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LINGLINE is a departmental newsletter specific to the interests and concerns of postgraduate students and staff within the Linguistics Department of Macquarie University. LINGLINE aims to help students and staff feel that they are in touch with the Department and its news, as well as with one another, whether one is currently in Sydney or elsewhere in Australia, New Zealand or any of 25 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. LINGLINE welcomes contributions from all students and staff in the Linguistics Department. Please submit notices by email to the editor Tessa Green tessa.green@ling.mq.edu.au  Any ideas or comments re this newsletter will also be gratefully received and can be directed by email to this site.

Congratulations to many

We say farewell but not goodbye to two of our professors

Emeritus Professor Pam Peters

Emeritus Professor Pam Peters officially retired on 31 December 2007 after serving 34 years in the Linguistics Department. During this long and distinguished career, Pam became well-known not only to a myriad of students at Macquarie University, but also to many linguists in Australia and abroad. Her achievements in her chosen fields are numerous and some worthy of mention include:

  1. Member of the Editorial Board of The Macquarie Dictionary responsible for the 1991, 1997 and 2005 editions
  2. Director of the Macquarie University Dictionary Research Centre
  3. Member of the ABC’s Standing Committee on Spoken English (SCOSE) since 1996
  4. Director of the Australian Style Council, and Editor of its bulletin, Australian Style, as well as instigator and convenor of the Style Council conferences (held regularly since 1986)
  5. Leader in the task of compiling computer corpora of Australian English (ACE and ICE-AUS)
  6. Founder and Director of the Macquarie University Postgraduate Program in Editing and Publishing. The Program has recently become accredited by the Australian Publishers Association.

Pam’s research on English usage resulted in the publication of The Cambridge Guide to English Usage (CUP 2004). Her work on Australian English recently led to the publication of The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage (CUP 2007) and earlier to The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide (CUP 1995), at the launch of which the then Macquarie University Chancellor, The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby, commented that Pam’s book was the most important book on English usage since Fowler’s Modern English Usage (OUP 1926, 1965) and was sure to become a classic. In addition Pam contributed six chapters to the sixth edition of the Australian Government Style Manual (2002), while in recent years she was awarded a large ARC Discovery Grant to study the grammar of Australian English.

Abroad, Pam’s international reputation in her field is demonstrated by her being asked to be keynote speaker at numerous international conferences, including that of the International Association of World Englishes (IAWE), and the International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English (ICAME), on whose Advisory Board she is also a member. In Australia, Pam has been a past president of AustraLex and is well known to many members of the general public, often being interviewed or invited to speak as an English usage expert on the radio. Readers of Campus Review know her from the weekly column ‘Strictly Speaking’.

Even closer to home, Pam has given service as Deputy Head of Department and over the years has been a valuable mentor to many new members of staff. She has supervised several PhD candidates, ten to completion, and convened and taught on many Linguistics Department units, including LING110, LING253, LING317, LING330 (Varieties of English) LING914, TRAN 825 and of course units in the Postgraduate Program in Editing and Publishing. With the advent of new technologies, Pam was instrumental in developing online units in two of her specialist areas: four in Editing and Publishing and two in Lexicography. Nearly thirty years ago, Pam was a key figure involved in setting up the Macquarie University Writing Skills Program, as part of which endeavour she published her book Strategies for Student Writers (1985), still in use by staff and students around campus today. More recently Pam has been instrumental in the development and compilation of TermFinder (an online dictionary project helping students over the verbal hurdles of specialist disciplines).

Even though Pam has formally retired from Macquarie, she will continue her busy schedule of writing and research. She will continue to supervise a number of PhD candidates and is engaged in writing a number of books. Her colleagues in the Linguistics Department will miss her unstinting collegiality and wish her all the very best in her retirement.
(Jan Tent and Sue Spinks)

Geoff Brindley
Triumph and Tribute

It is said that Roman generals, when successful in bringing tribute back to Rome, were accorded by the Senate, and by acclamation, their personal triumph. Leading their armies, unusually, into Rome, and followed by their captives, they progressed to the Capitol, all pomp and circumstance, save for the personal slave at the conquering general’s ear, whispering all the while his chuchotage:  “remember only that you’re human”.

