With great sadness - Mark Hamilton
It is with great sadness that LINGLINE reports the very recent unexpected death of one of our fellow postgraduate students, Mr Mark Hamilton.
Dr Verna Reischild of the Linguistics Department at Macquarie taught Mark Hamilton recently as a distance student for her subject Ling 903 Languages and Culture in Contact. Dr Rieschild remembers Mark as one of her "best students". She was in constant email contact with Mark. Having both lived in the middle east, they shared many discussions about Arabic culture and life in the middle east.
In the passage which follows, Mark's sister, Elaine Tamkin, has very kindly shared with us some of her thoughts about her brother's life. Staff and fellow students of the Lingusitics Department send Mark's family and friends our sympathy at this very sad time.
Mark was born in Barrow-in-Furness in Northwest England, in February 1957. The only son of a GP he left toeing the family line to his sister and perhaps inspired by his love of the nearby Lake District studied Geophysics at Durham University. He then spent 20 years in the oil industry working in London, Houston, Egypt and Angola. He had some notable successes, the one he was most proud about was his discovery of a sizable oil and gas field in the North Sea in the 1980s. Mark made a major career change about 5 years ago when he left the financially secure but possibly rather sterile world of oil for the more esoteric realms of education. He took a TEFL course and was delighted to get a job back in Angola teaching English to young Angolans destined for work in the petrochemical engineering industry. He had found his metier and thoroughly enjoyed his new direction. He was determined to add to his knowledge and skills, hence the Masters in Linguistics. As with many mature students he relished the return to academe although he was briefly disgruntled with the results of his first questionnaire. Having carefully formulated his hypothesis and questions he could not believe it when all the respondents gave the wrong answers! It took him a while to admit that perhaps the error lay in the hypothesis and not in the students. He enjoyed the course immensely and spoke glowingly of the Linguistics department and the support he received. He died living life to the full, in a country in which he was most content, doing a job he relished, with great hopes and expectations for the future. He will be desperately missed by his family, friends and students.
From the Linguistics Postgraduate Office
The Linguistics Postgraduate Office staff for Applied Linguistics programs are Lindy Cooper and Pat Lewis lingdl@ling.mq.edu.au or ph: 9850-9243. For research students and for students in other coursework programs, you can direct your enquiries to Robyn Guilmette and Lorraine Whybrow by email lingpgo@ling.mq.edu.au or ph: 9850-7102.
Research Students
The Divisional Commencement Program for all new research students in Linguistics and Psychology will be held on Thursday 11 March from 12.30 pm ? 3.00 pm in Function Room 3, Level 3, SAM Building.
Website changes
All research students are urged to look at the research section of the Linguistics website as information related to your research degree will shortly be updated.
Your username and password
You will need your username and password to log into websites for many of the units you enrol in. All students are given a username and password at enrolment. If you don't already have a username and password, or you have forgotten one or both, go to: http://www.ocs.mq.edu.au/stdgen/self_reprint.html
To log in:
- go to the unit code you are given in your course unit information or enter and search for your unit via the student site on http://online.mq.edu.au/student/
- log in
- if this is the first time you have used your password, change it to a private one of your own
- bookmark your page for easy reference
Census Dates
- 31 March 2004 - Last day to discontinue a first half year or full year unit and be Early Withdrawn, ie without financial penalty.
- 31 August 2004 - Last day to discontinue a second half year unit and be Early Withdrawn, ie without financial penalty.
If the Census date falls on a weekend or a public holiday the cut off date is the last working day before the Census date. Students must not leave a Change of Program form with their Department for processing.
Congratulations
The Linguistics Department wishes to congratulate the following research students whose PhDs were confirmed recently by Senate.
