University of LimerickO L L S C O I L L U I M N I G H

Centre for Applied Language Studies

Newsletter

Number 7 2007 – 2008

Editors: Stéphanie O’Riordan and Elaine Riordan

http://www.ul.ie/~lcs/cals

The Centre for Applied Language Studies, established in 1997, brings together members of faculty, full-time post-doctoral researchers and postgraduate students from several disciplines in the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and the development of research projects. Associate members with similar research interests from other universities may also be invited to join the Centre, which currently has 60 members.

The objectives of the Centre are:

• To provide a focus for research into applied language studies within the University and a focal point for national and international links;

• To promote the integration of research and the application of language activities, in areas such as language learning, corpus linguistics, language in society, and language planning and policy;

• To serve as a research resource and a source of consultancy expertise to government, business, social organisations and supra-national structures.

Activities include individual and collaborative projects, seminars for research and staff development, the publication of books and articles, and consultancy at national and international level.

Current research areas include:• the learning of foreign and second languages• the role of new technologies in supporting this learning• the ways in which governments and societies can manage the

linguistic and human dimensions of bilingualism and multilingualism

• the language of the media in a world of globalisation• corpus-based analysis of discourse varieties in context.

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About CALS

Contents

News

Tenth Anniversary Celebrations 4

PRTLI4 and IRCHSS Success for CALS Postgraduates 5

CALS Postdoctoral Research 6

CALS Postgraduate Committee 7

CALS Research Awards 7

Books Published by CALS Members in 2007-2008 8

Visiting Scholar 8

Special Awards Won by CALS Members 9

New Members 10

Events

EUROCALL 2007 11

Royal Irish Academy Symposium Hosted in UL 12

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, One-day Symposium on Writing 13

MATSDA (Materials Development Association) Conference 14

Ireland’s First Regional Writing Centre Launched 15

Symposium on the Integration of New Technologies in the Language Classroom 16

ISKS Launch 18

CALS Research Day 2008 and Book Launch19

The Fourth IVACS International Conference 20

CALS Guest Lectures at UL 21

Forthcoming Events 22

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NEWS

Tenth Anniversary Celebrations

A series of lectures to mark the 10th anniversary of CALS was launched on Thursday 20 September, 2007, by Prof. Vincent Cunnane, Vice President Research, UL. The first lecture was ‘Do women and men speak the same language? The dynamics of the research agenda in language and gender’ by Dr Maeve Conrick, NUI Cork. Maeve Conrick, currently Vice-Head of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences at University College Cork – NUI Cork, was the first associate member of CALS, joining just after the Centre was established in 1997.

The topics were chosen to be of interest to specialists and those outside language studies. Speakers included Prof. Mercedes Bengochea, Universidad de Alcala, whose lecture entitled “Just a list of words? The construction of ‘woman’ in dictionaries: The case of the Spanish normative dictionary” was chaired by Prof. Pat O’Connor, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at UL, on 18 October 2007.

On November 29th 2007, CALS postgraduate students Justin McCubbin and Matthew Wallen presented aspects of their research projects during talks entitled respectively: “Irish-Speaking Immigrants in the Gaeltacht: Examining the role of ethnicity in the maintenance of Irish-speaking communities” and “A Collective Voice: First Steps in Establishing a New Model of Professional Development for Teachers of Children Learning English as an Additional Language”.

The last talk in the series took place on 6 December 2007. Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin presented a lecture entitled “The Death of the Gaeltacht? Irish language policy, language planners and the community”. The talk was followed by a launch of Jean-Michel Eloy & Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin (eds.) 2007 Langues proches – Langues collatérales / Near Languages – Collateral Languages Paris: L’Harmattan, a collection of essays based on papers given at the conference of the same name in UL in June 2005.

Each event was the occasion for CALS members and non-members to engage in fruitful exchanges on a wide variety of topics. CALS Executive committee wishes to thank all who took part in CALS 10th anniversary celebration lecture series, especially the speakers and chairs. Special thanks go to the UL Women’s Forum, who sponsored the opening lecture in the series.

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PRTLI4 and IRCHSS Success for CALS Postgraduates

Congratulations to CALS postgraduate students, Joanna Baumgart, Clive Earls, Florence Le Baron, Aoife Lenihan and Justin McCubbin on their success in being awarded PRTLI4 and IRCHSS scholarships to fund their research.