Geoff Brindley’s triumph was of a different order; no pomp, little circumstance, but, like Othello and the better generals, conscious of having done some service to his country. No need for him the whispering slave. No need to be reminded of his humanity. Some will not recall, or perhaps not even know, although his students and collaborators know full well, and to their profit, how Geoff’s service was always and consistently other-oriented. Modest to a fault, you might say, to some perhaps even like Marcel Marceau, an epitome of nagged concern; to others, au contraire, more like Pip, transformed by the felicity of some exciting outcome, some unprepared for discovery, into an enthusiast.

There are, perhaps, two kinds of general in the academy: one, like the general in the Roman triumph, self-focused, preoccupied with role and fame, calculatedly individual; the other, more oriented to the leader in the team, primus inter pares, seeing fame as collectively achieved by, and on behalf of all. No prizes for choosing Geoff’s identity. From the first time I met him, over 20 years ago now, one had the keen impression of someone who took upon himself that collaborative leadership with reluctance, but once taken and once accepted, someone who was resolute in his pursuit of mutually determined goals. One can see that from his record both in the AMEP and then as the Research Coordinator of NCELTR. Rather than taking the Commonwealth’s distributed largesse in that latter role (as well he might have) and imposing a personal agenda for funding his own research, he saw it as an opportunity for bringing in from the cold those practitioners around Australia, keen as mustard yet under-trained in research, to enable them to develop research skills, learn how to write research, and above all, to publish and disseminate research (himself, of course, keeping discreetly in the background both in action and in print). In a way, of course, (and in the current individually striving climate) it would be easy, if cynical, to pass this all off as idealism, not what real academics should really be about. What would gainsay such a view is not only the host of collaborators who directly or indirectly profited from his academic care, but the sheer consistency of Geoff’s position. Let me give just one example: over a third of the Department’s doctorate students are now following the Doctorate of Applied Linguistics, very much Geoff’s brainchild (though as always with Geoff, in a team), and are profiting from his leadership philosophy of mutuality and care. What people may not know is that to get that program off the ground, and in particular its Mexican faculty professional development initiative, it took Geoff personally as Research Committee Chair and Director of the program to touch over 40 different bases in the University, constantly managing the frustrations of bureaucracy in the pursuit of a innovative goal. Perhaps the surviving in the AMEP and NCELTR provided more than just the testing ground for research ideas! The title of his internationally best-known and quite innovative book: Assessing Achievement in a Learner-Centered Curriculum is in some ways a tribute to how we should regard his work.

Enough of the system and the scholarship, what about the man?

Guitarist, amateur of France, authoritative enophile, the driest of wits, a friend for life for many, and in recent years along with Trish, a character tested to a degree (but not at all made sour or aggressive) by some adversity. Recently, a number of the key international scholars in his chief field of language testing and assessment, sent in or phoned in tributes when they knew of his impending retirement. Consistent among them all was the tribute to the triumphs of Geoff’s scholarship and his steadfast commitment to cooperatively engaged-in research-based practice. What they didn’t say (though they well might have) was how a devotion to Yes, Minister kept him (and many of us) sane in the interactions with Canberra and the states. I recall one debate about a formal assessment of migrant English which Canberra wished to introduce worldwide and in the development of which Geoff and a number of us were engaged, where we sought a title for the test: two possibilities emerged: access: (the Australian Assessment of Communicative English Skills), the other EXCLUDE (I can’t now (diplomatically) recall the meaning of the latter acronym). No prizes for the title which Geoff (and the Minister – though perhaps for different reasons) chose to prefer and to champion.

So, it is not a happy occasion easily to say goodbye to a champion, a friend to many and a key scholar to many others who did not know him personally. For a person of such talents, Ave is much more congenial than Vale: what is clear, however, is that with the large international collegium of younger and older scholars who did have the privilege of knowing Geoff and benefiting from his wisdom and his expertise in a range of fora, there is never really a farewell.
(Chris Candlin)

Retirement celebrations to be held for Pam Peters and Geoff Brindley

A farewell event for staff and colleagues present and past to celebrate the retirement of Pam Peters and Geoff Brindley is taking place on Friday 14th March. For further details, please contact Hiranya Loder, PA to Head of Department of Linguistics - Hiranya.Loder@ling.mq.edu.au or ph: 9850-8777.