- Jonathan Crichton PhD
Supervisor - Chris Candlin
- Sharon Diacos PhD
Supervisor -Linda Cupples
- Linda Hand PhD
Supervisor - Chris Candlin
We also send congratulations to the following Masters coursework students who have recently been given commendations by Senate:
- Yan Cho - MA Applied Linguistics (TESOL)
- Ruth Hartman - MA Speech & Language Pathology
- Rachel Middleton - MA Clinical Audiology
- Santhakumari Thanasingan - MA Applied Linguistics (TESOL)
- Chevelle Worland - MA Clinical Audiology
From the NCELTR Resource Centre 
Look out for the first issue of Journal Watch for 2004 in your mail very soon. New students please note you can request two articles from Journal Watch free of charge. For help with your information needs contact NCELTR's Resource Centre on 61 2 9850-9653, or by fax at 61 2 9850-9953, or email us at rescentr@nceltr.mq.edu.au All our services are listed on the website at http://nceltr.edu.au/resources
Two new discussion groups for coursework linguistics students
- Students enrolled in coursework programs may be interested in joining a new on-campus discussion group. Dr Jan Tent is currently organising for a group for students who are completing the dissertation component of their coursework degree to meet regularly to discuss issues that arise or questions you wish to ask in relation to your dissertation. If you think you would be interested in joining this group, please send your expression of interest by email to Dr Jan Tent jtent@ling.mq.edu.au or phone (612) 9850-9659
- Distance students may also be interested in joining a new email discussion list for students who are working on a dissertation. This email list is where you will be able to email other students about issues/difficulties/questions you have/ arising as you begin working on your dissertation. If you are interested, please contact Dr Jan Tent on (612) 9850-9659 or email jtent@ling.mq.edu.au
Further details about these groups will be announced shortly.
Postgraduate Program in Communication in Professions and Organisations
Just to let everyone know (and with the hope that you will let really EVERYBODY you know, know) the Department?s brand new postgraduate program in Communication in Professions and Organisations began last week with the start of the new semester.
It has been an exciting, you might even say, exhilarating process, getting the program through all the University committees and actually to the point where it has gone ?live??!
The decision to begin the program in face-to-face and in online mode worldwide has certainly taxed our skills, and put lots of pressure on colleagues in the University?s Centre for Flexible Learning (especially Andrew Lovell-Simons), as well as the writing and designing team in the Department (John McAndrew, Alan Jones, Alison Moore, Chris Candlin) the program manager, Paul Cheung, (without whom we would have got nowhere fast), the overall coordinators David Hall and Chris Candlin, and the next line of writers and designers who are beavering now for the next wave of units to go live in Semester 2 (Peter Roger, Sally Candlin, Jennifer Peck, and Fran Byrnes).
Writing for online certainly poses challenges but we?re lucky that this has now become a major feature of Macquarie Linguistics offerings ? having said that, this program is the first to go direct online.
Anyway, check out the details on http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/programs/communication/ and, even better, encourage your contacts to get in touch with us at lingdl@ling.mq.edu.au . A class (whether f2f or online) with doctors, lawyers, counselling experts, organisational psychologists, language educators, certainly makes life interesting!
C hris Candlin.
Writing assistance
Don't forget that as an enrolled linguistics postgraduate students you are able to access LINGPWS The Linguistics Postgraduate Writing-Skills website. This website is designed to give you assistance with academic writing for your linguistics subjects. The Unit Content has the following six parts:
Part 1. Approaching the Assignment Question
Part 2. Planning Your Assignment
Part 3. Structuring Your Assignment
Part 4. Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism
Part 5. Critical Review Writing
Part 6. Common Questions about Linguistics Assignments
All Linguistics students enrolled in a postgraduate unit (on-campus, external) can access the site by using their MQ ID and password which every student is given at enrolment. To logon to the website please go to: http://online.mq.edu.au/pub/LINGPWS/ For further enquiries you can contact Tessa Green tgreen@ling.mq.edu.au .
From the Speech Hearing and Language Research Centre (SHLRC)
- ABC interview
On 4th February, an ABC film crew visited SHLRC to record material for a documentary series called "History Detectives" directed by Andrew Saw. The filmmakers were interested in aspects of Australian English. Presenter, Michael Cathcart (formerly Radio National), was filmed being hooked up to EMA by Chris Callaghan while Sallyanne Palethorpe provided commentary. Felicity Cox was also interviewed about various aspects of her work on Australian English.
