iraal tentative conference booklet 19 11 15 · vocabulary needs to be – harrington 12:30-12:55...

SMAOINEAMH CHUN CINN SA TEANGEOLAÍOCHT FHEIDHMEACH FORWARD THINKING IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS Féachtar le comhdháil chomóradh 40 bliain an IRAAL le hearnálacha uile na teangeolaíochta feidhmí in Éirinn a thabhairt le chéile chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar 40 bliain d’obair an chumainn. The IRAAL 40th anniversary conference aims to bring together all sectors of applied linguistics in Ireland to celebrate 40 years of our association’s academic activity.

21 November 2015, Trinity Long Room Hub Research Institute

IRAAL 40th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

IRAAL 40th Anniversary Conference

IRAAL 40th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE: Forward Thinking in Applied Linguistics


Welcome to IRAAL – the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics IRAAL connects language lecturers, language teachers, and researchers in linguistics, applied linguistics, and sociolinguistics with an active community keeping up with the latest language developments and offering lectures and seminars across Ireland. IRAAL's history dates back to its foundation in 1975 to support research in applied and general linguistics in Ireland. IRAAL is affiliated with the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) and pursues its aim of supporting research by organising seminars, lectures, conferences and workshops. Its publications include 'Teanga', the IRAAL journal, as well as special volumes on specific topics. Membership is open to everyone with an interest in languages or linguistics.

Membership IRAAL benefits from the input of interested linguists, applied linguists and language teachers. The benefits for members include:

• a reduced fee for IRAAL conferences • a reduced fee for AAAL and other AILA-affiliated conferences • unlimited access to Teanga, the IRAAL journal • the opportunity to participate in a lively, friendly academic community • invitations to academic events in cities across Ireland including lectures by invited

speakers • special discount rates for various important journals published by Edward Arnold,

Blackwell, Cambridge University Press, Elsevier, Multilingual Matters and Oxford University Press

• AILA Membership, with access to the AILA Review Current membership fees are as follows:

• Standard membership €40 • Discount membership (full time student, unwaged or retired) €20

Join at: www.iraal.ie


Conference Information

Conference venue Trinity College Dublin is recognised internationally as Ireland’s premier university and as one of the world's leading research-intensive universities. Founded in 1592, it is the oldest university in Ireland and one of the older universities of Europe, with a vibrant international community of some 17,000 students, 92,000 alumni and 3,000 members of staff. It is situated in the centre of Dublin, with a 47 acre campus of cobbled squares, historic buildings and green playing fields alongside state-of-the-art modern facilities, including our conference venue: the Trinity Long Room Hub Research Institute for the Arts and Humanities. The Trinity Long Room Hub takes its name from the iconic eighteenth-century Library at Trinity College, and is one of five flagship research institutes of the University. It is dedicated to promoting and facilitating innovative research across its seven member Schools. Since 2010, the institute’s home is a signature building at the heart of the historic campus. Its prominent location aptly signifies the centrality of the Arts and Humanities for our university and for society, and makes it an ideal place for connecting academic research with a wider public. Our plenary addresses will take place in the Neill Theatre on Level 1 of the Trinity Long Room Hub. Our parallel sessions will take place in four rooms:

• the Neill Theatre, in the Trinity Long Room Hub; • the Galbraith Seminar room, in the Trinity Long Room Hub; • Room 3071 located on Level 3 of the adjacent Arts Building; • Room 3126 located on Level 3 of the adjacent Arts Building.

These classrooms are only a short walk from each other and from the Trinity Long Room Hub, and are clearly indicated in the Arts Building.


Registration Registration will be open from 9am on the day of the conference in the entrance lobby of the Trinity Long Room Hub.

Wifi Free wifi is widely available in Dublin city centre, in many coffee shops and other locations, see for example http://dublingowexfreewifi.ie. Some delegates will be able to use the EduRoam network.

Eating and drinking Coffee breaks are included in the conference programme. There are many cafés located in the vicinity of the conference where you can buy a coffee or tea to go. There are water fountains in the Arts Building where you can fill up your water bottle, for example beside Staircase B on level 2 (just past the entrance to the Lecky Library). Lunch is not included in the conference registration fee, but there are many options for a reasonably priced lunch near TCD. If you want to purchase food to go, you can bring it back and eat it in the Ideas Space in the Long Room Hub, one floor above the main lecture theatre. On campus, located in Front Square (‘Parliament Square’ on some maps), the Buttery provides all-day hot food and a sandwich and salad bar. Beside our venue, the ‘Arts Café’ situated on the level 1 of the Arts Building has a coffee and snack bar. Vending machines are also available inside the Arts Building. Just outside campus, KC Peaches on Nassau Street offers healthy and tasty food which can be eaten on the premises or purchased to go. Avoca, on Suffolk Street, contains a delicious restaurant (top floor), food hall and café (basement). The food blog, www.cheapeats.ie, can give further tips on where and what to sample.

Visitor attractions on campus There are many attractions open to visitors to Trinity College. Detailed visitor information can be found at www.tcd.ie/visitors, and in the Pocket Guide to Dublin provided in your conference pack. The Book of Kells is housed in the Old Library, just opposite our conference venue. Visitors enter through the Library Shop on Fellows’ Square, and can visit the ‘Turning Darkness into Light’ exhibition, before viewing the Book of Kells and the magnificent Long Room which houses 200,000 of the College’s oldest books. The Douglas Hyde Gallery at the Nassau Street entrance of College displays Irish and international contemporary art, and is open to the public (no entrance charge). The Science Gallery (sciencegallery.com) in College (Pearse Street entrance) is a unique space where some of the latest scientific issues are presented in free interactive exhibitions. The Science Gallery is also home to an excellent café, which serves both lunch and dinner.


