Applied Linguistics & Communication @ Newcastle University – Page 2 – In Newcastle University's School of ECLS. We teach and research: Language Learning｜TESOL｜Cross-Cultural Communication

ALC PhD students present their research at ‘Sociolinguistics Symposium 21’ in Murcia, Spain.

Last June, I visited University of Murcia in Murcia, Spain to present my analysis in the conference, “Sociolinguistics Symposium 21”. Sociolinguistics Symposium is one of the biggest international conferences on language in society, and over a thousand delegates from various disciplines in sociolinguistics presented their interesting studies this year. I gave a presentation entitled “Marriage immigrants in South Korea: A CA perspective on situated identities and multimodality in interview accounts” on 15^th, June. Also my colleague, Kirsty Blewitt (3^rd year PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics) presented her paper entitled, “Exploring interactions between the state and the individual in legal settings” on the same day. We both enjoyed thought-provoking discussion in the conference, as well as the great weather and atmosphere in the city!

About the blogger

This post written by Yoonjoo Cho who is a 3^rd year PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University.

Strong ALC presence at the 15th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology

Applied Linguistics and Communication @ Newcastle was represented by two staff members and two PhD students at the 15th International Conference on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASP) which was held from 22-25 June at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok, Thailand.

Alina Schartner and Tony Young convened a symposium entitled ‘The internationalising university – an intercultural endeavour?’ which featured contributions from colleagues in the United States and Hong Kong. Alina and Tony’s full paper has recently been published online.

They also presented as part of a symposium on health communication, reporting on a recent study of attitudes towards person-centred dementia care of UK and Malaysian medical students.

Jaeuk Park and Fatimah Alsaadi, both PhD students in ALC, each presented their respective doctoral work. Jaeuk’s talk focused on the Korean Digital Kitchen, while Fatimah spoke about the cross-cultural adjustment of Saudi Arabian ESL students in the UK.

Braving the monsoon rains, the group also enjoyed a cruise on the Chao Praya river, taking in the views of the temples and palaces of Bangkok. Korp Kun Ka, Thailand!

Sociolinguistics Summer School 7 (SSS7)

Sociolinguistics Summer School 7 (SSS7) at Universite Lumiere Lyon 2 in France that I attended in June 2016, turned out to be a very welcoming place for postgraduate students to showcase and share their research. There I presented my study into implicit language ideologies in Belarus and felt privileged to be considered for a paper presentation among such high-class research projects.

Overall, the programme of SSS7 was very diverse and focused on language in society, whilst the papers presented by students covered a wide range of linguistic contexts and multiple methodological approaches. Having an opportunity to learn about new research in sociolinguistics gave me a better understanding of how broad the field is and how issues of language in society can be studied with different methods and understood from different perspectives.

Over the four days of SSS7 plenary sessions and workshops focused on language planning and policy, new speakers approach in sociolinguistics and researching endangered languages. In addition, data sessions were organised where I could share concerns with my data collection and analysis and get valuable feedback from both peers and plenary speakers.

Dr. Jim Walker talked about language policy as a field of enquiry and discussed work of the organisation dedicated to corpus planning of French language DGLFLF (Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France). This session not only gave an insightful overview of how language policies operate but was also a chance to reflect upon my own stance as a researcher of language and analyse my own bias in terms of intervention on language.

Dr. Bernadette O’Rourke talked about the concept of “new speaker” and its usefulness in modern sociolinguistic context. Indeed, research needs to address the ever-changing circumstances of multilingual speakers, such as globalisation, migration and transnational networking. Looking at speakers of minoritised languages from a new perspective can shed light on languages’ chances to survive and may have implications for language policies. This talk was extremely relevant to my own research which partly deals with indigenous languages: although indigenous languages are often claimed to be doomed, new speakers emerge in these ever changing societal conditions, a phenomenon well worth studying.

Dr. Benedicte Pivot focused on issues arising in ethnographical studies of endangered languages and revitalisation efforts in sociolinguistics. This session focused on operationalising concepts of language, speakers and community in qualitative research as well as practicalities of carrying interviews, surveys and documenting languages. The workshop on endangered languages contributed to critical understanding of the effects that researcher’s intervention can have on the community and their language.

In summary, this summer school was a great learning space for me that was friendly, including and fun to participate in thanks to the organising committee constituted by PhD students at Universite Lumiere Lyon 2. I would like to thank them and my supervisors who suggested attending this summer school. I believe this summer school will be of interest to many students at ECLS who pursue studies in multiple branches of sociolinguistics.

About the blogger

Written by Hanna Sliashynskaya, 1st years PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University.

Blog post by recent MA Cross-Cultural Communication graduate!

