeness, implicature, and relevance in L2 learning

* Pragmatic transfer and instruction in multilingual classrooms

* L2 learner interaction in online, hybrid, or AI-assisted environments

* Human–AI communication from a pragmatic perspective

* LLMs as pragmatic interlocutors and/or pedagogical tools

* Emerging norms in AI-mediated intercultural exchanges

However, the submission of other topics for consideration is welcome and we also encourage sessions within and across a variety of disciplines and fields related to Second Language Acquisition for our varia session. In other words, please do not hesitate to consider submitting your proposal even if it does not fit the main theme of 

the conference. The choice of the topic to be presented, as long as it relates to SLA in some way, is no obstacle to its acceptance as a presentation.

As in previous years, the conference will feature plenary talks by internationally recognised experts, thematic sessions, and opportunities for networking and collaboration in the stunning mountain setting of Szczyrk. We are pleased to announce that the following scholars have accepted our invitation to deliver plenary talks during our conference:

• Maria Economidou Kogetsidis (University of Nicosia)

• Zhu Hua (University College London)

• Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (University of Applied Sciences in Konin)

• Anthony Liddicoat (University of Warwick)

• Agnieszka Piskorska (University of Warsaw)

• Helen Spencer-Oatey (University of Warwick)

We invite all scholars, educators, and students interested in second language acquisition, intercultural pragmatics, and human-AI communication to join us for this special edition of ICFSLA, where we will both celebrate a long-standing tradition and explore a rapidly changing linguistic future.

Further information, including the call for papers and submission deadlines, will be available on our website: https://www.icfsla.us.edu.pl

We look forward to welcoming you to Szczyrk!