Joanna Baumgart (IRCHSS Government of Ireland Scholar) is registered for a PhD in Applied Linguistics. The current title of her thesis is: “An investigation of the influence of English language learners on the spoken discourse practices of secondary school teachers in Ireland”. Her supervisor is Dr Fiona Farr.

Clive Earls (ISSP Government of Ireland Scholar) is registered for a PhD in Applied Sociolinguistics of German. The current title of his thesis is: “A study of language policy in higher education and its impact on educational practice: The experience of international degree programmes in Germany”. His supervisor is Dr Jean Conacher.

Florence Le Baron (ISSP Government of Ireland Scholar) is registered for a PhD in Applied Linguistics. The current title of her thesis is: “Introducing blended learning to enhance cultural competence”. She is jointly supervised by Prof. Angela Chambers and Dr Liam Murray.

Aoife Lenihan (ISSP Government of Ireland scholar) is registered for a PhD in Applied Language Studies. The current title of her thesis is: “ The interaction of language policy, media and new technology”. Her supervisor is Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes.

Justin McCubbin (IRCHSS Government of Ireland Scholar) is registered for an MA/PhD in Sociolinguistics of Irish. The current title of his thesis is: “Inimirceoirí in Éirinn agus an Ghaeilge” (Immigrants in Ireland and the Irish Language). His supervisor is Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin.

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CALS Postdoctoral Research

Tríona HouriganKnowledge Interfaces Project: Changing CommunicationThis research is situated within the “Changing Communication" cluster as part of the Knowledge Interfaces Project. This project is part of the Irish Social Sciences Platform which brings together expertise from eight Irish institutional partners and 19 academic disciplines to create an all-island, interdisciplinary platform for social science research. The project is funded by the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI4). The study focuses on the area of new literacies, investigating the interface between technologies, language, knowledge, and skills. In particular, the research will focus on developing a framework for the integration of new technologies into integrative writing environments.

Mairead MoriartyNorthern Multilingualism: Discourses, Practices and Experiences of Linguistic Divsersity in North Calotte. The project aims at a theoretical and empirical investigation of multilingualism in the transnational North Calotte. In its emphasis on the transcultural and economic flows and forces shaping local languages, particularly minoritised languages, this project engages with recent research on linguistic diversity and change. The aim of the project is to investigate several locations within North Calotte and elsewhere with particular reference to media, tourism and landscapes. The project is funded by the Academy of Finland (2008-2011).

Research Scholar

Anthony Cawley, who joined CALS in May 2008, moved to the University of Limerick at the beginning of April as a research scholar in ISKS. Previously, he worked in the Society, Information and Media (SIM) research centre in Dublin City University. His research has centred on various aspects of media (traditional and new), knowledge economy/information society, and the social adoption of new information and communications technologies (ICTs). Recent projects have examined the framing of development issues in the Irish media and the social adoption of mobile phones and social-networking websites among Irish teenagers.

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CALS Postgraduate Committee

Membership of the CALS Postgraduate Committee increased substantially during the 2007/08 period. New members include Elaine Riordan, Clive Earls and Guinevere Darcy who began research in 2007 and Florence Le Baron, Joanna Baumgart and Paschal Maher who joined in autumn 2008. Several CALS postgraduates won significant research scholarships during this period: Elaine Riordan (IRCHSS), Clive Earls (ISSP), Justin McCubbin (IRCHSS), Joanna Baumgart (IRCHSS), Florence Le Baron (ISSP) – congratulations to all.

CALS postgraduates continue to participate in international and national conferences such as SS17 and EUROCALL, and to develop their publication portfolios. Students availed of funding sources such as the SS16 fund, the CALS Research Awards and the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Awards to support attendance at relevant conferences. Postgraduates also took part in CALS events organised on campus. For example, Justin McCubbin and Matthew Wallen presented as part of the CALS 10 lecture series in November 2007 and in May 2008 a postgraduate session was incorporated into the CALS Research Day. This allowed postgraduates at an early stage in their research to present their proposals and gain feedback from senior and experienced researchers.

