Zahadin Omar

Convenors:

Shona Whyte

Henry Tyne

Info

The crosslinguistic perspectives on L2 studies network seeks to improve collaboration across French-speaking and English-speaking scholarly communities by offering a forum for participants to review, clarify, and update terms and concepts in second language acquisition, second and foreign language teaching, educational linguistics, and language education across the two languages.

The network seeks to address questions of conceptual and terminological correspondence and distinction in the area of L2 teaching and learning research, particularly with respect to French-speaking and English-speaking scholarly communities. The objectives are to

• Identify domains of broad agreement (concepts and theories for which satisfactory translation equivalents exist; subfields where these coincide);
• Pinpoint particularly difficult areas (crosslinguistic gaps, terminological mismatch) and propose solutions to bridge gaps there; and
• Consider the utility and feasibility of a database of French and English terms in second language studies/didactique des langues

To find out more and to join us, visit our website at http://www.afla-asso.org/ren/.

Convenors:

Glenda Cristina Valim de Melo

April Baker-Bell

Info

Race, Gender, Sexuality and Language Research Network intends to investigate this entanglement through language and in language. We also aim at getting together scholars in order to share theoretical, methodological and analytical frames to comprehend such phenomenon in different contexts. Moreover, we also intend to establish an official area for these studies within Applied Linguistics.

Main goals:

• Promote the interweaving of race, gender, sexuality and language as a distinct research area within Applied Linguistics
• Discuss relevant articles and books to the participants considering theoretical, methodological and analytical support.
• Organize and publish papers in journals and/or books as a group
• Present papers on ReN’s activities

Co-convenors:

Richard Smith, University of Warwick

Giovanni Iamartino, University of Milan

Info

http://hollt.net

This research network (HoLLT.net) exists to stimulate and promote research into the history of language learning and teaching within applied linguistics internationally. Such research will help us understand historical developments and furnish necessary historical perspectives for professional reflection on how language education is or should be carried out today, including – for example – in the areas of appropriate development of language education policies, curricular and textbook reform initiatives, and enhancement of teacher training and teaching methodology in different contexts.

The network is free to join and open to all with an interest in researching the history of language learning, teaching, assessment or policy in any context or language tradition.

Convenors:

Ana Llinares

Letizia Cinganotto

Russell Cross

Info

As a group, our focus for the next 3-year cycle would like to advance a collaborative focus/awareness of pedagogical perspectives in CLIL. That is, how can our understanding of CLIL be refined and extended by engaging with issues around what CLIL ‘looks like’ as an instructional model, addressing the needs of practitioners, and the relationship between teachers, learners, language, and content, and the ways that this is mediated.

For the 2018-2020 ReN term with ‘pedagogy’ as our collective ReN theme, our specific focus would be sub-themes and research activity around these three overlapping strands:

• CLIL and social justice (i.e., for more equitable and fairer experiences for learners, accounting for individual differences)
• CLIL as an instructional practice across content domains and geographical contexts, to strengthen collaborative work between:
  • language and content specialists, and
  • different geographical classroom cultures
• CLIL and instructional media (i.e., especially technologies, and how these might also help address issues of CLIL with social justice and content and language integration)
• CLIL as a multilingual space (i.e., translanguaging; the teaching and learning of content in different linguisitic settings)

Further, the CLIL ReN has mainly focused on school-based education to date (i.e., primary and secondary). Given CLIL’s increasing use in tertiary contexts (e.g., in Japan where CLIL has a strong focus amongst college level English teachers, but also throughout Europe), this will also be an area the ReN will encourage over the next 3-year cycle

Convenors:

Inmaculada Álvarez de Mon y Rego

Info

The AILA Research Network for Communication in Specialized Domains aims at promoting the study of meaning in context across different languages, especially when this context is a domain of specialized knowledge, such as a discipline or an industry.

From a practical point of view, our aim is to apply our research work to an activity that is central to the practice of Applied Linguistics, teaching communication across disciplines in university contexts. Good and reliable communication is especially important when dealing with the learning and practicing of a discipline. For this reason, we are focused on knowledge transfer through human language and the effect of multimodality and multilinguality on this. In bilingual contexts, the use of English as a means for the transmission of new knowledge cannot be separated from its expression in the speakers' own mother tongue.

Convenors:

Cornelia Gerhardt,Saarland University, Germany

Polly Szatrowski, University of Minnesota, USA

Sally Wiggins, University of Linköping, Sweden

Jon Coltz (University of Minnesota, USA)

We are pleased to announce the launch of the ReN on The Linguistics of Food.