Welcome to visiting academic

Dr Kazuyoshi Sato, of Nagoya University of Foreign Studies, Japan was a visiting academic to the Department, working with Professor Anne Burns from 25 February to 7 March.  Dr Sato holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has written several papers on communicative language teaching and teacher education. His research interests include teacher development, language learning strategies, and curriculum development. His publications include:

During his visit, he presented a seminar, hosted by the Applied Linguistics and Language in Education (ALLE) Research Group, on Wednesday 5 March, as follows:

Building a Teacher Learning Community:
Reconsidering Communicative Language Teaching and Teacher Education

Abstract:
Although Freeman and Johnson (1998) advocate a reconceptualization of the knowledge base of language teacher education, including the school context, the teacher, and practices, few studies have been conducted within this three-way framework. In particular, “teacher learning within the social, cultural, and institutional contexts” (p. 397) has not been explored except for a few studies (e.g., Kleinsasser, 1993; Sato, 2000; 2002; Sato & Kleinsasser, 2004). This study aims at revealing how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers struggled and collaborated to develop a learning community in a Japanese public high school so as to develop a curriculum based on communicative language teaching. It also reconsiders the relationship between communicative language teaching and teacher education. .

From the Linguistics Postgraduate Office

New Course Unit in Discourse Analysis - LING 978 Exploring Discourse in Context and in Action. (Convenors - Professor Chris Candlin & Dr Stephen Moore).

After trialling in Semester 2 2007, this new Unit is now available to ALL students in the M Applied Linguistics Program from Semester 1 2008, both on campus (Semester 1) and in distance (online) modes (Semesters 1 and 2). It is available BOTH for credit AND for auditing students. NOTE: It can also be audited by any Doctorate students in Linguistics interested in Discourse.

Key Themes

Each Theme will be addressed in two weeks of work, with accompanying core and optional Readings, Course Notes, Case Studies, Data analytical Tasks and Vignettes from key scholars and practitioners in the field. Sites of engagement for the themes will include educational, professional and organisational communication, and translation/interpreting settings, with a focus on spoken, written and multi-modal realisations.

If you are keen on registering either for credit or as an auditor, either on campus or online, contact: Linguistics Postgraduate Office  (lingdl@ling.mq.edu.au) as soon as possible.  For further information on course content, contact the co-convenors of LING978: Chris Candlin: ccandlin@optusnet.com.au/ Stephen Moore: smoore@ling.mq.edu.au

Linguistics Research Seminars

The first Linguistics Research Seminar for 2008 will be held on Monday 17 March in the Linguistics Research Seminar Room W5C221 from 11 am to 12 pm. This initial seminar will be moderated by Dr. Beth Armstrong and will be an informal forum for research students to introduce themselves and their research topics, to raise questions about their research, and to discuss strategies and approaches to research. All research students who are on campus and able to attend are encouraged to do so.

Upcoming seminars include:

For further information about the Linguistics Department's Research Seminar series including upcoming seminars (open to all) please go to http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/research/researchseminars.htm

Writing website for postgraduate students

Linguistics postgraduate students can access LINGPWS The Linguistics Postgraduate Writing-Skills website. This is a resource designed to assist Linguistics students with academic writing. The Unit Content section for the website has 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://www.ling.mq.edu.au/support/writing_skills/online.htm

For further enquiries about the Writing Skills Website, contact Tessa Green tessa.green@ling.mq.edu.au

Academic Literacy Workshops

The Department of Linguistics offers a number of workshops for higher degree research students throughout the year. All workshops run from 9.00 – 1.00, including a 20 minute morning tea break. Please note that unfortunately, refreshments are not provided.

To enrol in a workshop, send an email to: lingadmin@ling.mq.edu.au. The email should include: your name and student number; the title of the workshop and its number; the date it will be held. The subject line of your email should state: PG Workshop No X. For example, if you wish to enrol in Developing Critical Reading, the subject line of your email would be: PG Workshop 3. For further information, contact: Jean Brick: Jean.Brick@ling.mq.edu.au

News from the AMEP Research Centre

Two new postdoctoral fellows in Applied Linguistics have joined the AMEP RC: Dr Agnes Terraschke and Dr Sun-Hee Kim will both be part of the research
project team on the relationship between language training and settlement outcomes.