A new initiative for CALS postgraduates, targeted training in problem areas, is due to begin in the 2008/09 period. Funding for this initiative was received from the Faculty Development Teaching Fund following a specific request from the Postgraduate Committee. Helena Ní Ghearáin took over the role of Chair of the Postgraduate Committee in November 2007, as former chair Dr. Máiréad Moriarty is now a Junior Lecturer (half-time) in the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies and a postdoctoral researcher (half-time) funded by the Academy of Finland.

CALS Research Awards

Following a recommendation from the Quality Review of the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, department head Dr Jean Conacher allocated funding to support the research centres in 2007-2008. This made it possible for CALS to make research awards to postgraduate students and faculty in the Centre. In 2007 the following staff members were successful in obtaining the awards: Freda Mishan, Mairead Moriarty, Helena Ni Ghearáin, Stéphanie O’Riordan, Lucia Pintado, Elaine Riordan and Matthew Wallen.

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Books published by CALS Members in 2007-2008

Amador Moreno, C.P., D. Limon, G. Soriano Barabino and C. Way (eds) 2007. Enhancing the Erasmus Experience: Papers on Student Mobility. Granada: Atrio.

Amador Moreno, C.P., D. Limon, G. Soriano Barabino and C. Way (eds) 2007. Experiences in Student Mobility. Granada: Atrio. Eloy, J.-M. and T. Ó hIfearnáin (eds) 2007 Langues proches - Langues collatérales / Near Languages - Collateral Languages. Paris: Harmattan.

O'Sullivan, J. 2008. "Talkin' Different": Linguistic Diversity and the Irish Traveller Minority. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Congratulations to Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin who has recently been appointed to the editorial team of the AILA Review for 2008-2011http://www.aila.info/publications/aila-review.html

Further information on CALS members’ publications is available on the CALS Website, which now has a new Webmaster, Clive Earls.

Visiting Scholar

Aurelia Carranza from the University of Seville spent four months in UL (March-June 2008) as a CALS visiting scholar. Aurelia is currently undertaking doctoral research. Her project area is the analysis of parliamentary discourse in Spain and the UK. Aurelia gave a paper entitled "Gender in parliamentary discourse" at the 2008 CALS research day.

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Special Awards Won by CALS Members

2007 European Award for Languages

Congratulations to Barbara Geraghty, winner of the 2007 European Award for Languages, together with Ann Marcus Quinn and Kumiko Kurebayashi. The winning project, developed by the Japanese and the Technical Communication sections, “Interactive Multimedia Courseware for Reading and Writing Japanese Script,” is a CD-Rom teaching the reading and writing of one of the Japanese character sets. The CD uses Flash animation to teach learners how to write the characters and sound files to teach pronunciation. The team was presented with their prizes on the 26th of September 2007, in Dublin. This award follows on from the award won by Catherine Jeanneau for the “Opening the Door” project in 2004, and those won by the Language Support Unit and the Graduate Diploma in Education (Languages) in 2005 and 2006.

From left: Kumiko Kurebayashi, Ann Marcus Quinn, Mr Shinji Yamada Cultural Attaché Embassy of Japan and Barbara Geraghty.

Regional Teaching Award

Congratulations to Dr Fiona Farr who has won the inaugural Regional Award for Excellence in Higher Education Teaching. This award is open to all academics in the institutions within the Shannon Consortium, a collaborative alliance between UL, MIC, LIT and IT Tralee, with funding from the Higher Education Authority under the Strategic Innovation Fund.. An external panel, made up of teaching and learning experts from Trinity, UCD, and the UK, reviewed student testimonials, evaluated DVD footage, teaching related achievements and evidence within the candidates’ portfolios, and chose Dr Fiona Farr as the winner. A ceremony to mark this achievement took place in the Millstream Common Room at 12 noon on Wednesday 30th April 2008, at which UL president Prof. Don Barry presented the award.

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UL Award for Excellence in teaching

Congratulations to Dr David Atkinson who has been awarded one of two UL awards for excellence in teaching, 2008. The award was presented by Prof. Don Barry during the Autumn conferring.

New Members CALS is delighted to welcome 7 new members:

Joanna Baumgart (IRCHSS Government of Ireland Scholar) is conducting her doctoral research on the influence of English language learners on the spoken discourse practices of secondary school teachers in Ireland. Her supervisor is Dr Fiona Farr.