Scope of network

This ReN will provide a space for researchers from interdisciplinary backgrounds to develop collaborative research within the linguistics of food. Building on an increasing global interest in food and eating studies, the network will enable a focus on the cultural and social interactional issues around food, incorporating all forms of applied linguistic research. The aims of the network are to make more visible the diversity of linguistics research on food and to provide an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural meeting point for researchers in food and language studies.

Upcoming activities

We are currently in the process of launching the ReN whose activities will very much depend on the interests and input of the members. Our Google+ community can be used for written introductions and announce new research proposals or publications pertaining to language and food: https://plus.google.com/communities/115923179625500359870 Please also see our website http://www.linguistics-of-food.org/ for more information.

To launch the network, we will organize a video-conference so that members can introduce themselves and voice their interest in the ReN. To initiate collaborative work, subgroups with common interests or local chapters may also be formed. We will meet on Zoom which is free and easy-to-use. We are planning to have our first virtual conference on either Monday 11^th or Friday 15^th June (CEST 15:00).

If you are interested in joining the Research Network on the “Linguistics of Food”, send an email to by 31^st May 2018 with a few sentences about your interest in the “Linguistics of Food”. Please also inform us if you intend to join us for the virtual launch and which dates (11^th or 15^th June) you would be free. We will then contact you in early June with information about the finalized date and time of the virtual conference and a weblink to the meeting location.

Upcoming conferences

• Conference on the Language of Japanese Food, 4-5 May 2018, York University, Toronto, Canada (Keynote Polly Szatrowski) http://ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/event/conference-on-the-language-of-japanese-food/
• 1st International Biannual Conference in Food and Communication, 6-7 September 2018, Queen Margaret University (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• 8th International Conference on Food Studies, 25–26 October 2018, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada with a focus on Digital Food Cultures http://food-studies.com/2018-conference

Info

The ECLE network comprises researchers from different disciplines who share a common interest in investigating affective/emotional aspects of language learning and teaching. Members draw on different methodological (qualitative and quantitative) and epistemological (pedagogical, socio-linguistic and psychological) paradigms to understand emotional factors which play a role in motivating or demotivating learners of foreign and/or second languages. We are especially, though not exclusively, oriented towards exploring the impact of creativity in learning and teaching to develop interdisciplinary and multi-modal engagement with language(s). Our working languages are English and/or French.

The aim of the network is to provide a forum for presenting our work and building synergies across our different fields. We envisage three dominant, overlapping strands of focus:

• Creativity and learning: taking risks, the role of the teacher in encouraging a deeper affective engagement, integrating an arts-based approach to language learning.
• Contexts of learning: understanding broad or individual socio-affective variables which shape learning, both at the macro- and micro-levels.
• Classroom innovations: teaching ‘differently’ (e.g. through drama, literature, wordplay, voice), using ludic approaches to promote learning, the challenges of creating a relaxing ‘safe’ environment with alternative pedagogy, sensitizing students to emotional lexis (e.g. through corpus data or translation).

The research network Media Linguistics links applied linguists who address crucial aspects of text production (written, oral and online) in the domain of public discourse in general and news media in particular. The aim of the newly emerging field of media linguistics is to investigate the highly complex and dynamic interplay of language use in public spheres, newsrooms, and news source domains such as business or politics. Appropriate inter- and transdisciplinary theories, methodologies, and solutions to practical problems in this emerging field of applied linguistics will be developed. It is suggested that media linguistics (in particular knowledge about news production processes) can significantly improve our understanding of language dynamics in an increasingly mediatized world.

Field of activity

“[T]here is a dearth of work on the production of news language (…)” That was how Allan Bell concluded his 2006 encyclopedia article about news language” (Bell 2006). How right he was. Investigating text production processes in media workplaces remains a gap in all the disciplines involved: writing research, communication studies, and applied linguistics. Linguistics first focused on written language, later describing conversations as processes, and only then rediscovered written language from a process perspective. But even today journalism and news media seem of little interest to most linguists investigating text production processes. Media discourse continues to be predominantly investigated from a product-oriented perspective or even as easily accessible everyday language.