Julia Fischill, a former MA CCC student, has recently written a blog post for WU (Vienna University) Blogs. The blog post, about European Identity and the Erasmus Experience, will be a fascinating read for many, especially current and former EU students. The blog post can be found here.

Julia is now a member of the general student consultation team and webmaster at the International Office of WU Vienna. She completed her Master’s thesis, on the Erasmus experience, as part of the MA Cross-Cultural Communication and International Relations at Newcastle University.

Another MA graduate from the ALC section who has gone on to immediate success – well done Julia!

‘Intercultural Communication and Engineering Education’ – ALC research trip to Tokyo

Narrowly missing the cherry blossom season, Tony Young, Alina Schartner and Adam Brandt visited the University of Tokyo in March. The research trip was linked to a collaborative project funded by the NU Internationalisation Strategic Fund. For the past year, the ALC team have been working with Yu Maemura (Tokyo University) and Mike Handford (Cardiff University) on a mixed-method needs analysis to explore how engineering students and staff in both locations approach intercultural communication.

Despite significant jet-leg, the ALC team conducted a focus group with international engineering students at Tokyo University and gave two presentations to two very different audiences. One for professional engineers, reporting on the findings from the needs analysis, and one for Tokyo University staff on the internationalisation of UK higher education. Both talks were well-received!

The team are now writing up their research findings for publication later in the year.

New publication on ‘digital sensor technology’ by Paul Seedhouse and Dawn Knight

The latest article by Paul Seedhouse, co-authored with Dr Dawn Knight (Cardiff University), has recently been published by Applied Linguistics. The paper, ‘Applying Digital Sensor Technology: A Problem-Solving Approach’, is part of a special issue on ‘Innovation in Research Methods in Applied Linguistics‘.

Continue reading New publication on ‘digital sensor technology’ by Paul Seedhouse and Dawn Knight

A new appointment in the ALC team: Dr Sandra Morales!

Applied Linguistics & Communication are delighted to welcome Dr Sandra Morales to the team!

Sandra is already a researcher here in ECLS, working on the VEO project with, among others, Paul Seedhouse. She officially started her role as Teaching Assistant in the ALC section as of Monday (1 February). As well as teaching on MA modules, Sandra will be tutoring and supervising MA students. She will also be involved in some other exciting projects!

For those of you who don’t her Sandra already, here is a bit more about her, in her own words:

I came to Newcastle in 2010 to start my PhD in Educational and Applied Linguistics as I have always been passionate about language studies! In Chile, my home country, I did a Bachelor’s degree in English-French and Spanish Translation (Je parle le Francais aussi!) followed by a Master’s degree in Linguistics. While doing my MA I taught communicative English in higher education. This experience made me realize how much I enjoyed language teaching so I decided to go to the United States (Boston, MA) and do a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. After that, I worked as a teacher trainer with students who were going to be English teachers in Chile. I have to admit that sometimes I miss those days! Fortunately, I have kept in touch with my old students-now colleagues- so we can share our experiences with language learners and continue learning together!

My area of research is Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and everything that is related to blended and online learning! My interest in educational technology for language learning and teaching started when I was doing my MA and learned how technological resources were being used to support Second Language Acquisition (SLA). I have conducted research about the use of blended learning and Task Based Language Teaching in the L2 classroom, as well as in CALL teacher education. I have observed how teachers develop their teaching skills when trained in online communities in order to improve models and strategies for teacher training courses. During my academic career, I have been able to present my research in prestigious conferences such as EuroCALL, BAAL and WorldCALL. I have collaborated with colleagues in the field of CALL (my most recent publication is with Scott Windeatt from ECLS) and disseminated my work in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT).

In ECLS, I am currently involved in the Erasmus+ VEO (Video Enhanced Observation) Europa project where I work alongside Professor Paul Seedhouse, Paul Miller, Jon Haines and partners in the UK, Germany, Finland, Turkey and Bulgaria. In this project I have had the opportunity to further develop my research skills and apply my expertise as an educational technologist and teacher educator.

As part of the Applied Linguistics and Communication section, I will collaborate with other members of staff in some of the taught modules (e.g. TESOL for Young Learners with Dr Chris Leyland), tutor students and supervise MA dissertations. I will also be able to use my knowledge in CALL, e-learning and curriculum design to produce online materials. This will help to enhance the learning experience of our learners across the MA programmes.

In the future, I expect to develop collaborative research projects that involve working with language teachers and technology. I strongly believe that hearing teachers’ voices is key to promote their ‘digital self-esteem’ and improve language learning and teaching with technological resources. For this purpose, I would like to take my PhD research a step forward and enhance the online teacher training model I implemented during my doctoral studies. I am also interested in the training of online tutors and the different roles they play in the development of online communities.