Cloakroom Space is available on the ground floor of the Long Room Hub for coats and bags, please ask for details at the reception desk. This area will be unattended during the conference, and the organisers take no responsibility for loss or damage to items. A staffed cloakroom is available on level 0 of the Arts Building (bottom of the stairs beside the Arts Café) where coats, bags and suitcases can be left with a cloakroom attendant for a small fee. In case of emergencies The emergency numbers in Ireland are 112 or 999. There is a small medical centre on campus, and there are many doctors’ surgeries located within walking distance of College. You must pay a fee to see a doctor or to attend the Accident & Emergency Department of a hospital. If a minor, non-urgent, medical matter arises, you can ask a pharmacist for advice. The closest pharmacists are Boots the Chemist, 12 Grafton Street, and Hickey’s Pharmacy, 21 Grafton Street.


Conference Schedule

Opening Session

*****COFFEE BREAK (10:30-11.00) Ideas Space, Trinity Long Room

Hub*****

Time Trinity Long Room Hub, Neill Theatre 9.40–9:50

Words of welcome from the Head of the Centre for Language and Communication Studies, Trinity College Dublin (Elaine Uí Dhonnchadha) & IRAAL President (Lorna Carson)

9.50–10:30

Looking back at the history of IRAAL. With Jeff Kallen, Mary Ruane and Liam Mac Mathuna, conversation chaired by Lorna Carson


Morning Break Out Session

*****LUNCH (13.00—14:00)*****

Arts Building 3126

TLRH, Neill Theatre

Arts Building 3071

TLRH, Galbraith seminar room

11:00-11:25

The acquisition of future time talk by teenage learners of English as a second language – McGarry

The effect of instruction in formulaic sequences on the oral fluency of students of Irish – Dillon

Unchartered Territory - Exploring L2/M2 Sign Language Acquisition using Corpus Data – Leeson; Matthews; Sheridan

Roundtable session: Investigating learner perceptions of mobile phones as tools of language learning – Mullen Complimenting Behaviour in British English and Iraqi Arabic: A cross-Cultural Pragmatics Study – Al-Hilu The Dirty War of Words: A Study of Print Media Discourse on Argentina’s Last Military Dictatorship (1982-1983) – Prendergast

11:30- 11:55

Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Chinese Higher Education: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions – Liu

Scoileanna Gaeltachta agus Lán-Ghaeilge: Tuairimí Múinteoirí i leith na hArdteistiméireachta, Ardleibhéal – Ní Laoire

The English Grammar Profile – a corpus-based profile of learner grammar competency – O’Keeffe; Mark

12:00-12:25

Is communicative language teaching the right approach for post-primary modern language teaching in Ireland? – Riordan

New Directions in Advising for Language Learning: Participatory Action Research and the Role of Irish Language Advisor in the Workplace – Ní Loingsigh

Tracking student progress through hospitality management education: a linguistic analysis – Healy; Horan

It all depends: revisiting the question of just how big a basic spoken vocabulary needs to be – Harrington

12:30-12:55

Pronunciation in French as a foreign language: importance, issues and assessment at post-primary level in the Irish education system – David-McGonnell

Múnlaí Éagsúla Luath-oideachais Dhátheangaigh i dTrí Bhunscoil Ghaeltachta – Ó Brolcháin & Ó Duibhir

Building and Analysing a Corpus of Virtual Online Grammar Lessons: exploring methodological and transcription challenges – Almuhaya

Principles of English spelling – Ryan


Afternoon Break Out Session

*****COFFEE BREAK (15:30 – 16:00) Ideas Space, Trinity Long Room Hub*****

Plenary & Lightning Talks Session, Neill Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub

TLRH, Neill Theatre Arts Building, 3071 TLRH, Galbraith Seminar Room

14:00-14:25

Why Language Attitudes Matter: An evidence based approach – Leeson; Conama; Sheikh

Motivation and target speech model selection in Irish language learning – Flynn

Investigating urban multilingualism – Carson

14:30-14:55

Beyond the Gender-Gap in Foreign Language Education: Identity Practices and Language Ideologies in an Irish Secondary School – Martyn

The manifestation of language ideology in radio advertising in Ireland – O’Sullivan

Dual Language Education in the last decade: Theory, Application and Issues in the Field – O’Brien

15:00-15:25

The Origins of Irish Sign Language: Dispelling the myths and searching for evidence – Conama; Leonard

Serious about the Rubberbandits: Occluded Voices, Hidden Discourses and the Sociolinguistics of Performance – Moriarty & Vaughan

Challenges of language learning and language maintenance-lessons from Polish-Irish experience - Machowska-Kosciak

16:00-17:00

Lightning talks • Forward thinking in Applied Linguistics: EAP and teacher education –

Nunan • “A President for all of the Irish”: Performing Irishness in an interpreted

Inaugural Presidential Speech – Leeson • Calling for a Paradigm Shift in ELT – Walsh • How much Applied Linguistics do Applied Linguistics students need to

know? -- Fionda • Research active university language centres in Ireland: A corpus linguist’s

agenda – Kostopoulou • Complex dynamic systems theory and applied linguistics - Opitz

17:00-18:00

Plenary lecture Compassion and Conflict in the Anthropocene: Language Learning under Pain and Pressure

– Prof. Alison Phipps, The University of Glasgow 18:00-19:00

IRAAL AGM, all welcome.