In our ReN we will contribute to filling the gap mentioned not only by the sociolinguist Allan Bell, but also, among others, by Charles Bazerman (2008), in written communication and by Mathias Broth (2008), in media studies. Combining computer logging and ethnography from text production research, micro-macro perspectives from sociolinguistics and language teaching and training approaches from applied linguistics two of the future ReN participants (Daniel Perrin for the domain of journalism and Geert Jacobs for PR) began a series of increasingly complex field studies of professional text production in the mid-nineties: first local projects, then national, and finally those of European scope and framework. More and more researchers are now building on the research designs developed in these and other projects, not only for news production research, but also for investigating text production processes in domains such as translation, education, and academia. This experience of applying a process perspective to the linguistic analysis of media discourse is what we plan to develop further in an interdisciplinary framework and to take into the international community of applied linguistics.

We take the new brand of ‚media linguistics‘ described above to be the starting point for investigating socially relevant questions of language use such as how news comes into being. In our individual or joint publications, our conference panels, and other coordinated research activities, we will

• outline the main research questions and methods, explain how media linguistics can be related to other disciplines and identify the added value that it brings to applied linguistics, to related academic disciplines and to the professional field under investigation.
• develop research frameworks and questions for projects in which e.g. newswriting is investigated as a situated activity of language use and then related to psychobiography, social settings and cultural resources – to individual, organizational, and political empowerments and constraints.
• systematically present and discuss new scientific knowledge – and the transformation of this knowledge, i.e. the application of linguistic knowledge generated by investigating individual, collaborative and organizational text production processes in the sample domain of journalism.

To sum up, this ReN is meant to show that a) the question of Allan Bell’s “dearth of work” is currently being addressed, and b) applied linguistics is in pole position to fill “the gaps”.

Activities of the ReN Media Linguistics

• Joint research activities and endeavours which have already taken place
• AILA 2008 symposium, featuring Aleksandra and Daniel
• NT&T research network, featuring Geert, Tom, Ellen, Colleen and Daniel
• IPRA 2009 panel, featuring Tom, Daniel and Ellen
• ICA 2009 conference, featuring Daniel, Tom and Richard

The members of this ReN commit themselves to engaging in the following general activities in 2011-2014:

• providing an overview of and bringing together the field of media linguistics as a distinct research area within applied linguistics;
• documenting joint research activities in joint publications;
• ostering the multinational and multilingual potential of the network;
• encouraging new researchers to work in the field of media linguistics by promoting and supporting PhD studies and similar projects;
• holding joint symposia and conferences prior to AILA 2014;
• establishing the website www.lingua-media.net for information exchange and news publications in connection with the AILA website.

AILA Commitment

The members of this ReN commit themselves to filling a slot reserved for AILA Research Networks with a symposium at AILA 2014 and to bringing together the work of the three years in a joint proposal for a volume in the John Benjamins / AILA book series on the important aspects of this emerging field, to further establish it as a relevant area in AL.

Contact

For activities of the ReN members see www.lingua-media.net

The Center for Applied Linguistics houses the Language Policy Research Network (LPREN), which is an international organization of researchers, scholars, and stakeholders in the field of language policy. LPReN contributes to building a broad and informed network of parties involved in language policy issues through making research and scholarship accessible to policymakers, practitioners, families, and others. The network was founded with consideration for the social responsibilities of scholars working in the area of language policy and the need to combine responsible research with commitment to advocacy. LPReN hosts colloquia at conferences, invites publications related to the field, convenes at events, and shares resources, announcements, and other opportunities via the LPREN listserv which has over 800 members.

• The LPREN Listserv organizer is Dr. Terrence G. Wiley, President, Center for Applied Linguistics.
• The moderator is Shereen Bhalla, PhD, Center for Applied Linguistics.

Convenors:

Paula Tatianne Carréra Szundy

Judith Green

Maria Lucia Castanheira

Info

The Research Network Literacies across languages and social domains intends to provide a comprehensive view concerning the studies on literacies in the scope of Applied Linguistics. Given the meaningful dialogues that applied linguistis all over the world have been establishing with concepts in the field of literacy studies, the ReN gets together scholars from different countries who are interested in investigating the complex interrelations between literacies and situated language uses in heterogeneous contexts and across social domains. In order to shed light on these interrelations, the ReN joins researchers working with different perspectives of literacies (new literacy studies, multiliteracies, digital literacies, academic literacies etc.) in multiple social spheres and/or institutions.