Guinevere Darcy is conducting her doctoral research on code-switching and code-mixing among young Gaeltacht Irish speakers. Her supervisor is Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin.

Aoife Lenihan (ISSP Government of Ireland scholar) is conducting her doctoral research on the interaction of language policy, media and new technology. Her supervisor is Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes.

Paschal Maher is conducting his doctoral research on genre and metadiscourse development in postgraduate student academic legal writing. He is jointly supervised by Dr Fiona Farr and Prof. Michael McCarthy.

Dr Micheal Ó hAodha is librarian for the Faculty of Science & Engineering at UL. His research interests include Postcolonial Identities, Irish Nationalism, Diaspora Literature, Cultural and Linguistic history/development of Migrant Groups including Travellers and Showpeople, Roma and the Holocaust, Visual Culture.

Noel Ó Murchadha is conducting his doctoral research on target language varieties among young Gaeltacht Irish speakers in Munster. His supervisor is Dr Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin.

Santiago Perez is teaching assistant in Spanish in the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies. His research interests encompass 19th

century Spanish literature as well as cyberliterature and cyberculture, amongst others.

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EVENTS 2007-2008

EUROCALL 2007

The annual 2007 EUROCALL conference (European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning) was held at University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, from 5-8 September 2007. The conference entitled Mastering Multimedia: Teaching Languages Through Technology included over 180 talks on a wide range of topics such as blended learning, mobile technology such as ipods and video, and the use of blogging in the language classroom, to name a few.

The plenary speakers were Bernd Rüschoff, Gráinne Conole and Uschi Felix, all of whom also took part in a very lively panel discussion on the conference theme, which was chaired by Graham Chesters. CALS was represented by Catherine Jeanneau and Elaine Riordan who presented their paper, “A framework for the implementation of a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for a language learning centre”. The conference was preceded by four pre-conference workshops with a range of themes including corpus linguistics and the use of Web 2.0 tools in language learning. After a successful initiation in Granada in 2006, a virtual strand workshop was freely accessible on the Internet and over 270 participants tookpart. Plenary presentations and the panel discussion were streamed and were accessible live only to registered VS participants. In addition, there were three real-time presentations from Vance Stevens, Agnes Kkulska-Hulme & Lesley Shield, and Isabel Pérez Torres. Virtual participants were invited to use the blog to share views on the various presentations during the conference. The conference blog is available in the restricted members area of the EUROCALL website. Members of CALS may register for access at the following link: http://www.eurocall-languages.org/login/register-form.php

Selected papers from the Annual EUROCALL conference are published in the Association’s Journal, ReCALL, published by Cambridge University Press. Members of CALS may access ReCALL online by contacting the EUROCALL Secretary, Margaret.Gammell@ul.ie

EUROCALL 2008 was held in Kodolányi University College, Székesfehérvár, Hungary from 3-6 September, 2008. EUROCALL 2009 will be held in the Escuela Politécnica Superior de Gandía. Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Gandía (Valencia), Spain, 9-12 September 2009.

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Royal Irish Academy Symposium Hosted by UL

On the 9th and 10th of November 2007, the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies hosted the thirty-second research symposium of the Royal Irish Academy’s Committee for Modern Language, Literary and Cultural Studies, entitled “In / Difference: Current and Historical Perspectives on Cultures in Contact.” The symposium examined responses to difference, from approval of multiculturalism to hostility as well as the passive, indifferent response we often see to new and different cultures. Papers ranged from language education and policy through translation, literature, film, history of ideas, and cultural studies. Over 60 papers were presented by speakers from Ireland, the UK, Germany, Italy, the US, Australia and South Africa.

The immigration of Polish people into Ireland, their integration, their acquisition of the English language and the maintenance of their own language were themes of a number of related papers. Migration within the European Union was another important theme with a fascinating paper on the headscarf debate in Germany as a way of looking at multicultural concerns there. Other papers on immigration included one comparing Germany’s past and Ireland’s present as countries of immigration, and another on Italy’s experience. There were also a number of papers on the literature of migration in Germany, France, the US and Spain.

Translation was another important strand in the conference. Examples of papers were “Harry Potter is Funny” a case study of the translation of humour in the Harry Potter novels into Spanish, and another about translating The Commitments into German. Papers on language policy included one on the challenges posed by the number of official languages within the EU as well as one on attitudes among EU bureaucrats to multilingualism.