Plenary Talk Compassion and Conflict in the Anthropocene: Language Learning under Pain and Pressure Alison Phipps, University of Glasgow. The more recent project of language learning – of communicative and intercultural approaches - was born in relatively peaceful times, under democratic visions of citizenship and international relations in United States and in Europe in particular. For the most part the leading theorists in the field came from within these contexts, researching the nuances of misunderstandings and celebrating the contours of intercultural dialogue and communicative competence. The language learning contexts of world of the twenty first century have changed considerably and scholarship now reaches into questions of multi- and translingual subjectivity and into the pressing geopolitical questions of the age. This paper, drawing on the work in the AHRC Translating Cultures Large Grant: Researching Multilingually at the Borders of the Body, Langauge, Law and the State will consider the context of the anthropcene in framing human ecological approaches to language learning. In particular it will consider contexts where language learning occurs under duress, drawing not least on research from the siege of Gaza, from indigenous language learning and from refugee contexts.


Alison Phipps: About our plenary speaker Alison Phipps is Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, and Co-Convener of Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network (GRAMNET). She is also Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Waikato University, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Principal Investigator for the AHRC Large Grant ‘Researching Multilingually at the Borders of Language, the Body, Law and the State.’ In 2011 she was voted ‘Best College Teacher’ by the student body and received the Universities ‘Teaching Excellence Award’ for a Career Distinguished by Excellence. In 2012 she received an OBE for Services to Education and Intercultural and Interreligious Relations in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She has undertaken work in Palestine, Sudan, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Germany, France, USA, Portugal, Ghana. She has produced and directed theatre and worked as creative liturgist with the World Council of Churches from 2008-2011 for the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation. She is regularly advises public, governmental and third sector bodies on migration and languages policy. She is author of numerous books and articles and a regular international keynote speaker and broadcaster. Her first collection of poetry, Through Wood was published in 2009. She is a member of the Iona Community. http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/gramnet/


Abstracts (listed alphabetically by title) Title “A President for all of the Irish”: Performing Irishness in an

interpreted Inaugural Presidential Speech Presenter(s) Lorraine Leeson Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract In November 2011, Michael D. Higgins was elected as the 9th

President of Ireland. In his inaugural speech, he outlines his goal to “serve as a symbol of Irishness of which we can all be proud”. Throughout the speech, he code-switches between English and Irish, drawing on historical, cultural and poetic inferences that have the goal of creating community, a sense of shared purpose, and a return to “an older wisdom”. This paper explores the key themes in the President’s speech and reports on the challenges faced by three Irish Sign Language/English interpreters who delivered an ISL version for an imagined TV audience. We explore the asymmetrical L1-L2-L3 knowledge impacts on interpreting trilingually. This has special significance in a context where the function of the use of Irish is part of the speaker’s broader goal to build community and “perform” Irishness. We consider intersubjective components from the speech that are presented with convergent or divergent renderings in the target text. Ultimately, if President Higgins is, as he intends, “President for all of the Irish”, we ask what cultural memes Deaf, ISL using citizens would gain access to relative to those of their fellow Irishmen and women via interpretation and what strategies interpreters employ to successfully encode “Irishness” in their target texts.


Title Beyond the Gender-Gap in Foreign Language Education: Identity

Practices and Language Ideologies in an Irish Secondary School Presenter(s) Jennifer Martyn Affiliations(s) University College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract This research adopts a sociolinguistic perspective on the gender-gap

in second level foreign language education. Previous research indicates that gender disparities in language uptake and attainment are bound up with local gender identities and situated masculinities and femininities, as well as macro and micro level language ideologies. Taking a micro, localised approach to gender and language learning, ethnographic field research was conducted in a west of Ireland co-educational secondary school. Data collection included generalised and language classroom observation for a period of approximately six months, and semi-structured interviews with students and one language teacher. Findings were triangulated according to qualitative sociolinguistic research methodologies. The findings of this study indicate that school life is highly gendered, with sex-segregation imposed on students in various ways, which may lead to their engagement in agentive binary gendered practices and discourses. Language ideologies were found to be varied and complex: most demonstrated positive attitudes toward their foreign language of study, and were also found to position themselves socially through their language ideological expression. Many students dichotomised languages and STEM subjects, thereby potentially reinforcing the gendering of language education. Broadly speaking, the findings suggest that there exists a constitutive (rather than direct) relationship (cf. Ochs 1992) between gender and language learning that may influence classroom behaviour, language choices and language ideologies. Ochs, E. 1992. Indexing Gender. In Duranti, A. & Goodwin, C. Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge: CUP.