Main goals:

• Provide a comprehensive view concerning the studies on literacies in the scope of Applied Linguistics
• Deepen and further enhance the dialogues between researchers who are investigating literacy practices in the area of Applied Linguistics
• Share publications and projects among the members of the group
• Engage members in interinstitutional actions and/or projects
• Organize collective publications
• Present papers in conferences/activities organized by the ReN

Info

The ReN “Social and Affective Factors in Home Language Maintenance and Development” has three main aims:

• Research: To foster collaborations and exchange between scholars working on social and affective factors in home language maintenance and development.
• Dissemination: To disseminate research findings on the importance of home language maintenance and development to stakeholders (e.g. education departments,   policy makers, educators across levels, parents, the mainstream society).
• Advocacy: To lobby for the recognition and uptake of research findings and to provide expert advice to stakeholders (e.g. submissions to senate inquiries, support and advice to communities on grass-roots initiatives, etc.).

To find out more and to join us, visit our website at https://www.languageathome.info/
or like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/homelanguagemaintenance.

A list of our current members can be found at https://www.languageathome.info/members.

Convenors:

Ursula Stickler

Regine Hampel

Sarah Heiser

Pauline Ernest

Joseph Hopkins

Aline Germain-Rutherford

Martina Emke

Info

This ReN brings together established language educators: teachers, teacher trainers and researchers, who have been working on ICT and (self-)empowering methods of CPD. By first taking stock of existing training programs and approaches and collecting and comparing these approaches internationally across several continents (Europe, South America, North America, Asia), we intend to explore the beliefs and underlying ideals which inform the training and self-training of language teachers, with the aim of ascertaining trajectories of professional development, as defined in a wide variety of teaching and learning cultures.

The specific objectives of this Research Network are:

• To collect information about CPD programs which focus on ICT
• To collect information about CPD programs focusing on self-empowerment of teachers
• To compare different, international approaches to CPD
• To compare different beliefs about teachers (“ideal” teachers) from an intercultural perspective
• To develop a detailed picture of the landscape of language teacher training in terms of digital skills development, according to target culture, culture of origin, teaching and learning cultures, etc.

The ReN on Interlocutor and Instructor Individual Differences in Cognition and Second Language Acquisition

• create awareness of existing and ongoingresearch on this topic;
• encourage additional study and collaboration; and
• support the development and exchange of ideas on projects that explore how interlocutor and instructor individual differences influence cognition and behavior related to acquisition, and what this means for both theory and practice.

We welcome new members to our growing community. For more information please see the ReN website, www.individualdifferencesinsla.com or contact the ReN Convener, Laura Gurzynski-Weiss.

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Convenors:

Kimi Nakatsukasa, Texas Tech University

Gale Stam, National Louis University

About Gesture, Multimodality, and SLA ReN Network

Gesture and multimodality play an integral role in second language acquisition. Yet, because gesture and multimodality tend to be studied interdisciplinary such as in education, psychology, linguistics, to name a few, there is no specific venue for applied linguists to collaborate on how gestures and multimodality function in SLA and discuss their most recent studies. The purpose of this ReN is to create a venue for applied linguists to discuss their work at regular intervals to move this area of research forward. The goals of AILA ReN Gesture, Multimodality, and SLA is to create a place where applied linguists of different backgrounds can share their ongoing studies, get feedback, continue developing their projects, and collaborate on new projects beyond their institutions in order to contribute to the field of SLA. We plan on organizing two colloquiums at AILA 2020 and publishing an edited book via AILA Applied Linguistics Series from John Benjamins. Please contact the convener about our ReN.

Agenda for 2018-2020

Several plans are underway for 2018. Our first meeting will take place at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference in Chicago in March to informally share the ongoing projects in order to understand the topics the participants have been working on and to identify possible presenters for AILA 2020. This meeting will be followed up by another meeting at the 8th Conference of the International Society of Gestural Studies in Cape Town, South Africa in July to verify the progress in participants’ research projects and to serve as a venue for the out-of-the U.S. participants who were unable to attend the meeting at AAAL to share their research. An online meeting will be arranged for those who are unable to attend either meeting in early September.

Current members

Our current members include junior and experienced researchers from institutions located in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S.