- Sharon Cameron awarded ISA scholarship
Sharon Cameron has won a student scholarship, awarded by the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Audiology, to present a paper at the XXVII International Congress of Audiology to be held in Phoenix, Arizona in September 2004.
The abstract of her paper appears below.
Development and Evaluation of a Test of Virtual Spatial Hearing
The purpose of the present study is to develop a Virtual Spatial Hearing Test (VSH), which can be easily administered in any Audiology clinic, using standard audiometric equipment and a personal computer. Speech stimuli were convolved with binaural head related transfer functions, recorded using a KEMAR, in an anechoic chamber. This produces a three-dimensional auditory environment where the speech stimuli, delivered via headphones, appear to be emanating from various positions in space around the listener. The listener is required to discriminate between target continuous discourse presented at 0° azimuth and elevation (directly in front of the listener) and looped distracter sentences presented either directly in front of the listener (mixed task), or simultaneously at ±90° azimuth from the listener (separate task). It was found that normally hearing adults had a significantly lower threshold in dB HL in the separate task, due to their ability to use binaural cues to distinguish the speech from the background noise when it was separated in location by 90°. The degree of this ?separation effect? (up to 10 dB) was dependent on the similarity of the vocal quality of the speakers of the distracter sentences and the target discourse. In a separate study on the test-retest reliability of the VSH, no practice effects were found for the conditions of the test chosen to develop for future pediatric studies. The eventual application of the test is to diagnose children with auditory processing disorders, who may be having difficulty following speech in the classroom.
Electronic access to recently published books
Many publishers are now placing electronic versions of their recent books on line at ebrary.com. This is a new library service with more than 35,000 titles currently available. Go to ebrary.com (no www in front.), then click on discover.ebrary.com which will get you to a page where you can register and do searches. You can search to see what is available without registering, but you can't read anything until you register. Registering requires a deposit of at least US $5.00. That money can then be used to pay for downloading ($0.50 per page), or printing ($0.25 per page). Once you have paid your deposit you can read as much as you want to.
The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA)
Postgraduate student membership
ALAA is seeking postgraduate students to become members. If you are interested in applied linguistics, then you might consider joining. Click here to access their February newsletter which has more information about how to become a member.
M.A.K. Halliday scholarship
The Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) invites students and other members who have recently begun to carry out research in the area of Applied Linguistics to apply for an M.A.K. Halliday Scholarship (value $1000) by submitting a research project for consideration by the M.A.K. Halliday Scholarship Committee. Applicants must be members of ALAA, have recently completed postgraduate studies or have current student status. The application will be judged on the quality of the research project. Requests for support to attend conferences or to buy major pieces of equipment will not normally be funded through this scholarship.
Applicants must submit: a two-page research proposal, including a statement of how the funds will be spent. Curriculum vitae (not more than 2 pages). Two brief referees? reports/letters of support. Send applications to: Dr Julie Bradshaw, Secretary, ALAA, Linguistics Program, School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, VIC 3800, Phone: (03) 9905 5451 Fax: (03) 9905 5437, Julie.bradshaw@arts.monash.edu.au Deadline for applications: 31 May 2004. ALAA membership forms can be obtained from the Secretary or downloaded from the ALAA website at http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/langcent/alaa/
From IELTS
Winner of the IELTS Master's Award 2003
Eunice Eunhee Jang, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, is the winner of the 2003 IELTS Master's Award, with a thesis entitled "In search of folk fairness in language testing." The IELTS Research Committee considered the thesis to be a very impressive and highly original piece of work. The thesis investigated ESL test takers' perception of fairness from two strikingly different methodological perspectives: a sophisticated survey instrument as well as follow-up qualitative data. Eunice Eunhee Jang coined the phrase "folk fairness," which is new to both language testing and general studies of educational and psychological measurement. The term itself would merit a separately publishable paper. The topic, original perspective and extent of the study mean this is an important work deserving a wider readership. The IELTS award will be presented to Eunice at LTRC, Temecula. For more information and the abstract of the winner's thesis, please go to the IELTS website page on the MA winner: http://www.ielts.org/mawinner03.cfm Hearty congratulations to Eunice for her fine work.