Title Building and Analysing a Corpus of Virtual Online Grammar

Lessons: exploring methodological and transcription challenges Presenter(s) Abdullah Almuhaya Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract Video-based teaching and learning has become more popular, with

the availability of online video streaming services such as YouTube and Vimeo. These are video-sharing social networks that allow users to share links of videos to watch and to comment on them. In recent years, they have increasingly become a source of language learning and teaching material. Little research has been done on these new virtual pedagogical environments. This presentation details a doctoral-level focusing on these new virtual teaching platforms so as to better understand how teaching is structured in terms of discourse and pedagogy in relation to the teaching of English grammar. The study differentiates between native speakers of English presenting lessons to a global audience and non-native speakers of English presenting grammar lessons to a narrower audience in the Arab-speaking world. The study takes a corpus-based approach to the analysis of these virtual classrooms and the paper will showcase the design of the corpus of online grammar lessons and will discuss the sampling criteria. It will also outline the challenges of arriving at a satisfactory multimodal transcription convention for a pilot sample.

Title Calling for a Paradigm Shift in ELT Presenter(s) Monique Walsh Affiliations(s) ELTA

The School of Spoken English Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract The teaching model that is used in the ELT classroom urgently needs

to be reassessed. The current approach has been around in one form or another for approximately 50 years and does not take into account new disciplines that shed light on how we acquire language. Chief among these are Neurolinguistics, which shows how the brain actually acquires language and Dependency Linguistics, the discipline that programmes like Google Translate use to generate translations that increasingly replicate natural language. Users of the listen function on Google Translate will notice that automatic audio translations now produce language in thought groups, modulated in prosodic units. ELT teachers must wonder how it’s possible to get their computer to produce complex sentences in English with perfect syntactic resolution, and sentences that are stress-timed in such a way as to communicate nuanced meaning, yet they do not have the tools they need to enable the learners in their classroom to achieve this competence.


Title Challenges of language learning and language maintenance-

lessons from a Polish-Irish experience. Presenter(s) Malgorzata Machowska-Kosciak Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract The research described in this paper investigates issues related to

language socialization of four adolescent Polish immigrant children attending different post-primary schools in Ireland. The focus is on how heritage language socialisation (Polish) goals affect these children’s identity negation as they grow up in multilingual environment, and try to find their place in a new country and society. We set out the theoretical background, methodology, final results from the longitudinal study (4 years) involving such students and their families, two of whom also attend weekend Polish schools in addition to mainstream secondary schools. The theoretical and analytical approach combines Ethnography of Communication approach to data collection and field with Discourse Analysis approaches. We illustrate how these young speakers of Polish and English assert, contest and defend their ethnolinguistic identities and linguistic practices in their struggle for legitimacy. We discuss aspects of agency such as variable participation, the choice of peer groups, affective and epistemic stances taken with respect to sociohistorical norms and values of Polish and English. The results of the analysis are interpreted in terms of epistemics, heritage language socialisation, describing how different educational contexts may influence children’s perceptions of selves as legitimate or illegitimate language speakers.

Title Complex dynamic systems theory and applied linguistics Presenter(s) Conny Opitz Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract In this lighting talk I provide a brief outline of the tenets of complex

dynamic systems theory (CDST) in SLA and its provenance, and share some thoughts on its potential to shape the research agenda in applied linguistics. Argued to be a meta-theory, CDST does not conflict with the rich traditions of SLA research, but rather offers an important new perspective through which different approaches and theories can be understood to complement each other in studying language learning and use. At the same time, CDST challenges these approaches to embrace the complexity of language and to refocus their attention – methodologically and analytically - on individual language learners and users, without losing generalisability. This has already led to substantial innovation, particularly in the repertoire of data-analytic procedures, and a greater acceptance of the need for fine-grained usage-based case studies. At this stage, it is too early to assess whether CDST will deliver on its promise to fundamental reshape and make a lasting impact on applied linguistics.


Title Complimenting Behaviour in British English and Iraqi Arabic: A cross–Cultural Pragmatics Study

Presenter(s) Mazin J. Al–Hilu Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Roundtable Abstract Language, being the main vehicle of communication, has another

facet of the coin, that is ,a carrier of culture.The concept of culture; however, is very difficult to define due to its various boundaries and multi–shaded meanings and connotations. Both language and culture reflect each other, and each of them is a part of the other, to an extent that they are inseparable without losing the significance of either of them(cf.Brown,2000).The extent to which the reciprocal connection between language and culture and the way cultural diversity,consequently, can result in linguistic diversity,will be investigated through the speech act of compliment in both British English (henceforth,BE) and Iraqi Arabic (henceforth,IA).Despite the fact that there are certain politeness formulas commonly used in performing various speech acts;however, their realization patterns are different in both languages.This behaviour,in turn,reflects particular values and beliefs. The present research entitled ' Complimenting Behaviour in British English and Iraqi Arabic: A Cross–Cultural Pragmatics Study' seeks to investigate similarities and differences in the performance of the speech act under investigation through comparing and contrasting the data collected from two groups of informants.

Title Dual Language Education in the last decade: Theory, Application

and Issues in the Field Presenter(s) Sarah O'Brien Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract This paper presents an overview of developments in the field of dual

language education over the last ten years, referring particularly to its application within school contexts in California and New Mexico in the last two decades and its consequent impact on learning outcomes and educational infrastructure. Beginning with the theories that underline dual language education in the U.S., the paper progresses to identify stratified methodologies that have been applied to this learning/ teaching approach in recent years and presents corresponding assessment data that indicates the recent outcomes of a dual language approach in terms of academic success, native language retention and cultural continuity. From there I present data collected in northern New Mexico to explore the following issues; teacher and community attitudes to dual language models; the bilingual vs. biliteracy focus of dual language education; and political climate and demography as precursors to dual language education success. The paper concludes with a discussion of the lessons that have been gleaned from dual language approaches in the U.S. over the last ten years and the applicability of these principles to Irish educational settings in the future.