• Francisca Aguilo-Mora, PhD, Lecturer in Spanish, Columbia University
• Brahim Azaoui, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Montpellier, LIRDEF EA3749
• Heather Brookes, PhD, Associate Professor/Chief Research Officer, SARChI (South African Research Chair), Linguistics section – School of African studies, Gender studies, Anthropology & Linguistics (AXL),  University of Cape Town
• Amanda Brown, PhD, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Advisor, M.A. Linguistic Studies, Coordinator, CAS Language Teaching: TESOL/TLOTE, Dept. of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Syracuse University
• Kimberly Buescher, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts-Boston
• Tommy Dang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Texas Tech University
• Søren Wind Eskildsen, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark
• Marianne Gullberg, PhD, Professor of Psycholinguistics & Director of LU Humanities Lab, Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University
• Solène Inceoglu, PhD, Lecturer of French, HDR Convenor for Languages and Linguistics, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, The Australian National University
• Tasha N. Lewis, PhD, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Department of Modern Languages & Literatures, Loyola University Maryland
• Renia Lopez, PhD, Assistant professor, Programme Leader Minor European Studies, English Department, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Paula Marentette, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Alberta–Augustana Campus
• Steven McCafferty, PhD, Professor, Applied Linguistics Graduate Coordinator, Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Francisco Meizoso, PhD, Lecturer in Spanish, Columbia University
• Laura Morett, PhD, Assistant Professor, Director, Neuroscience of Education Research on Development (NERD) Lab, The University of Alabama
• Kimi Nakatsukasa, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University
• Eduardo Negueruela-Azarola, PhD, ILCE Research and Academic Director, Universidad de Navarra
• Elena Nicolaidis, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Alberta
• Alessandro Rosborough, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education, Brigham Young University
• Miranda Scloari, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology Sciences, Texas Tech University
• Tetyana (Tania) Smotrova, PhD, Lecturer, Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore
• Gale Stam, PhD, Professor of Psychology, National Louis University
• Marion Tellier, PhD, Director of Department of FLE, Coordinator of M1 speciality in French as a foreign language, LPL- UMR 7309 (CNRS), Aix-Marseille Université
• Johannes Wagner, PhD, Professor, Department of Design and Communication, University of Southern Denmark
• Benjamin White, PhD, Assistant Professor, Applied Linguistics, Saint Michael’s College
• Keli Yerian, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Director of Language Teaching Studies MA Program, University of Oregon

Convenors:

Judith Hanks

Inés Kayon de Miller

Assia Slimani-Rolls

Info

The aim of this Research Network is  to bring together researchers,  practitioner researchers, practitioners and scholars who are involved in forms of fully inclusive practitioner research (Allwright & Hanks, 2009) in different geographical/institutional/cultural areas, in order to theorize praxis, share innovations, challenge established orders, and to create new opportunities for communication and collaboration.

As a network, we wish to explore the opportunities for collaboration between learners, teachers, administrators/school managers/teacher educators, and researchers. We challenge traditionally accepted roles and playfully question established identities. Our main aims include:

• To identify research projects already under way in the various member countries and strengthen international links between groups working in similar topic areas
• To track the impact that inclusive practitioner research is having in/across applied linguistics and educational cultures
• To seek out new opportunities for collaborative, relevant, and inclusive practitioner research in applied linguistics and language education
• To identify the epistemological challenges that practitioner researchers face in applied linguistics, and to explore the innovations they offer for the field
• To develop the potential for multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural, inclusive practitioner research
• To continue theory development of fully inclusive practitioner research, especially but not exclusively, Exploratory Practice and Action Research
• To share methodologies and ideas, and promote creative ways of disseminating fully inclusive practitioner research that supports teachers, teacher educators, managers/administrators, and learners
• To promote the good research and scholarship that has already been done, and, building on that, to develop new areas of interest, new research, new projects

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya is looking for course instructors for the English courses to be run by the Centre for Modern Languages during the academic year 2019/2020. You can see the job offer published for this position from this link:

http://www.uoc.edu/opencms_colaboradors/opencms/EN/treballa/colaboradors_escola/ofertes_vigents.html

Although the offer states that the language of instruction is Spanish, it is in fact English.

Interested candidates should visit the "Join our team" section of the www.uoc.edu website, where you can find the terms and conditions for working with us:

To take part in the selection process, you need to register as a candidate in the "Join our team" section. Once registered, you can apply from the candidate area.

http://www.uoc.edu/opencms_colaboradors/opencms/EN/treballa/index.html

The deadline for applying is 2 May 2019.

We would be grateful if you could pass on this job offer to anyone you think might be interested and/or post it to the corresponding job bank at your institution.