IELTS Master's Award for 2004
Entries are now being invited for the IELTS Master's Award 2004, a cash award of 1000 GBP. The deadline for submission of the full thesis abstract, introduction and method chapters together with a reference from the thesis supervisor is due on or before June 1, 2004. Theses will only be considered eligible if they were submitted and approved by the degree-granting university in 2003. Submissions should be for theses written in partial or total fulfillment of the requirements for a Master's degree or its equivalent. The thesis should be language testing focused but need not be IELTS-related. The full thesis abstract, accompanied by both the Introduction and Method chapters together with a reference from the thesis advisor or supervisor, should be submitted to: Dr. Lynda Taylor / Mr. Stuart Shaw - University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge CB1 2EU United Kingdom. The IELTS Research Committee will review the submissions and shortlist potential award winners. For all shortlisted theses a full copy of the thesis will be requested and a further reference may be sought. Shortlisted theses will be reviewed and evaluated by the IELTS Research committee according to the following criteria.
- Rationale for the research
- Contextualization within the literature
- Feasibility of outcomes
- Design of research question(s)
- Choice and use of methodology
- Interpretation and conclusions
- Quality of presentation
- Use of references
- Contribution to the field
- Potential for future publication
The Committee's decision is final. The following timetable will apply in 2004:
- June 1--Deadline for submission of thesis/dissertation extracts and advisor?s/supervisor's reference to University of Cambridge ESOL examinations
- August 1--Deadline for submission of full copies of shortlisted theses (and further references if required)
- October / November--Meeting of IELTS Research Committee
- November / December--Announcement of award
Please note that submission details may change from year to year and it is therefore important that the most current procedures are consulted. For more information and directions, go the IELTS website page on the M.A. submission and evaluation features: http://www.ielts.org/ma04.cfm
Call for Papers - Australian Children's Literature
Papers on Australian children's literature of any era and involving any interpretive approach are welcome for an American Association of Australian Literary Studies sponsored session at MLA 2004 in Philadelphia. The AAALS is an allied organization of the MLA. Please send abstracts by March 15 to Jim Hoy at hoyjames@emporia.edu
Call for Papers - Cultures of Exhibition II: Signs of Display: Linguistic and Semiotic Analyses of the Exhibition Space
Papers exploring how language and other sign systems guide patrons' experiences through public museums, zoological parks, and other institutions of display. Papers may include studies that focus on the implicit narrative structures of specific exhibits and exhibition sites; on how the written word functions in different spaces; on the relationship between language and other modes of communication; on how exhibition language changes over time, to name a few. Possible theoretical approaches include but are not limited to: cognitive linguistics and semiotics; discourse analysis; critical discourse analysis; and rhetorical theory, among others. Abstracts due no later than April 1 to Todd Oakley todd.oakley@case.edu English Department/ Case Western Reserve University/ 1112 Bellflower Rd / Cleveland, OH 44106-7117.
Call for Papers - The American Journal of Semiotics - An international quarterly research publication of the Semiotic Society of America
http://ssa-semiotic.org/TAJS-Lcs05-CFP.html
Issue Theme: Linguistics and Semiotics featuring Kenneth Pike: A Sign . Guest Editor, Thomas D. Craig, Ph.D Fellow, International Communicology Institute, and former graduate student of Kenneth Pike. Submissions: Manuscripts are invited for Spring 2005 publication. Deadline for the receipt of submissions is January 15, 2005.