Title Forward thinking in Applied Linguistics: EAP and teacher

education Presenter(s) Anna Nunan Affiliations(s) University College Dublin Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract nterest in English for Academic Purposes in and outside institutes of

higher education appears to be ever increasing, but the vicissitudes of teacher education in this area are not being addressed. Practitioners from the field of Applied Linguistics point to the broader field of ESP (Hamp‐Lyons, 2011) and liaison with academic departments (Hyland, 2013), but studies involving teachers and students on the needs in this area and research on programmes of EAP and EGAP do not appear to be plentiful. The teaching of study and writing skills, paraphrasing, hedging and an understanding of plagiarism are a first port of call for teachers in this area, but deeper approaches to personalized learning and collaborations between teachers from areas of Applied Linguists and academics in receiving departments are in need of research locally. Case studies of such approaches could be very useful and in this Lightning talk I will suggest some parameters for studies in the area.

Title How much Applied Linguistics do Applied Linguistics students

need to know? Presenter(s) Rachael Fionda Affiliations(s) University College Dublin Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract With looming fragmentation of definitions of Applied Linguistics (Cook,

2015), ongoing theory vs. practice polarisation (Spada, 2015) and teachers working in an ever more squeezed environment, this Lightning paper defines Applied Linguistics students as teachers taking an MA to further their career. I address the issue: what areas of such a broad field are necessary (or at least useful) for them, why and what difference does SLA theory make to these people anyway? Considering the major stakeholders as students, teachers and programme designers, I propose that within the framework of that we (think we) know about learning a second language (it's messy) and of the working and learning environment of typical ELT programmes (they are messy) a thorough and principle based grounding in selected areas of Applied Linguistics are tangibly advantageous when offering value to the learner.


Title Investigating learner perceptions of mobile phones as tools of

language learning Presenter(s) Martin Mullen Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Roundtable Abstract Dramatic advances in mobile phone capabilities in recent years have

resulted in numerous attempts to implement mobile-related learning into language learning environments. Yet, despite nearly twenty of years of projects incorporating mobile phones, m-learning, and Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), remains what Pegrum calls a ‘fuzzy concept’ and although the enthusiasm of educators is admirable, such optimism has not yet been supported by objective evidence of the effectiveness of a MALL pedagogy (Burston, 2015). As yet, theory supporting MALL has not developed as thoroughly as practice, particularly in the area of self-instigated, self-directed, and self-regulated use of mobile phones for language learning. This Round Table presentation explains the researcher’s PhD topic, which is an investigation of the perceptions that learners (specifically, Japanese university students) hold towards the practice of using mobile phones as language learning tools, and whether these perspectives align with the efforts of both material designers and teachers to encourage regular and meaningful use of mobile phones for language learning.

Title Investigating urban multilingualism Presenter(s) Lorna Carson Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract


Title Is communicative language teaching the right approach for post-

primary modern language teaching in Ireland? Presenter(s) Emma Riordan Affiliations(s) University College Cork Talk Type Paper Abstract Communicative language teaching has long been the recommended

approach for modern language teaching in post-primary schools in Ireland. However, it is apparent that many students who complete five or six years of modern language learning at second level lack communicative competence in the language they have learnt; Ireland is among the European countries where the fewest people report that they can converse in a foreign language, despite the fact that, every year, the majority of Leaving Certificate students attempt at least one language. In this paper, I propose that CLT is taken for granted as the most suitable teaching approach in Irish post-primary schools. Firstly, I outline some of the principles of the approach, particularly in relation to target language use and the meaningful exchange of information. I describe the post-primary language teaching landscape in Ireland and examine a 63,000 word corpus of spoken post-primary language classroom discourse. The data suggests that teachers do not employ the communicative language teaching approach with regard to these principles. I propose that this may result from the unsuitability of CLT as a teaching approach in Irish post-primary classrooms and that reassessing the role of CLT may lead to improved outcomes for language teaching and learning.

Title It all depends: revisiting the question of just how big a basic

spoken vocabulary needs to be. Presenter(s) Kieran Harrington Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract This paper derives from a comprehensive study of the communication

of a community of speakers of other languages living in an asylum seeker centre in Ireland. The specific focus is on the corpus-based investigation of 48,000 words of lingua franca English transcribed from recordings of interaction between residents of the centre and native-English-speaking staff and amongst residents themselves over a three year period. The study is unique in in the sense that the speakers are not EFL students, English is not the lingua franca of choice, and the speakers are ‘inmates’ in a ‘total institution’. The basic core spoken vocabulary of the community was gauged by identifying the point in a computer-based frequency count at which frequency dropped off sharply. The presence of broad categories of basic spoken vocabulary was also calibrated, as were expressions of past time, the use of third person morphemes and multiword clusters. The results, which bear evidence of a vastly limited language system, especially as far as lexis is concerned, raise questions with regard to the notion of vocabulary thresholds in the context of communicative habituation and communicative strategy in atypical speech communities. These results will be presented and the questions will be discussed.