Convenors:

Lou Harvey

Jessica Bradley

Emily Moore

Info

The aim of the Creative Inquiry Research Network is to develop a central research network for applied linguistics researchers seeking to understand what the relationship between communication and the creative arts is and can be.

The ReN’s broad areas of focus are:

• The affordances of arts-based methods for understanding and researching communication - drawing, painting, photography, collage, drama, music, creative writing, culinary arts – particularly in contexts of education, community and belonging (e.g. Atkinson and Bradley 2017; Frimberger 2016; Huang 2017; MacKay and Bradley 2016; Pöyhönen 2017);
• Applied linguistic methods for researching contexts of creative inquiry and artistic practices (e.g. linguistic, visual and sensory ethnography for researching creative practices, or the translation of research findings into creative modes) (e.g. Bradley 2017; Bradley, Moore, Simpson and Atkinson 2017; Bradley and Moore 2018; Moore et al. 2018)
• The role of arts and creative practice in the dissemination of applied linguistics research to wider publics (e.g. Harvey 2017; Harvey and Vanden 2017)
• Arts as the objects of communication research, e.g. as multimodal artefacts and means of communication in specific social and political contexts (e.g. Lee 2015; Crowley 2017)
• The role of creative inquiry in generating new ways of thinking about the relationship between language, knowledge, and the world (e.g. Bradley 2017; Harvey and Vanden 2017; Harvey 2018; Moore et al. 2018).

The AILA research network in Early Language Learning is working to raise the profile of research in the field, contributing to the growth of national and regional research groups and stimulating new research focusing on children in the 3-12 year age group. Our main aims are:

• To create synergies across research areas concerned with young children learning additional languages in school and pre-school contexts worldwide;
• To set out a comprehensive agenda for research in the field of early language learning.

To find out more and to join us, visit our website at www.ell-ren.org.

AILA ReN Folk Linguistics

The AILA Research Network (ReN) on Folk Linguistics (formerly: Lay Theories and Folk Beliefs about Language(s), Language Learning and Communication) decided to change the name of the ReN to the shorter and more widely known Folk Linguistics. This is one of the results of the first workshop on December 5, 2009 in Salzburg at the ÖLT (Österreichische Linguistiktagung) and the subsequent discussion.

At the ReN workshop, we were able to welcome guest speakers to share their research findings with us. We would like to say thank you to Marie-Luise Voggler, Christiane Dalton-Puffer and Julia Hüttner for their interesting presentations. Furthermore, we are happy to welcome Dennis Preston as a new member of our ReN.

The next ReN workshop took place in Bergen, Norway, from September 10-11, 2010. In Bergen, we prepared the application for a ReN Symposium at the 16th AILA World Congress in Beijing in August 2011.

At the ReN symposium in Beijing on August 25, 2011, the members of the ReN introduced various areas of folk linguistic interest in short presentations, allowing ample time for discussion with other reseachers and guests. We were pleased to welcome many interested colleagues to this event.

Issue (24) of the AILA Review was edited by the convenors of the ReN, Antje Wilton & Martin Stegu, and contained contributions by ReN members on a number of topics relating folk linguistic research to applied linguistics.

The ReN held a very successful thematic session at the Sociolinguistics Symposium 19 in Berlin in 2012. The call for papers invited contributions on our session topic, Folk linguistics and society: People's ideas about language use and social identity, and was met with an overwhelming response of 35 submissions of which 19 were heard over three days. The papers presented research on non-linguists' perceptions of language in the formation of social identity from various regions of the world and stressed the necessity of taking such views into account in any situation in which decisions about language are made, such as language teaching and language policy and planning. The session finished with a discussion on folk linguistic issues.

At the AILA World Congress in Brisbane in August 2014, the ReN symposium included three presentations on the topic of Folk Linguistics and Language Policy. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding, most ReN members were not able to join the symposium. Nevertheless, the session was successful in that the three presentations sparked off a lively discussion with an interested audience.

The ReN is currently preparing a roundtable discussion at the ALA conference 2016 in Vienna and their symposium at the upcoming AILA World Congress 2017 in Rio de Janeiro.

We can safely claim that folk linguistic research, its interest and its methodologies has firmly established itself among the approaches in sociolinguistics as well as applied linguistics and we are very satisfied with the successful work of the Research Network over the last seven years.