Manuscripts dealing broadly with the connection between Linguistics and Semiotics are welcome, A special focus of the issue will be the work of the legendary linguist and semiotic scholar Kenneth Pike, a life long member of the Semiotics Society of America (SSA). The feature section will be led by Professor Pike?s article ?Semantic Domains Seen as Spokes Emerging from the Hub of a Knowledge Wheel, but Linked in a Rim of Experience?, his keynote address at the SSA Conference in San Antonio,Texas, 19 October 1995. Any manuscripts related to Pike?s work will be included in this feature section. Manuscript Preparation: Three high quality copies of a computer generated manuscript (1.5 paced lines) should initially be submitted along with a cover sheet including (1) manuscript title, (2) author?s name, address, and institutional affiliation, and (3) author?s phone numbers, e-mail, and fax. Manuscripts may be Monographs (30-50 pp.) or Articles (16-20 pp.) Book Review Essays and Book Reviews are also welcome. If the manuscript is accepted, an e-mail attachment version must be submitted as an RTF document (Rich Text Format). Manuscripts must conform to the Semiotic Society of America Style Sheet with particular attention to the historical layering of the Reference list). Contact the Guest Editor for an e-mail attachment copy of the journal style sheet. Manuscripts are reviewed by the Guest Editor, Editor, and members of the Editorial Board. The Editor, Richard L. Lanigan, makes the final decision to publish. Manuscripts and questions related to this Call should be sent to: Thomas D. Craig Guest Editor, The American Journal of SEMIOTICS, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, TSH-724 McMaster University Hamilton, ON, L8S 4M2 CANADA E-mail: paradocs@communicology.org
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops 
Extension of Deadline - ISFC 2004 , Kyoto Japan
ISFC in Kyoto has been extended to March 15th, 2004. Registration and submission of abstracts can be made on the official Kyoto ISFC website at the following address. http://www1.doshisha.ac.jp/~mtatsuki/ISFC31/pages/Index.html If you have not yet registered or sent your abstract, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding the conference, please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Masa-aki Tatsuki or myself. I look forward to seeing you in Kyoto. Wendy L. Bowcher bowcher@u-gakugei.ac.jp Masa-aki Tatsuki isfc31@mail.doshisha.ac.jp
Australian Linguistics Society Annual Conference (ALS 2004)
The Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference will be held in Sancta Sophia College at the University of Sydney, July 13-15, 2004, hosted by the Department of Linguistics. The plenary speakers include Carol Neidle (Boston University) on signed languages, and Cliff Goddard (University of New England) on semantics. There will also be a workshop on historical linguistics, "Conflicting Traditions? Approaching Historical Linguistics from Different Perspectives" with Sheldon (Shelly) Harrison (University of Western Australia) as keynote speaker. For further information see http://conferences.arts.usyd.edu.au/index.php?cf 4
BAAL Annual Conference
Just a reminder that 31st March 2004 is the closing date for proposals for papers for the 37th BAAL Annual Conference, to be held at Kings College London from Thursday 9th September - Saturday 11th September 2004. The theme of the conference is 'Reconfiguring Europe - the Contribution of Applied Linguistics'. Further details can be found on the BAAL website at http://www.baal.org.uk A limited number of scholarships for UK-based student members are available, as well as one scholarship for an international colleague who needs financial support to attend. Application forms for these scholarships have been places on the website. Proposals for papers should be sent to A.G.White@education.leeds.ac.uk (one electronic and 4 paper copies by post to the address below).
First Call - DeXus - Discourse Nexus 2.0 An international summer school in discourse studies. 16th - 21st August, 2004. Centre for Discourse Studies Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. Web site: http://diskurs.hum.aau.dk/dexus2
DeXus is the name for the Discourse Nexus summer school which was held very successfully for the first time in 2003 in the Centre for Discourse Studies at Aalborg University. The code 2.0 signifies version 2.0, the second actualisation, a progressively refined version of the summer school. DeXus will focus on innovative research in discourse studies and its application to a variety of settings and data sets, using a mix of lectures, group work and discussion sessions. The goal of DeXus is to create a space in which attendees - invited guests, students, postgrads and established scholars - can discuss the latest moves in discourse studies, apply approaches in discourse studies to 'real world' problems, learn hands-on in a positive environment and find new relays between academic work and social change. The exact format and thematics of DeXus has not yet been finalised, but there are some features that are essential. We have invited a number of guests to play the role of 'wayfinders' or 'midwives'. Their job is to provide different resources for learning: to promote discussion, to clarify methods, and to illustrate analysis. Following the first day of lectures by the invited guests, which will establish a common ground work, we concentrate over the following three days with workshops and group work on two or three themes. On the last day, all groups will come together to report on their findings, solutions and applications, with commentary and discussion from the wayfinders. A poster session will take place during the first day for those who wish to present their research publicly. More details on the DeXus web site. DeXus will interest students and scholars who work in the diverse fields of discourse studies, particularly mediated discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, multimodal discourse analysis, educational discourse analysis, social semiotics, practice theory, identity and discourse,
gender and discourse.