Other topics covered included the use of Catalonian music as an expression of dissidence during the Franco era, the reclaiming of Republican historical memory in post-Franco Spain, Marx and Engels’ interest in Ireland - particularly Engels’ History of Ireland, and the 25,000 Welsh speakers in Patagonia.

The symposium was organised by Dr Marieke Krajenbrink and Barbara Geraghty, with sponsors including the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society and others. Colleagues in LCS and CALS provided a lot of help and support.

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Shannon Consortium Regional Writing CentreOne-day Symposium on Writing

The UL Writing Research Forum, together with the Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, hosted a one-day symposium on writing on Monday, December 3rd, 2007. The Symposium, entitled Research on Writing Practices: Consequences for the Teaching of Writing and Learner Outcomes, brought together 80 delegates from the four partner institutions in the Shannon Consortium, namely the Institute of Technology Tralee (ITT), Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT), Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and the University of Limerick (UL).

The keynote address, ‘Working with writing: understanding texts, writers and readers’, was delivered by Prof. Ken Hyland, Centre for Academic and Professional Literacies, University of London. Dr. Matthew Martin and Jonathan Worley from St. Mary’s University College Writing Centre, Belfast, presented the different dynamics of content and form in student writing. Prof. Sarah Moore, Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Limerick, spoke about the value of writers’ retreats in a paper entitled ‘Enhancing writing motivation and effectiveness in academia: the importance of immersion and engaged action’. Lawrence Cleary, Caroline Graham, Catherine Jeanneau and Dr. Íde O’Sullivan, Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, outlined the Writing Centre’s response to writing needs at UL. James Binchy (MIC) discussed the activities of the Learner Support Unit in his institution and focused on the issue of whether content should be addressed when providing essay-writing support to individual students. Dr. Michael P. O’Brien, Limerick Institute of Technology, and Vincent Farrell, Institute of Technology, Tralee, presented their research on profiling learning styles with a view to applying learning styles theory in writing practice. Yvonne Cleary and Yvonne Diggings presented a case study illustrating the role of an online technical communication module in developing students’ writing skills. The final presentation by Prof. Jane Edwards and Mary Nunan of the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, UL, explored the use of writing by dance students as a medium of expression about learning experiences and experiences in dance scholarship.

A panel discussion chaired by Prof. Angela Chambers brought the Symposium to a close, reflecting on the consequences of research on

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writing practices for the teaching of writing and the outcomes for learners.

MATSDA (Materials Development Association) conference

MATSDA 08 took place at UL on 26th -27th January 2008, focusing on designing language learning materials to satisfy the needs and wants of language learners. Plenary speakers included: Mario Rinvolucri, Pilgrims Ltd, whose many publications include the best-selling Humanising your Coursebook; Mike Baynham, University of Leeds, specialist in ESOL; MATSDA president Brian Tomlinson, formerly of Metropolitan University of Leeds, author of, among many other publications, Developing Materials for Language Teaching; MATSDA secretary Hitomi Masuhara, formerly of Metropolitan University of Leeds, presenting on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning); and Angela Chambers, Fiona Farr and Stéphanie O'Riordan, UL, presenting on the applications of corpus linguistics to language teaching materials. The conference attracted close on 100 delegates from around the world, including the United States and Venezuela, and the strong local, Irish presence made for excellent networking opportunities.

All the plenary speakers are experienced in teacher training and as well as their plenary talks, ran hands-on workshops. In addition, there were a further 10 parallel workshops, on topics including ESOL, multiculturalism, using poetry in the classroom, designing local course books and developing short courses.

The organising committee for the conference was drawn from CALS and the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies (LCS), particularly the ELT/Linguistics and French sections. The conference was sponsored by LCS, CALS, the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society, and the Faculy of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

MATSDA has an ongoing programme of conferences and workshops which can be viewed at www.matsda.org.uk where the conference programme and abstracts are also still available.

A book based on but not exclusive to the papers given at MATSDA 08, with the working title Perspectives on Language Learning Materials Development, edited by Freda Mishan and Angela Chambers, will be published by Peter Lang AG, in the series Intercultural Studies and Foreign Language Learning. In addition, four of the plenary papers given at the conference by Brian Tomlinson, Hitomi Masuhara, Mike

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Baynham, and Angela Chambers, Fiona Farr and Stéphanie O'Riordan, will be published in the journal Language Teaching (CUP) in their special series of plenary and keynote speeches.