Sun-Hee recently completed her PhD in Language Teaching and Learning at the University of Auckland with a thesis on  "First language attrition in a
second language learning environment: The case of Korean-English late bilinguals".

Agnes recently completed her PhD in Applied Linguistics at the Victoria University of Wellington with a thesis on "The Use of Pragmatic Devices by
German Non-native Speakers of English".

Alex Loveday, the AMEP RC Office Manager, is going on maternity leave and will be replaced by Susan Dunkerley, who is starting in the position on
March 03.

For further information please visit the AMEP RC website at www.ameprc.mq.edu.au

News from the NCELTR Resource Centre

The NCELTR Resource Centre is now open to the public between 2pm and 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Special Reserve collection has been relocated to Macquarie University Library and can be accessed through the library's reserve section on level 2.

Resourcing the Resourceful

There is an enduring, if not especially endearing, myth that the typical postgraduate student in Linguistics is a scholarship-supported fulltime student living in striking distance of North Ryde and the main university Library. In fact over 70% of our research students (now numbering in toto over 140) and around 60% of our postgraduate coursework students are studying in distance mode, many of them overseas, or are widely dispersed throughout Australia, or are those living more closely whose family and work responsibilities make regular usage of services such as those provided by the main Library difficult to access. Many, if not most of them, are post-experience and part-time students, Australian and international, juggling the hard demands of work and study (and often, family).

One good deed in this naughty world was, until recently imposed economies have apparently made its demise necessary, the academic resource services to our postgraduate students provided by the incomparable and highly experienced and expert staff of the NCELTR Resources Centre. These services extended over data access and research bibliographical advice. Working on a Macquarie Linguistics MA, in whichever program, or trying to further their higher level doctorate research, students in places as distant as the USA, Europe, Latin America, North, South and East Asia or the Pacific, let alone those more closely located studying full-time or part-time, could rely for academic resource support on their contacts with the Resources Centre. This was through Journal Watch, remotely via e-contacts, as well, of course, through the personal on-site visits.  Consistently, what one heard were tributes to the value of such a resource and the quiet, helpful professionalism of the Resources Centre staff.

It is however, important to note that the Resources Centre was primarily established originally, and throughout the period of NCELTR’s existence, as the Resources Centre for the AMEP throughout Australia, and that it has been well-supported by Commonwealth funds for over 20 years in its service to AMEP teachers and their migrant educational programs. On the back of such core funding, the Resources Centre became also, with consistent and increasing Linguistics Departmental financial support,that broader resource for the resourceful following Macquarie programs that I refer to above. Given cutbacks and changes in priorities for the AMEP Research Centre, it was inevitable, perhaps, that the continuation of the Resources Centre funding would be challenged. None of us imagined that its demise would be so rapid, particularly given its success, and especially in the light of the strong opposition to such a change that the news of its closure aroused. We, and you, are left, then, for a time in a limbo which a committee is seeking to manage with the University Library, and we, and you, will have to watch this space.

In the meantime, we have lost through retirement and through the demise of the Resources Centre, a group of incomparably expert librarian staff on whom you, and many of us, had grown to rely. We will miss their warmth and welcome, their expert knowledge, and their extended experience, unique internationally in our fields, and, it has to be said, the access they provided to the quality of their constantly updated collections (which we will be fighting to maintain as a Special Collection).

Let me just quote one recent writer (here kept anonymous):

            “I finished my Masters of Applied Linguistics at Macquarie three years ago. I was very saddened to find out that the Journal Watch system has been      eliminated. When I was studying at Macquarie I found it an extremely useful resource as I could keep up on the new research in my field…. When I talk to teachers who are considering doing a distance MA, I recommend Macquarie as the distance education system is so well organised. As examples I mention the very supportive office staff and Journal Watch. Doing an online MA is a challenge, but Macquarie has done very well at helping students succeed. Please do not take away the support system.”