DeXus themes include:
- Movement/Mobility/Flow/Scale
- Structure/Ordering/Organisation/Governance
- Change/Intervention/Critique
- Interaction/Technology/Artefact
- Nature/Environment/Habitus/Context
- Globalisation/Localisation
- Belonging/Citizenship/Linking/Relationality
- Mediation/Modality/Action/Practice
- Narrative/Memory/Autobiography
- Identity/Gender/'Race'/Ethnicity/Kinship
- Care/Risk
The summer school is international and open to all researchers, PhD and graduate students. For more academic information, contact the organisers: Paul McIlvenny paul@hum.aau.dk or Pirkko Raudaskoski pirkko@hum.aau.dk Please register online at http://diskurs.hum.aau.dk/dexus2 The deadline for registration is 15th June 2004. For practical information, please contact the DeXus secretariat at dexus@sprog.auc.dk A poster (PDF) for DeXus 2.0 is available online.
http://diskurs.hum.aau.dk/dexus2/dexus2.pdf
Call for Papers - 2005 Conference of the International Society for Language Studies. Monday, April 18 - Wednesday, April 20, Montréal, Canada. Conference web site: www.isls-inc.org/
The International Society for Language Studies (ISLS) encourages and promotes critical discourse and research in language matters, broadly conceived. Papers may be submitted for the following session strands:
- Discourse and Identity
- Education
- Interdisciplinary Foci
- Language Professions
- Pedagogy
- Policy
- Research Methodology
- Technology
Presentation proposals are accepted via the ISLS website. Various presentation formats are possible: individual paper, paper session, seminar. We particularly encourage multiple paper proposals as a venue for scholars engaged in research and dialogue on special interest topics. As an international organization with members from every continent, ISLS encourages a multilingual event. Although the principal language of the conference will be English, authors may submit proposals and present papers in the language of their choice. In an effort to appeal to the broadest of audiences and to ensure both audience attendance and participation in conference sessions, authors are, however, strongly encouraged to prepare support materials (hand-outs, overhead transparencies, slides, concurrent bilingual translation) in a language likely to be common to attendees. Sessions will be organized by topic, not language, unless a group of authors propose an entire session. Deadline for proposals: October 1, 2004. Conference Chair: John Watzke. The ISLS Conference directly follows the 2005 American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference.
New Publications
From The National Centre for English Teaching and Research (NCELTR)
The kaleidoscope of adult second language learning: Learner, teacher and researcher perspectives, Gillian Wigglesworth (ed) Head of Linguistics Department, University of Melbourne. Published in October 2003 by NCELTR, 308 pp, 148 x 210, Ph 9850 7966, $34.95
This volume of papers explores some of the factors impacting on learners in a language learning situation through the voices of the learners, teachers, and researchers involved in the research project. All of the data is brought together as a kaleidoscope of factors that have impacted on the learners and the ultimate success of their learning. This volume will be of interest to TESOL practitioners and postgraduate students. It is part of the Research Collection series, which contains major research reports on studies of interest to the AMEP and the TESOL field.
Teaching reading, Jen Tindale, Academic Coordinator, English Language Programs, NCELTR. Published in February 2004 by NCELTR, 64 pp, 148 x 210, Ph 9850 7966, $14.95
At some stage in a typical week, an ESL teacher will focus on the teaching of reading. How and what they choose to teach depends on the students? needs and their own approach to teaching. This practical book provides the teacher with a range of ideas for the classroom that can be called upon at various points of the teaching and learning cycle. It aims to incorporate recent research on reading strategies, vocabulary development, reading fluency and extensive reading into a text-based approach to language teaching. ESL teachers and trainers running professional development courses will find this a very useful book.
