ReN Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics: February 2020 News
Lou Harvey, University of Leeds, L.T.Harvey@leeds.ac.uk
Jessica Bradley, University of Sheffield, jessica.bradley@sheffield.ac.uk
Emilee Moore, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Emilee.Moore@uab.cat
Recent events and publications
In November 2019 Network member Sari Pöyhönen led a seminar at the University of Jyväskylä which was co-produced by the Research Collegium for Language in Changing Society (Reclas, https://www.jyu.fi/reclas/en), Crossing Borders – Artistic Practices in Performing and Narrating Belonging (www.croboarts.org) and AILA Research Network Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics. The exploratory seminar brought together researchers and artists who are engaging with arts-based methods for researching and understanding language and communication. I also offered insights into language issues for people who might be marginalized or othered. The seminar included a number of network members and the Visual Representations of Multilingualism exhibition.
Network co-convenor Jessica Bradley presented the Multilingual Streets: Translating and Curating the Linguistic Landscape project at the Universitat Autònoma Barcelona in January 2020, including a creative methods workshop using zineing to explore embodied experiences of the linguistic landscape.
The international research network Communicating the Unsayable: Learning at the Intersection of Language and the Arts (LILA), led by Lou Harvey, Emilee Moore, and Cristina Aliagas (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) had its first network event on 6th February 2020 at Leeds Central Library. The network brings together a variety of participants to consider the relationship between language and the creative arts for learning through four events themed around Making, Wellbeing, Engaging, and Belonging, and partners with Leeds Libraries, Pudsey Wellbeing Charity (West Yorkshire, UK), The British Museum (London), and Museu de Lleida (Catalonia). The first event saw 30 academics, artists and community organisations discuss the question How is material translated between different linguistic and artistic/aesthetic forms in processes of artistic making?
Publications from ReN members
Across the ReN we have produced various publications relating to Creative Inquiry and Applied Linguistics. However, the one which has directly arised from the ReN and ReN activities is Bradley, J. & Harvey, L. (2019). Creative Inquiry and Applied Linguistics: Language, Communication and the Arts. In C. Wright, L. Harvey & J. Simpson (Eds.), Voices and Practices in Applied Linguistics (pp. 91-107). York: White Rose University Press.
Available at file://ds.leeds.ac.uk/staff/staff19/edulha/Downloads/voices-and-practices-in-applied-linguistics.pdf
Preparations for the World Congress 2020
We will hold a double colloquium at the congress, including a wide range of papers from across disciplines and contexts. Our colloquium programme will soon be published on the AILA website. Our ongoing discussions are available at our website, https://creativeinquiryaila.wordpress.com/, and JISCMAIL mailing list (which can be joined by emailing the convenors).
Ongoing research and opportunities for collaboration
The LILA network will run until February 2021 and has three upcoming events in April (Wellbeing), September (Engaging) and October (Belonging) 2020. Registrations are open for the April event and calls for contributions to the autumn events will be circulated later in the spring. These events are regularly publicized on the Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics email list, and can also be followed at the project website, https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/lila-network.
The Multilingual Streets: Translating and Curating the Linguistic Landscape explores linguistic landscapes through collaborative ethnography with young people and creative practice, led by Jessica Bradley. The project outputs will include toolkits based on the project’s research and findings. These will be available online: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/education/research/projects/multilingualstreets.
Convenor Lou Harvey is leading the project Translanguaging Performance Pedagogy for Adult Migrant Language Learners, co-produced with St Vincent’s Support Centre (the largest provider of free ESOL in Leeds) and theatre company A Quiet Word. We have been running arts-based workshops with adult migrants and users of the St Vincent’s Centre to develop a hospitable pedagogy which welcomes participants’ many communicative resources. Analysis is now under way and outcomes will be shared on the Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics mailing list and website. The third LILA network event, Engaging (London, 7th September 2020) will showcase similar arts-related ESOL projects and will be a useful space for anyone interested in this work.
Upcoming events
There will be a joint AILA Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics Research Network and the Centre for Inclusion, Childhood and Youth seminar at University of Leeds on 8th April 2020. The focus will be on co-produced arts projects with young people, and will feature artist James Chisholm (University of Louisville) and Jessica Bradley (University of Sheffield). The event will be circulated on the Creative Inquiry in Applied Linguistics email list, and publicised on the University of Leeds School of Education website.
Network member Louise Atkinson will host a public talk on 6 May 2020 on The Value of the Arts in a Multilingual Society as part of the Leeds International Festival 2020. Speakers include Jessica Bradley, Clare Courtney, Amanda Phillips, Lou Harvey, Keziah Berelson and Tamsin Cook. More information is available here: https://leedsinternationalfestival.com/event/the-value-of-the-arts-in-a-multilingual-society/.
Contact information
ReN website: https://creativeinquiryaila.wordpress.com/
Convenors are best contacted by email, as above.