Ireland's First Regional Writing Centre Launched

The University of Limerick (UL), Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and the Institute of Technology Tralee (ITT), have joined forces under the Shannon Consortium to provide support in academic and professional writing to their students and staff with the establishment of Ireland's first Regional Writing Centre. Fintan O'Toole, one of Ireland's leading political and cultural commentators, officially launched the Centre at UL on March 13th, 2008. The Centre works with individuals and groups of students to help them develop their writing skills, while also providing programmes for faculty, assisting them in designing and incorporating effective writing activities into their programmes of study.

The Regional Writing Centre project recognises the central position of writing, to teaching and learning at higher education, and its vital role in professional employment. The Centre serves the need for a coordinated, systematic approach to developing writing for academic and professional purposes. While Writing Centres flourish in American universities, the concept is new to Ireland. However, the new centre draws on the expertise which already exists in the four institutions, including an academic writing support programme at MIC and a previously-established Writing Centre and Writing Research Forum at UL.

According to Prof. Don Barry, UL President, all the skills necessary to a knowledge economy can be developed through writing. "Attention to structural and stylistic features of a text promotes basic literacy skills and with so much writing done on either a word processor or online, writing promotes IT literacy. Collaborative writing induces cooperation and allows for the development of negotiation and communication skills. Writing that synthesises information from two or more academic disciplines, such as, science and the arts, develops an awareness of multiple viewpoints on what constitutes knowledge, fostering adaptability, tolerance for ambiguity and overall intellectual maturity."

The project is inherently interdisciplinary and inter-collegial, drawing finance from over €18.6 million in Strategic Innovation Funding granted to the Shannon Consortium over the past two years. It involves collaboration between language specialists and subject specialists in a

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centre which will provide support to undergraduate and postgraduate students, tailored to their specialised needs in terms of discipline, genre (thesis, Final Year Project, essay, report etc.), and language.

Symposium on the Integration of New Technologies in the Language Classroom

This one-day symposium on ICT & language learning, jointly organised by Dr Marie-Thérèse Batardière, lecturer in French and Catherine Jeanneau, manager of the Language Support Unit and coordinator of the Regional Language Learning Centre, took place on the 28th of March 2008. It aimed at promoting the use of new technologies in the language classroom and showcasing the ongoing work and research of colleagues in the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies. Close to 50 people attended this event, gathering faculty and postgraduate students from the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies but also delegates from other higher education institutions such as NUI Galway and the Institute of Technology Tralee. The two guest speakers were Dr Françoise Blin, Senior Lecturer in French in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (SALIS) at Dublin City University and Associate Dean for Learning Innovation in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and Dr Robert O’Dowd, UL graduate and now lecturer in English as a Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics at the University of León, Spain. Françoise Blin’s presentation laid the theoretical framework for the implementation and integration of new technologies in the language classroom, looking at new approaches originating in literacy research, multimodality and activity theory to mention but a few. Robert O’Dowd’s workshop on designing tasks for Online Interaction in Foreign Language Education was very hands-on and interactive.

In addition, faculty members from the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, (as well as colleagues from ITD and History) delivered sessions on their experience of using new technologies for teaching purposes. Further details on the symposium programme can be found at http://www.ul.ie/lsu/symposium/symposium_march08.htm.

The symposium was funded by the Faculty Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, and sponsored by the Centre for Applied Language Studies and the Shannon Consortium Regional Language Learning Centre. It was followed by a reception marking the official launch of the Regional

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Language Learning Centre. It was an important event for the Language Support Unit which within the Shannon Consortium.

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ISKS Launch

The Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS) was officially launched by Prof. Vincent Cunnane, Vice President Research, on Wednesday, 9th April, in the new ISKS offices. Director of the Institute Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes said ISKS would have a critical role to play in examining a range of issues that have emerged in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland.

Topics such as gender, technology, health, population change, aging, language and disadvantage in our own communities will be researched over the coming months. Notably, the Institute will be carrying out a major body of research in Limerick that looks at the effects of disadvantage, violence, exclusion and availability of services in disadvantaged areas of the city. ISKS plans to engage actively with stakeholders and policy makers to come up with suggestions as to how these problems can be tackled.