Title Motivation and target speech model selection in Irish language

learning Presenter(s) Colin Flynn Affiliations(s) St Patrick’s College, Dublin City University Talk Type Paper Abstract This paper reports research on adult learners of Irish. It explores

relationships between previous learning experiences, orientation towards the language and its speakers, and L2 self concept, and how these may be linked to motivation to acquire particular varieties of the language. As a result of curricular objectives and exposure to multiple varieties via teachers, school leavers general have acquired features of the three main dialects to varying degrees. This non-traditional variety is often referred to ‘school Irish’. This research investigates whether adult learners actively seek to model their own Irish on the norms of native or non-native varieties or how their motivation may be linked to any such pursuits. Data from a three stage mixed-methods study (questionnaires, a speech evaluation exercise and semi-structured interviews) demonstrate that (1) learners generally value highly the native speaker model and aim for native-like fluency in their own Irish; (2) they evaluate some native speaker models more positively than others; and (3) their positive attitudes towards, and preferences for certain native varieties, are not universally connected to a motivation to acquire their norms. These findings are situated in existing research on the role of self guides in L2 motivation.

Title Múnlaí Éagsúla Luath-oideachais Dhátheangaigh i dTrí

Bhunscoil Ghaeltachta Presenter(s) Conchúr Ó Brolcháin; Pádraig Ó Duibhir Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract Déantar iniúchadh sa staidéar seo ar mhúnlaí luath-oideachais

dhátheangaigh atá i bhfeidhm i ranganna naíonán i dtrí bhunscoil sa Ghaeltacht. Breathnaítear go speisialta ar na cleachtais bhainistíochta scoile agus ar chleachtais oideolaíochta na múinteoirí i dtaca leis na múnlaí mionteanga seo a dhréachtú, a chur i bhfeidhm agus a bhainistiú. Tugadh faoin taighde i dtrí chás-staidéar inar deineadh breathnóireacht struchtúrtha ar mhúinteoirí naíonán i mbun teagaisc chomh maith le hanailís ar dhoiciméid, agallaimh neamh-struchtúrtha agus breathnóireacht neamhstrúchtúrtha. Faightear léargas úr ann maidir le cuir chuige agus reatha na múinteoirí naíonán iad féin agus iad ag plé le himeascadh daltaí T1 agus T2 i gcomhthéacs leochailleach teangeolaíochta. Tuairiscím go bhfuil raon leathan múnlaí oideachais dhátheangaigh i bhfeidhm i scoileanna an taighde seo, lena n-áirítear: múnla saibhriúcháin, an luath-thumoideachas iomlán, an pháirt-thumoideachas agus fiú amháin an fhoghlaim chomhtháite ábhar agus teanga i gcás amháin. Cé go nochtaítear samplaí den teagasc éifeachtach, nuálach i ngach scoil, ábhar imní is ea an laghad idirghabhála a dhéantar ar son daltaí T1, chomh maith leis an mbealach ilroinnte, neamhsheicheamhach ina dtugtar faoi mhúineadh na Gaeilge agus an Bhéarla. Sonraítear go bhfuil bearnaí suntasacha idir pholasaithe agus chleachtais agus go mbraitheann dea-chleachtais oideolaíochta ar thiomantas an phríomhoide agus ar shainchleachtais múinteoirí ar leith, seachas ar mhúnla aontaithe oifigiúil an chórais.


Title New Directions in Advising for Language Learning: Participatory

Action Research and the Role of Irish Language Advisor in the Workplace

Presenter(s) Deirdre Ní Loingsigh Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract This paper explores the practice of advising for minority language

learning in an organisational context. The focus is on Irish language support for employees mandated by the Official Languages Act, 2003 to provide public services through Irish. The research participants are adult second-language learners of Irish and designated contacts for Irish-medium services on a university campus. An Líonra Tacaíochta Teanga, a language support network, facilitated by the researcher in the role of language advisor, was established to explore language anxiety and support needs. A Participatory Action Research methodology was used to bring about constructive change in professional practices and attitudes. The conceptual framework merges the theoretical lens of transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991), and the Dialogue, Tools and Context Model for advising in language learning (Mynard, 2012). Activities over three action research cycles facilitated worker-learners to move from a situation of individual uncertainty to one of group confidence. While various language advising stances are revealed in the study, it is the role of the minority language advisor as action researcher, and the scope of Participatory Action Research, which merit attention here. These, I argue, should inform the pedagogical framework for future Irish language support initiatives in the workplace.

Title Principles of English spelling Presenter(s) Des Ryan Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract English spelling is notoriously complex but much of that can be

explained by ‘morphemic spelling’, where related morphemes have the same spelling, as much as possible, regardless of their pronunciation, as in electric, electricity and electrician (Venezky 1970, Carney 1994). In this talk I want to explain how much this is possible, a question that remains unanswered. To do so, I shall postulate four basic principle of English spelling and I will show how different kinds of spelling are formed in different ways, with some adhering to the morphemic principle. Evidence will be provided from both standard and non-standard spellings. In the latter we shall see differences in the spelling of compound word (pondlife, still-life), inflected forms (hop, hopped; hope, hoped), derived (profane.e, profan.ity) and base forms (notic.e, notic.ing. notic.e.able). I shall also generalise the morphemic principle to include borrowed words (chauffeur, giraffe) and even non-standard spellings such as abbreviations, blend words, txt msg spelling and others. Overall we shall see that keeping the spelling of the morpheme constant is the fundamental principle of English spelling but its application varies depending on what kind of word is being spelt. Understanding this has important pedagogic benefits.