ReN Outline

This research network comprises applied linguists who address various aspects of folk beliefs or lay theories as applied linguistic issues in their research. In general, the focus lies on beliefs on language, language learning and communication and their relevance for decisions in people’s everyday and working lives.
Well established in the study of second language acquisition, the quantitative as well as qualitative investigation of learner’s attitudes and beliefs provides insight into the motivational sources of language learning. Thus, knowing about folk beliefs can significantly improve the understanding of and the influence on teacher behaviour, teacher training, and the design of curricula and teaching materials.

More generally, the beliefs and decisions of the layperson have become more important and relevant for scientists of quite a number of disciplines mainly for two reasons: On the one hand the non-expert, lay person is flooded with a vast amount of information on any subject, and quite often this is scientific information diluted by didactic or journalistic procedures. The growing demand for information is reflected in the popularity of guide books, ‘docutainment’ programmes on television, presentations for the public on scientific topics as well as the introduction of systematic teaching of knowledge in early education. In addition, the internet makes information available on a large scale and of varying quality and detail. On the other hand, the growing trend of bringing one’s private opinion to public attention forces researchers to take more notice of such opinions and their relevance for people’s decision making processes. Chat shows and blogs are prime examples of settings in which lay people voice their opinions and theories.

These developments are becoming increasingly relevant for applied linguists especially in linguistically diverse regions. With the investigation of folk beliefs in areas that are relevant to the individual the linguist can gain insight into the formation processes, the manifestation in various forms of discourse and the relevance of such beliefs for people’s decisions and actions. Furthermore, the investigation of lay beliefs on the nature of translation and interpreting, language acquisition, multilingualism, language policy, intercultural and any other kind of communication problems etc. might raise the linguists’ awareness of people’s need for information on linguistic issues and might ultimately help to bring Applied Linguistics (and its researchers) to public attention.

Programme for Activities

The members of this ReN are currently engaging in the following activities:

• providing an overview of and bringing together the field of lay theories and folk beliefs about language(s), language learning, and communication as a distinct research area within Applied Linguistics;
• exchanging information with each other about the various aspects and findings in the field;
• document joint research activities in joint publications;
• fostering the multinational and multilingual potentials of the network;
• encouraging more new researchers to work on the topic of lay theories by promoting and supporting PhD studies and similar projects;
• providing information on activities and news publications on this webspace;
• preparing a slot reserved for AILA Research Networks with a symposium at AILA 2017.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Antje Wilton

Current members

Prof. Dr. Martin Stegu (Convener)
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

Prof. Dr. Antje Wilton (Convener)
University of Siegen, Germany

Prof. Dr. Karol Janicki
University of Bergen, Norway

Dr. Michael Pasquale
Cornerstone University, USA

Dr. Holger Wochele
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

Prof. Dr. Dietmar Osthus
University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Prof. Dr. Paveau, Marie-Anne
University of Paris, France

Prof. Dr. Achard-Bayle, Guy
University of Paul-Verlaine-Metz, France

Dr. Alessia Cogo
University of Southampton, Great Britain

Prof. Dr. Dennis Preston
Oklahoma State University, USA

Dr. Robert McKenzie
Northumbria University, Great Britain

Dr. Madalena  Cruz-Ferreira
Singapore

Prof. Dr. Matteo Santipolo
University of Padua, Italy

Katiuska Santibanez
Universidad Catolica de la Santisima Concepcion, Chile and China

Dr. Támas Péter Szabó
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary

Dr. Barbara Soukup
University of Vienna, Austria

Convenors 2017-2020:

Kerstin Dofs Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand

Andy Gao University of New South Wales, Australia

Diego Mideros The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

Moira Hobbs  (until 31 July 2018) UNITEC Institute of Technology, Auckland

Info

The AILA ReNLA is focussing on learner autonomy (LA) in foreign/second language learning and teaching. It also includes a variety of sub-topics such as: learner development, learner identity and agency, self-access and advising, learning beyond the classroom, e-learning, and teacher autonomy.

With about 500 members from all around the world, RenLA facilitates networking for academics and research students in the field. We gather and disseminate information on research, and keep members abreast of events and publications through our web site http://ailarenla.org and Facebook page. The AUTO-L mailing list also facilitates communication and discussion between members.

A newsletter, the ReNLA Bulletin, is published on the website annually and autonomous learning resources and literature lists are updated and published regularly. We also maintain a data-base of members and research projects undertaken by them and other researchers in the field.

Another major focus of the Network is to contribute a symposium day to the World Congress. We are always very happy to increase our membership, so if you are interested in this field, please join up by emailing