This new Institute will also support research activities within the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences by providing training and support in relation to securing research funding from national and international sources.

The first major project of the Institute, Knowledge Interfaces, funded by the Higher Education Authority under the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions, Cycle 4, brings over Euro 500,000 to CALS, in the form of PhD scholarships and a research fellowship.

From left: Dr Helen Kelly-Holmes, Prof. Pat O’Connor and Prof. Vincent Cunnane.

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CALS Research Day 2008 and Book Launch

The annual CALS Research Day took place this year on 28th of May. Following a welcome by the Director of CALS, Prof. Angela Chambers, the day began with presentations from the current CALS Ph.D candidates. These included Guinevere Darcy, Clive Earls, Florence LeBaron, Elaine Riordan, Angela Farrell, Iuliana Banarie, Jo Baumgart and Santiago Perez. The strength of CALS at this level is clearly reflected in the number of students at Ph.D level within the Centre. A presentation by a visiting scholar followed. Aurelia Carranza from the University of Seville gave a paper entitled "Gender in parliamentary discourse".

The second session of the day focused on research currently being carried out by CALS members at a postdoctoral level. This included a presentation by Dr. Máiréad Moriarty on the Northern Multilingualism Project led by the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, for which Máiréad is the postdoctoral researcher. The second presentation was from the new Research Scholar Dr. Anthony Cawley who discussed a number of projects in which he is currently involved, in particular the framing of development issues in the Irish media.

The third session explored the role of CALS in relation to the UL Research Strategy. Helen Kelly-Holmes reported on the role of CALS within the Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS), while Angela Chambers gave an in-depth report of the role of CALS within the Irish Social Sciences Platform, funded under the Fourth Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions. The presentations highlighted how CALS members are playing key roles in developments on both these levels and how research in Applied Language Studies can develop within the University's research strategy.

The final presentation of the day was given by Joan O’Sullivan of the Language Centre who spoke about the findings in her recently published book, entitled ‘Talkin’ Different’ Linguistic Diversity and the Irish Traveller Minority, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The book was launched two days after the CALS Research Day by Irish Times journalist Harry McGee, at a reception which was extremely well attended by Joan’s friends, family, and colleagues.

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IVACS International Conference

IVACS held its fourth international conference at UL on 13th – 14th

June 2008. The theme of the conference was Applying Corpus Linguistics and its aim was to continue the success of the previous three IVACS conferences held at the Universities of Limerick, Belfast and Nottingham by exploring ways in which corpus linguistics has been applied to other areas of research and pedagogy. It was well attended with over one hundred delegates and approximately seventy presenters representing the five continents.

On Friday 13th June, the conference was opened by Prof. Paul McCutcheon, Vice President Academic and Registrar. The opening plenary was presented by Randi Reppen, Prof. in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University. This paper concentrated on the ways corpus linguistics is currently being applied, and also how it might be applied in the future. The second plenary of the same day was presented by Svenja Adolphs, Associate Prof. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham, whose paper explored the role of context for the purpose of spoken corpus analysis and gave an insight into new methods and technologies for capturing aspects of interactions which may be useful to corpus linguists and discourse analysts. On Saturday 14th June, Elena Tognini-Bonelli, Prof. of English language from the University of Sienna, presented a paper which argued that patterns of phraseology should be seen as the starting point in order to reconcile two important perspectives on communication.

The parallel sessions included various strands such as language teaching and learning with corpora, parallel corpora, discourse analysis, academic writing, language variety, teacher education and online communication. The success of the conference was due to the many excellent presentations, as well as to the organising committee including; Fiona Farr, UL, Anne O’Keeffe, MIC, Elaine Riordan, UL, Angela Chambers, UL, Brian Clancy, MIC, Helen-Kelly Holmes, UL, Freda Mishan, UL, Róisín Ní Mhocháin, MIC, Stéphanie O’Riordan, UL, Angela Farrell, UL and Elaine Vaughan MIC. Support also came from Limerick Conference and Sports Park, the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, UL, The President’s Office, MIC, The Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, UL, The Institute for the Study of Knowledge in Society (ISKS), UL, and The Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS), UL.