Title Pronunciation in French as a foreign language: importance,

issues and assessment at post-primary level in the Irish education system

Presenter(s) Valérie David-McGonnell Affiliations(s) Alliance Française de Cork Talk Type Paper Abstract L2 pronunciation impacts oral production and comprehension skills

(Champagne-Muzar; De Vriendt; Cuq); moreover, it contributes to the image that speakers project of themselves (Leahy) and of their overall linguistic proficiency (Defays; Yates & Zielinski). After outlining several obstacles to the development of L2 pronunciation – such as Penfield & Roberts’s “Critical Period Hypothesis,” Troubetzkoy’s phonological filter concept, Billières’s “conflit procédural,” the learner’s vision of the target language (Lauret; Wachs) and the subject’s identity (Guiora et al; Yates & Zielinski) – this paper proposes to examine the criteria of the formal assessment of this language feature in the Irish education system’s Leaving Certificate French oral production examination. Data collected from a sample of 17 Sixth Year students is then analysed regarding prominent segmental, suprasegmental and orthoepic errors in non-native French oral production, class sizes and pronunciation instruction received, in conjunction with issues highlighted in two national reports (State Examinations Commission; Department of Education & Skills Inspectorate). Finally, several principles for the teaching of L2 French pronunciation as well as a list of targets consistent with the objectives of the Irish Leaving Certificate are suggested in terms of knowledge, skills, attitude and ability to learn

Title Research active university language centres in Ireland: A corpus

linguist’s agenda Presenter(s) Stergiani Kostopoulou Affiliations(s) University College Dublin Talk Type Lightning Talk Abstract According to the European Confederation of Language Centres in

Higher Education (CercleS), one of the core functions of university language centres is research in language learning/teaching. Some language centres in Irish Higher Education, however, fail to contribute to research for a number of reasons (e.g. lack of resources; Little, 1999: 11). This talk presents a research agenda for language centres that capitalizes on the value of applied corpus linguistics. Specific research activities are put forward which are directly linked to areas of utmost importance such as language for general/specific academic purposes, methodology, curriculum and materials development, language testing, and autonomous learning. The proposed activities are in the form of classroom-based action research as well as in the form of small collaborative projects. Taken together, these have the potential to (i) enhance the quality of pedagogical practices, (ii) stimulate teacher collaboration and professional development, and (iii) shape local and global research agendas at tertiary-level education.


Title Scoileanna Gaeltachta agus Lán-Ghaeilge: Tuairimí Múinteoirí i

leith na hArdteistiméireachta, Ardleibhéal Presenter(s) Máire Ní Laoire Affiliations(s) Talk Type Paper Abstract Is í aidhm an taighde seo ná dearcadh múinteoirí Gaeilge i scoileanna

Gaeltachta agus lán-Ghaeilge i leith tionchair an tsiollabais nuashonraithe don Ardteistiméireacht, Ardleibhéal, a imscrúdú. Tógtar ar an tuairisc a rinne Comhar na Múinteoirí Gaeilge (Ní Laoire: 2013) ar dhearcadh múinteoirí i leith an tsiollabais nuashonraithe Ardteistiméireachta i scoileanna na tíre ag an Ardleibhéal, Gnáthleibhéal agus Bonnleibhéal, sé sin, in earnáil na scoileanna a mhúineann trí mheán na Gaeilge agus trí mheán an Bhéarla. Rinneadh scrúdú ar shonraí 5 cheistneoir (as 140 ceistneoir Ardteistiméireachta, Ardleibhéal [ATAL]), ó scoileanna Gaeltachta agus lán-Ghaeilge don taighde úd. Toisc nár leor san chun léiriú cruinn a fháil ar na scoileanna seo, cinneadh gur ceart díriú go sonrach ar scoileanna Gaeltachta agus lán-Ghaeilge amháin chun léargas cuimsitheach soiléir a fháil toisc go bhfuil riachtanais ar leith acu, ar nós: oiliúint do mhúinteoirí maidir le dátheangachas, treoirlínte chun plean tacaíochta a chur ar fáil do pháistí dátheangacha agus áiseanna agus trialacha caighdeánacha cuí a fhorbairt (Pobal. 2010:1. http://www.cogg.ie/wp-content/uploads/riachtanais-speisialta-oideachais-i-scoileanna-ina-bhfuil-an-ghaeilge-mar-mhean.pdf. Aisghafa 20 Samhain 2014).

Title Serious about the Rubberbandits: Occluded Voices, Hidden

Discourses and the Sociolinguistics of Performance Presenter(s) Máiréad Moriarty; Elaine Vaughan Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract This paper focuses on the Rubberbandits, an Irish (musical) comedy

duo from Limerick city, and examines the linguistic and semiotic resources the Rubberbandits draw on to voice ‘Limerick city’. We explore how the Rubberbandits’ performance of an inner city accent and other linguistic resources of Limerick (Irish) English serves to parody the indexical linking of this particular voice with the label of knacker. The theoretical foundations for the research lie in the sociolinguistics of performance, and its potential in enabling hidden discourses to be traced back to their origin via mediatised stylisations and representations is foregrounded. Data representing aspects the humorous performances of the Rubberbandits is presented as part of this paper, as is audience reaction to the performances. This paper contributes to the growing body of work which critically examines high performance genres, given that mass culture plays a significant role in shaping the sociolinguistic reality of all speech communities. One of the most significant of these effects is the role of media in reproducing normalised language ideologies, an issue of critical significance for applied linguists. The Rubberbandits use salient linguistic features to evoke a certain social image; in so doing, they implicitly reframe notions of class and place, and the role of playful voice in challenging dominant ideologies is crucial.