My sense is that such a comment will be widely shared, and not at all only in relation to Journal Watch. I hope that the messages of thanks and appreciation it indirectly contains for Frances, Nanette, Audrey, Prue and Jo will do something to bring home to them how much so many have owed to their skills and their support. It is clear from this personal tribute how much I regret the decisions that were undertaken outside our control. It may be, indeed, that readers to whom this loss is sad and disquieting news will want to express their thanks and appreciation to those expert Resource Centre colleagues for their services to our Departmental research community over many years. If you do, by all means write to me and I will make sure that your messages are passed on.

Chris Candlin
Acting Chair, Linguistics Research Committee

A word from our readers

The last lecture of Randy Pausch

A number of our readers have forwarded LINGLINE details about "The Last Lecture of Randy Pausch", which Wall Street Journal calls the 'Lecture of a Lifetime'. Dr Bausch is a Carnegie Mellon Professor of Computer Science who has dedicated his academic career to bridging the gap between the university and the corporate world. Dr Bausch is unfortunately diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, and despite many attempts to turn the table around, he's left with a few months to live. This last lecture is described my many as inspirational. If you are interested, go to: 'The Lecture of a Lifetime' - Dr Randy Bausch! http://www.taudiobook.com/closed_caption/randy_pausch_full/index_cn.html

Casting Call for SBS TV show

Want to be on TV? Are you in your 20s or 30s & still living with your parents??? If so, we're looking for families with kids that aren't in any rush 
to move out of? the family home. If you're interested in taking part in this new SBS TV show or would like some more information, please email your story and contact details to: casting@freehandtv.com.au OR contact:

Caroline Pegram, Freehand Productions Pty Ltd
Level 6 431 Glebe Point Road | Glebe NSW 2037 Australia
PO Box 443 | Glebe NSW 2037 Australia
t +61 2 8514 5431 |  f +61 2 9518 9455  |  m +61 409 976 967
http://www.freehandtv.com.au

Script Changes

Jenny Eagleton, PhD student in Linguistics, draws our attention to the following linguistic related issues of interest from the South China Morning Post based in Hong Kong:

From 2008, the United Nations will accept only the simplied form of characters used in Mainland China. This has been cause for much lobbying to have both traditional and simplified characters used. CLICK HERE to read the text of the article "Script Changes" from the South China Morning Post. The petition they refer to can also be found at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/say-no-to-united-nations-abolishment-of-traditional-chinese-in-2008.html.

Interpreters put PM's nose out of joint

Sign-language interpreters in Thailand have run afoul of some ruling party supporters by holding their noses to refer to the new prime minister. Samak Sundaravej has been nicknamed "Mr Rose Apple Nose" because many claim his nose resembles the fruit. Thai sign-language interpreters often indicate prominent facial features as shorthand for dignitaries. Thai daily newspaper Matichon claimed the gesture had angered some members of Samak's party.

From AP
In the South China Morning Post 4 February 2008

If other LINGLINE readers wish to share their ideas and stories, or have something to advertise, please email the editor tessa.green@ling.mq.edu.au

Did you know that 2008 was the international year of languages?

2008 has been proclaimed international year of languages by the United Nations General Assembly. According to the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, the effects of globalisation and the spread of world languages have had dramatic effects on language ecologies all over the globe. Within the space of a few generations, more than 50% of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world may disappear. Less than a quarter of those languages are currently used in schools and in cyberspace, and most are used only sporadically. Thousands of languages – though mastered by those populations for whom it is the daily means of expression – are absent from education systems, the media, publishing and the public domain in general.

According to Mr Matsuura, “our common goal is to ensure that the importance of linguistic diversity and multilingualism in educational, administrative and legal systems, cultural expressions and the media, cyberspace and trade, is recognised at the national, regional and international levels. The International Year of Languages 2008 will provide a unique opportunity to make decisive progress towards achieving these goals.”

The date of 21 February 2008, that of the ninth International Mother Language Day, will have a special significance and provide a particularly appropriate deadline for the introduction of initiatives to promote languages. Please visit the UNESCO website for further information:

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35559&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

(Dr KerryTaylor-Leech)

For Higher Degree Research students

The Macquarie University Postgraduate Research Fund (PGRF) - up to $4000:

The primary goals of the PGRF are:

Have you applied for departmental funding up to this point?  Applications for PGRF expenses related to the research project should be supplementary to those covered by Departmental/Divisional postgraduate funding - this will be a question during the interview process. The PGRF Round 2, 2008 closing date (current round) applications is 11 April, 2008. Application forms and information are available at the link below. http://www.research.mq.edu.au/students/scholarships/pages/pgrf Contact Robyn Guilmette if you have any questions: robyn.guilmette@ling.mq.edu.au  +61 2 9850 8749.

