LAHORE: The second International Conference of the Linguistic Association of Pakistan (ICLAP) begun at Punjab University’s Al-Raazi Hall on Tuesday. The event is being organised by the Punjab University’s Institute of Languages in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Oriental Learning Faculty Dean Prof Dr Fakhrul Haq Noori, Institute of Languages incharge Dr Maria Maldonado, Prof Dr Francisco Marcos-Marin from Department of Modern Languages and Literature, University of Texas, Prof Dr Maria Lourdes Garcia-Macho from National University of Distance Education, Spain, Dr Elena Bashir from the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilisations, University of Chicago, Dr Tikaram Poudel from Kathmandu University, Nepal, Linguistic Association of Pakistan President Dr Ghulam Raza and other speakers from abroad as well as various parts of country were present on the occasion. Addressing the ceremony, Dr 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 Maldonado 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.