Title Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Chinese Higher

Education: EFL Teachers’ Perceptions Presenter(s) Yuying Liu Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Paper Abstract In a study of curriculum guidelines and syllabi in Asia-Pacific countries

including Japan, Vietnam, China, Korea and Malaysia, Nunan (2003) notes that TBLT is a central concept. The National English Curriculum Standards (NECS) in mainland China, published in 2001, advocate the use of TBLT (MOE 2001, p.2). But TBLT has not been sufficiently researched to be proven empirically in classroom practice in foreign language learning (Carless, 2004; Zhang, 2005). Research on curriculum innovation and implementation suggests that ‘one of the causes of the discrepancy between theory and classroom practice may be teacher attitudes’ (Evdokia 1996, p.187). Given the teacher’s central role in how curricular elements are put into practice, there is a need for systematic investigation of teacher perceptions of TBLT. Few studies have investigated in-service teachers’ responses to this proposed language teaching method in the Chinese college English context. This research contributes to filling this gap in the literature by investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions of TBLT and assesses the current implementation of TBLT in Chinese colleges. The methodology is primarily qualitative and analysis is carried out via questionnaires and interviews. It is intended that the findings of this research will contribute to helping teacher educators to provide appropriate support for this development.

Title The acquisition of future time talk by teenage learners

of English as a second language.

Presenter(s) Dee McGarry Affiliations(s) Trinity College Dublin Talk Type Paper Abstract While there is a substantial body of research investigating how L2

learners of English acquire past expression in the language, relatively little attention has been paid to the acquisition of future expression. Among the few published studies in this area are Bardovi-Harlig's 2004 exploration of the emergence of the will and go futures, and her 2005 study of the use of lexical futures. This paper presents findings from a four year longitudinal study of the English language development of three teenage learners - native speakers of Malayalam, Polish and Lithuanian - enrolled in a Dublin post-primary school. Focussing in particular on the evidence in the data in relation to the long dominance of will and the late emergence of be going to, the paper discusses future expression in the context of overall language development, looking not only at the emergence of a range of future forms but also at the way form-meaning associations change in the course of the development of future expression.


Title The Dirty War of Words: A Study of Print Media Discourse on

Argentina’s Last Military Dictatorship (1982-1983) Presenter(s) Muireann Prendergast Affiliations(s) University of Limerick Talk Type Roundtable Abstract For post-dictatorship countries attempting to come to terms with their

past, historical media studies have an important role to play. In identifying discursive strategies, objective and subjective versions of events, they not only contribute to the linguistic debate on how "meaning" is produced in media but can have wider implications at the societal level in the construction of "collective memory" (Achugar 2007). The 1982-1983 period marked the end of one of the most brutal dictatorships in history, Argentina’s Dirty War, and a difficult transition from dictatorship to democracy following defeat in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War. Using a Critical Discourse Analysis framework, this research project analyses the role of the print media in both sustaining and challenging the dictatorship in Argentina during its crisis. The methodological framework of this study is mixed, combining qualitative principles of the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) with quantitative Corpus-Assisted Discourse analysis. Furthermore, a Synchronic/Diachronic method developed by Argentinian linguist Pardo (2008, 2010) will be employed to analyse quantitative data. By exposing dominant discourses, social actors, events and processes this study aims to add to the literature on historical media studies in the post-dictatorship context (e.g. Olukotun’s (2004) study of Nigeria and Horne’s (2007) analysis of Nicaragua).

Title The English Grammar Profile – a corpus-based profile of learner

grammar competency Presenter(s) Anne O’Keeffe; Geraldine Mark Affiliations(s) University of Limerick; Gloucestershire College Talk Type Paper Abstract The English Profile Project was a four-year undertaking which aimed

to empirically investigate learner grammar using the Cambridge Learner Corpus. This focus of the project was to look at the grammar which learners use in their Cambridge English Language Assessment language exams (e.g. First Certificate), across the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference. The researchers conducted their analysis on the 55 million word Cambridge Learner Corpus (CLC) which contains over 200,000 exam scripts, from over 200 countries, by speakers of over 140 first languages. Additionally, 32 million words of the corpus have been coded for grammatical errors. The main output of the research is the English Grammar Profile (EGP), an open educational resource which provides a profile of over 1,200 corpus-based grammar competency statements about the grammar which learners can really use across the six levels of the CEFR. In some cases, these grammar competencies are in line with the competency statements of the CEFR for grammar and in other cases they are not. The study also brings to light many interesting insights into our misconceptions about learner grammar and its development across competency levels. The paper will showcase the new resource, detail the methodology used and explore some of the key findings for English Language Teaching.


IRAAL Annual General Meeting Agenda

IRAAL Annual General Meeting 21 November, 2015 at 6.00pm.

Venue: Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin Apologies: Heath Rose

1. Minutes of the last meeting a. Matters arising b. Confirmation of minutes

2. President’s report 3. Secretary’s report (by proxy) 4. Treasurer’s report 5. Publications 6. IRAAL executive committee election 7. Any other business

iraal tentative conference booklet 19 11 15 · vocabulary needs to be – harrington 12:30-12:55...

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