TIRF Call for Proposals for the 2008 Doctoral Dissertation Research Grants

TIRF (The International Research Foundation for English Language Education) announces the 2008 competition for doctoral dissertation grants.  Grants of up to US $5,000 will be awarded for the highest rated proposals. Doctoral students who have been advanced to candidacy may submit proposals for funding to support empirical investigations related to the following research priority topics:

1. Students' age and effective English language education in schools.
2. Teacher English proficiency and effective English language education
3. Optimal uses of technology in the delivery of English language instruction.
4. Effective grammar instruction for English language learners in primary and secondary education contexts

The deadline for submitting proposals is April 30, 2008. Please visit http://www.tirfonline.org/2008ddgcall.html for further information. This is an open competition. It is not limited to citizens of any particular country or members of any given organization.

ESRC training course on Ethnography language & Communication
(NB# - If any of our research students are able to attend this training in the UK, then it comes highly recommended.)

Is "qualitative data analysis" too vague for you?  Are you wondering how to do your data justice? If you¹re researching social processes, institutions, culture, or identity etc, but you¹re unsure about how to analyse the discourse data from your fieldwork, then consider joining the 5 day ESRC-sponsored research training course: "Key concepts and methods in ethnography, language & communication".

The programme is designed to help PhD and post-doctoral researchers navigate the twin perils of over- and under-interpreting discourse data, and it introduces a range of key perspectives and tools used to study language and communication ethnographically. The course will be held as a 5-day residential in Oxford from Monday 7th July till Friday 11th July 2008.

The deadline for application is Friday 16th March 2008. Spaces are strictly limited, so candidates are advised to apply as soon as possible. Limited funds are available for bursaries, which will be allocated on the basis of relative need. For more information, please go to  http://www.rdi-elc.org.uk, or contact rdi-elc@kcl.ac.uk. The programme is organized as part of the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative (http://www.rdi.ac.uk).

Research Prize

The international association Researching and Applying Metaphor (RaAM) Early Career Research Prize aims to encourage the production and dissemination of high quality research in the field of metaphor.

The prize will be awarded biennially for the best research paper published by a researcher who has recently completed a PhD. Full details on http://www.raam.org.uk. Closing date 14 March 2008.

For researchers

From the Macquarie University Library

Distance Education Students

If you are a Distance Education student you may not know all the services available to you. Information for our Distance Education students is available at the following website: http://www.library.mq.edu.au/services/distance.html. Library services for Distance Education students include online access to the Library's Web catalogue and databases, reference assistance, IT help, online IT training, reciprocal borrowing and letters of introduction to other Libraries. Students within Australia can request books and journal articles to be sent to their home address. However, if you are an overseas student no physical books will be sent to you. However, you can order a book chapter as well as articles and so on. To request a document please use the following link: http://www.library.mq.edu.au/services/distedreq.html If you have any queries or access issues please contact the Distance Education Librarian at the following email address: libed@library.mq.edu.au.

Any issues or questions please do not hesitate to contact your Liaison Librarians - Karen Marks Karen.marks@library.mq.edu.au or Mary Simons mary.simons@library.mq.edu.au

From the Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA)

As you may be aware the Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA) makes available a newsletter to all postgraduate students on campus. The content is is a mixture of campus events and information, however anything off campus is also considered (such as lectures or policy changes etc.). We would like to extend an invitation for input. If you would like to contribute, please email Kate.Boyce@po.mq.edu.au.

For the latest news, please go to: http://www.mq.edu.au/mupra

Upcoming conferences, symposia and workshops

ISFC 2008, 21-26 July, 2008, to be held at Macquarie University, Australia. (2nd call for papers).