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CALS Guest Lectures at UL

2007/2008

'On the Sociolinguistics of Cultural Localisation in Hip-Hop'Dr. Jannis Androutsopoulos, King's College London. 7 March, 2008. Organised by Helen Kelly-Holmes.

‘Culture – the cool tour: dis-coursing alterity’Prof. Gerhard Bach, University of Bremen. 27 March, 2008. Organised by Jean Conacher.

‘Corpora and Language Teaching’ Prof. Tony McEnery*, Lancaster University. 8 April, 2008. Organised by Fiona Farr.

‘Using Collocational Profiling to Investigate the Construction of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrants in the UK Press’Prof. Tony McEnery, Lancaster University. 9 April, 2008. Organised by Fiona Farr.

‘Forensic linguistics and corpora, and variation and corpora’Prof. Tony McEnery, Lancaster University. 11 April, 2008. Organised by Fiona Farr.

‘Towards more meaningful pedagogical concordancing’Dr Przemyslaw Kaszubski, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland. 11 June, 2008. Organised by Stéphanie O’Riordan.

*Professor McEnery visited UL as part of the ISKS visiting scholar programme.

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Forthcoming Events

AGM/ Conference of the Association of University Language Centres (AULC) Conference

The Conference of the Association of University Language Centres in the UK and Ireland will take place at the University of Limerick on the 8th

and 9th of January 2009. Caroline Graham from the University of Limerick Language Centre is a member of the Executive of AULC.

Language Policy and Language Learning: New Paradigms and New Challenges (LPLL) Conference

18th – 20th June, 2009

The Irish Association for Applied Linguistics / Cumann na Teangeolaíochta Feidhmí will host this large international conference immediately after a meeting of the AILA Executive Board and International Committee at the University of Limerick.

The conference is concerned with all aspects of language policy and the learning of languages. It will address the status and form of languages as well as acquisition policies pertaining to their teaching and learning. It will welcome papers, posters and panels on promoting and managing language policy and research on the development, implementation and effects of language policy in all regions of the world. The organisers will particularly welcome studies that contribute to language policy theory, both in regard to language learning and other domains.

The plenary speakers will be:

• Jennifer Jenkins , University of Southampton • Kendall King , University of Minnesota • Muiris Ó Laoire, Institute of Technology Tralee • Mark Sebba , Lancaster University

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CALS Members

CALS currently has 60 members

David Atkinson, Gosia Barker, Marie-Thérèse Batardière, Brendan Bolger, Nuria Borrull, Angela Chambers, Lawrence Cleary, Jean Conacher, Fiona Farr, Angela Farrell, Margaret Gammell, Barbara Geraghty, Caroline Graham, Catherine Jeanneau, Helen Kelly-Holmes, Michael McCarthy, Freda Mishan, Máiréad Moriarty, Siobhán Murphy, Liam Murray, Maire Ní Neachtain, Joan O'Grady, Micheal Ó hAodha, Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin, Anne O'Keeffe, Veronica O’Regan, Stéphanie O’Riordan, Íde O'Sullivan, Joan O’Sullivan, Maria Palma Fahey, Santiago Perez, Frédéric Royall, Nancy Serrano, Lucia Pintado.

Postgraduate researchers: Iuliana Banarie, Joanna Baumgart, Stephen Bearpark, Guinevere Darcy, Clive Earls, Florence Le Baron, Aoife Lenihan, Pascal Maher, Barbara Malvaro Orfano, Justin McCubbin, Ornaith NiDhuibhir, Helena Ní Ghearáin, Róisin Ní Mhocháin, Noel Ó Murchadha, Elaine Riordan, Elaine Vaughan, Matthew Wallen.

ISSP Research fellow: Dr Triona Hourigan

Research scholar: Dr Anthony Cawley

Associate members: Dr Carolina Amador Moreno, Universidad de Extremadura; Dr Maeve Conrick, NUI Cork; Dr Bróna Murphy, University of Edinburgh; Dr Shaun Nolan; Dr Muiris Ó Laoire, Institute of Technology Tralee; Dr Dagmar Reschke; Dr Birgit Ryschka.

CALS would like to acknowledge the invaluable support of the Higher Education Authority, which provides funding in support of the CALS research fellow (PRTLI4) and of eight of the postgraduate researchers (PRTLI4 and IRCHSS).

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