So far, I have really enjoyed my time in Newcastle University and life in the North East! I look forward to working with students and all my colleagues in Applied Linguistics and Communication.

PhD viva success for Aki Siegel

We are delighted to announce that Aki Siegel (Rikkyo University) successfully passed her PhD viva last week with (very) minor corrections!

Having completed her MA at University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Aki enrolled as a long-distance part-time student in ECLS, working with Paul Seedhouse as her supervisor (and later adding Adam Brandt as second supervisor).

Her PhD thesis, ‘Longitudinal Development of Word Search Sequences in English as a Lingua Franca Interactions‘, examines interaction between international students in a university dorm in Japan, and brings together the research areas of ELF, conversation analysis and complex adaptive systems to examine language development over time. Her research was praised by her examiners, Salla Kurhila (University of Helsinki) and Alan Firth.

Congratulations Dr Aki!

ALC staff visit Thailand for workshop on internationalisation of HE

From 6–9 January 2016, Tony Young, Steve Walsh and Alina Schartner took part in a Researcher Links workshop on the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Bangkok, Thailand. Funded by the Newton Fund, the British Council, and the Thailand Research Fund, the workshop was jointly coordinated by Newcastle University and Kasetsart University. It brought together a multidisciplinary group of 30 early-career researchers from the UK and Thailand to address the challenge of promoting values-based, intercultural internationalisation.

Continue reading ALC staff visit Thailand for workshop on internationalisation of HE

Peter Sercombe presents at Hunting-Gathering conference in Vienna

Peter Sercombe recently attended the ‘Eleventh Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies’ (CHAGS), in Vienna, giving two presentations related to his interests in language and communication in hunting-gathering communities.

CHAGS

He presented in two panels: In the first – ‘Is hunter-Gatherer Kinship Special and (how) Does It Change? Perspectives from Anthropology, Linguistics, History and Beyond‘ – Peter’s paper (‘The Changing Face of Penan Nomenclature’), described and attempted to explain decline in the use of Penan teknonymy and necronymy.

Continue reading Peter Sercombe presents at Hunting-Gathering conference in Vienna

Peter Sercombe research grant for project on language and perceptions

Peter Sercombe is a recent successful co-applicant to the Bank of Sweden’s Tercentenary Foundation for a grant of around €1.25 million. The grant will fund a large project, involving universities from around Europe and led by Niclas Burenhult (Lund University, Sweden), entitled ‘Language as key to perceptual diversity: an interdisciplinary approach to the senses’.

Continue reading Peter Sercombe research grant for project on language and perceptions

Alan Firth and Adam Brandt to present at first talk in Applied Linguistics Seminar Series

The first talk in the Applied Linguistics Seminar Series will take place tomorrow, Tuesday 13 October, at 4-5pm.

Alan Firth and Adam Brandt will be presenting their research on haggling in Bangkok. Click on the poster below for further details.

The full schedule for this academic year’s Seminar Series can be seen here.

Applied Linguistics Seminar Series starts again next week!

Every year, the Applied Linguistics & Communication team organise a series of lectures from leading researchers in the field of Applied Linguistics. The series for this academic year was organised by Rachelle Vessey, and the programme can be seen below (click for larger image).

Continue reading Applied Linguistics Seminar Series starts again next week!

Paul Seedhouse leads ‘Video-Enhanced Observation’ project, funded by EU

A team of researchers, led by Paul Seedhouse, has recently been awarded €270K from the ‘Erasmus Plus KA2 Strategic Partnerships for School Education grant’. The project, which also includes Paul Miller and Jon Haines (School of ECLS, Newcastle University), brings together six partners from five countries, and aims to improve the quality and efficiency of education and training by using ‘Video Enhanced Observation‘ (VEO), an innovative technological approach to support initial teacher training and continuing professional development.

Continue reading Paul Seedhouse leads ‘Video-Enhanced Observation’ project, funded by EU

MARG schedule for 2015-16 semester 1

This semester’s MARG data session schedule is now set! As ever, we have a wide range of exciting interactional contexts for us to examine, analyse and discuss. Over the course of the coming semester, staff and students will be presenting their audio-video data, typically from second language and/or international settings, for collaborative analyses and discussion.

As ever, MARG data sessions take place during term-time on Wednesdays at 4-6pm. This academic year, all data sessions will take place in KGVI Building, room 2.11. Email MARG co-ordinator Kirsty Blewitt for further details.

We will doubtless have more updates about MARG in the weeks and months to come. You can read our first blog post about MARG here.