If you are interested in these or other publications from NCELTR, please contact Kris Clarke, Publications Production Manager, NCELTR Publishing, Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia, Tel: 02 9850 9901, Fax: 02 9850 6055, kris.clarke@mq.edu.au
From The Centre for Language and Ecology
Ecolinguistics: the future of linguistics - New online magazine and research center for ecolinguistics http://www.ecoling.net
At first, linguists thought of language as something existing within the human brain, but they ignored the rest. Then linguists thought of language as existing within human societies, and discovered its power to influence and shape those societies. But beyond societies of humans interacting with other humans, they still ignored the rest. Now we are beginning to realise that we ignore the rest at our peril, and at the peril of all life on earth. Ecolinguists think of language as existing within the delicate ecosystems which bind together the lives of all animals, plants and the Earth. And the goal of ecolinguistics is to explore the influence that language can have in shaping these ecosystems and contributing to ecological devastation or harmony.
The discipline of ecolinguistics is fairly new, and does not yet have a refereed journal. The Centre for Language and Ecology is therefore launching a new on-line magazine which aims to present lively and accessible articles on ecolinguistics.
If you are interested in finding out more about ecolinguistics, or reading the February 2004 issue of Language & Ecology Online Magazine, then please look at this site: http://www.ecoling.net
From John Benjamins
Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Parliamentary Discourse Edited by Paul Bayley, Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 10 2004 . vi, 385 pp. Hardbound 1 58811 477 5 / USD 126.00. 90 272 2700 4 / EUR 105.00.
The activity of parliaments is largely linguistic activity: they produce talk and they produce texts. Broadly speaking, the objectives that this discourse aims to satisfy are similar all over the world: to legitimate or contest legislation, to represent diverse interests, to scrutinise the activity of government, to influence opinion and to recruit and promote political actors. But the discourse of different national parliaments is subject to variation, at all linguistic levels, on the basis of history, cultural specificity, and political culture in particular. Through the use of various analytical tools of functional linguistics, this volume seeks to provide explanatory analyses of parliamentary discourse in different countries ? Britain, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden and the United States ? and to explore its peculiarities. Each chapter outlines a particular methodological framework and its application to instances of parliamentary discourse on important issues such as war, European integration, impeachment and immigration.
If you are interested, please go to http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=DAPSAC_10
Positions Vacant
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in TESOL, Faculty of Education University of Wollongong, Australia. Full time Continuing Appointment.
The successful candidate will possess the following essential criteria
- A PhD in a relevant area
- A keen interest in coordinating and developing distance and offshore initiatives involving innovative on-line delivery environments
- A willingness to develop international linkages to extend the teaching program (eg immersion programs)
- A strong knowledge of research methodologies in TESOL and the ability to supervise research students
- Demonstrated capacity to contribute to research teams
- Expertise in one or more of the teaching areas (second/foreign language development programming methodology assessment sociolinguistics ESP L2 literacy discourse analysis grammar phonology)
- Familiarity with a range of TESOL contexts (school adult EFL and ESL)
- Evidence of successful teaching in ESL/EFL
- Well-developed oral and written communication skills
Please address the criteria above in your application Annual Salary - Lecturer AU54 085 to AU64 226 Senior Lecturer AU66 253 to AU76 395 plus a generous superannuation scheme Please quote reference number 20828 Applications close Wednesday 31st March 2004. Address for Applications - Attn Dr Beverly Derewianka Northfields Ave Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia. Contact Information - Dr Beverly Derewianka Tel (61 2) 42213320, Fax (61 2) 42214657 Website http://www.uow.edu.au
Assistant Professor - Sociolinguistics bilingualism/ multilingualism ethnography of communication. Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne Australia.
The Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics in the School of Languages at the University of Melbourne seeks to fill a full- time continuing ( 3D tenure-track) position starting between 1 November 2004 and 31 January 2005 according to mutual agreement. The successful candidate must have a specialization in research on sociolinguistics preferably in one or more of the following areas bilingualism/multilingualism cross-cultural communication ethnography of communication language socialization language and social theory.
Duties: The successful candidate will contribute to teaching in the following areas at undergraduate and/or graduate level language and society sociolinguistics and language learning bilingualism and other related areas In addition s/he will supervise candidates at MA and PhD level A strong commitment to research is essential.
Qualifications: Candidates must by time of appointment have a PhD (or equivalent qualification) in Linguistics or Applied Linguistics or a related discipline They must have demonstrated excellence in teaching at university level show a commitment to provision of quality teaching and student supervision and have a record of refereed research publications in the field.
Address for Applications: Attn: Deputy Principal Human Resources, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia. Applications are due by 30 Mar 2004. Contact Information: Ms Christine McKeown, Email cmckeown@unimelb.edu.au Tel - 61 3 8344 5394. Fax - 61 3 8344 8990 http://www.hr.unimelb.edu.au/pds/G0013691.pdf
Contract Linguist position - Nyamal, in South Headland, Australia.
Wangka Maya is looking for a contract linguist for the remainder of the financial year to work both field and office, based in South
Hedland on Nyamal. For details, contact Fran Haintz, Manager Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre on (08) 91722344.
Research Positions - The Centre for Clinical Governance, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
The Centre for Clinical Governance is seeking to employ a post-graduate researcher and a PhD on a video project that looks at (films) clinical practices and interactions across two sites around Sydney. Applicants are expected to build up expertise in video ethnographic analysis and elicitation (and analysis) of narratives produced in response to watching video footage. For further enquiries, contact Rick Iedema r.iedema@unsw.edu.au http://clingov.med.unsw.edu.au/
Tenure Track Position in Linguistics - Taiwan
The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures & Institute of Linguistics and Cultural Studies National Chiao Tung University Hsinchu, Taiwan. The Institute of Linguistics and Cultural Studies at National Chiao Tung University invite applications for a full-time tenure-track position in LINGUISTICS at all possible levels, with a starting date of August 1st, 2004. We seek applications with a Ph. D degree and strong record of research in the following areas:
1) Computational or Corpus Linguistics (Speech-related research is preferred);
2) Cognitive Linguistics or Neurolinguistics;
3) Interface between Syntax, Semantics and Prosody.
Strong consideration will be given to applicants whose research is corpus-based and can be integrated with the existing strengths of the Institute. Regular duties include graduate and undergraduate teaching, research, graduate student advising, as well as Institute, Departmental, and College service assignment as required for university faculty members. Applicants should send 1) curriculum vitae, 2) copies of representative publications, 3) copy of diploma, 4) research summary and teaching portfolio, 5) Names of three referees by April 15, 2004 to: Dr. Meichun Liu, Professor and Chair Department of Foreign languages and Literatures & Institute of Linguistics and Cultural Studies, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Rd., Hsinchu 300, Taiwan. Email inquiries may be sent to hclo@mail.nctu.edu .tw Tel: 886-3-5731660~1 Fax: 886-3-5726037.
Central Michigan University. English Linguistics/TESOL. One-year visiting position beginning Fall, 2004.
ABD or Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, English Linguistics, or related discipline required. The successful candidate must be able to teach graduate level classes in TESOL methodology, curriculum development, assessment, and second language acquisition. Ability to teach lower level classes in language, linguistics, and composition courses is also required. K-12 ESL teaching experience is a plus, as is a record of publication in the field. Send current curriculum vita, transcripts, materials documenting teaching effectiveness, and three letters of recommendation by April 2nd, 2004, to Dr. Stephen Holder, Chair, Department of English Language and Literature, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859. Recently classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a doctoral/research-intensive university, CMU is a growing student-focused university with opportunities for leadership and involvement for its entire team. CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity and provide equal opportunity within its community - see http://www.cmich.edu/aaeo.html