For more information go to http://www.isfla.org/conferences/35th_ISFC_Call_for_Papers.pdf It also contains information about the pre-ISFC Institute, 14-19 July, 2008, which will be held at the University of New South Wales. The congress website is http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/isfc/index.html

The committee for the 35th International Systemic Functional Congress would also like to advise that refereed conference proceedings will be published for ISFC35. Go to http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/isfc/index.html for a style guide, template and important dates.

Upcoming SFL conferences for 2008

For regularly updated information, see:  http://www.isfla.org/Systemics/Conferences/index.html

Second Call for Papers - MRC 2008. Fifth International Workshop on Modelling and Reasoning in Context. In conjunction with the Third International Conference on Human Centered Processes (HCP-2008), at Delft University of Technology.  Submission deadline: March 14, 2008

For more information go to   http://events.idi.ntnu.no/mrc2008 . You can submit you contribution for MRC 2008 now at the EasyChair conference system: http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mrc2008 . The major goal of the workshop is to bring researchers, scientists from both industry and academia, and representatives from different communities together to study, understand, and explore issues of development and application of IT systems utilising context.

Interpersonality in Written Academic Discourse - InterLAE Conference 2008. 11-Dec-2008 - 13-Dec-2008. University of Zaragoza (Huesca), Spain. Contact Person: Enrique Lafuente. Meeting Email: interlae@unizar.es Web Site: http://www.unizar.es/interlae/conference08.html. Call Deadline: 14-Mar-2008.

Academic written discourse has become a central topic of research in recent years, inasmuch as competent written academic communication is recognised as essential for success in the academic world. Interpersonality (in academic discourse) has been analysed from several perspectives, which have proved very fruitful not only to understand but also to problematise the writer-reader relationship and the role of relevant issues such as culture, discipline, individual style, (non)native use of the language, the role of English as a lingua franca, among others. The aim of this conference is to provide a multiperspective arena for both theoretical and experimental approaches which can contribute to and stimulate the current debate on the issues mentioned above. You can find the call for papers and further information at: http://www.unizar.es/interlae/conference08.html

The 3rd "Talking Across the World" Conference. April 25th (Friday) to 26th (Saturday) 2008.  To be held in Bangalore, India.
( An international call centre communication conference.) Call for papers.

Globalisation has called for the need for higher English communication skills and a good understanding of intercultural communication, especially in the call centre industry. The conference aims to present a forum which discusses global initiatives related to communication in the call centre industry such as the role of language, customer service, recruitment, training, quality assurance, etc. The conference brings together experts from the academia, research groups and call centre industry, providing an avenue for collaboration and sharing of best practices.  With the encouraging feedback and results from the last two conferences held in Manila, in 2006 and 2007, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Swiss Graduate School of Management Studies, India join hands this year's event. We also have the FuturePerfect Business English Specialists and the University of Stockholm as co-organisers and sponsors. We hope you can join us in Bangalore this year?

Our keynote speakers are academics working within the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry in the area of training, assessment, language analysis and recruitment. They will address call centre communication from various perspectives:

  • Prof. Kingsley Bolton, Stockholm University, Sweden - “Call Centre Communication and Advanced Proficiency in English"
  • Dr. Gail Forey, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - “Globalisation and the Recontextualisation of Language: Call Centre Communication"
  • Dr Liz Hamp-Lyons, University of Hong Kong - “The Right Testing Solution ?Wal-Mart or Savile Row?"
  • Dr. Susan Hood, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia - “The language of interaction: exploring the interpersonal dimensions of call centre exchanges"
  • Dr. Jane Lockwood, Hong Kong Institute of Education - “A Multipurpose Approach to English Language Assessment in the Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) Industry- Can it Work?"
  • Dr. Catherine Nickerson, Swiss Graduate School of Management Studies, India -   “Call Centre Communication and the Use of English as an International Business Language"

For further details, go to http://www.talkingacrosstheworld.org

New Publications

From Continuum - http://www.continuumbooks.com

Academic Writing and Genre:: A systematic analysis. (2008). Ian Bruce.

The focus of this book is the use of genre-based approaches to teaching academic writing. Genre-based courses enable second language learners
to integrate their linguistic, organisational and contextual knowledge in a variety of different tasks. The book reviews pedagogical approaches to genre through English for Specific Purposes and Systemic Functional Linguistics to present a synthesis of the current research being undertaken in the field. From this theoretical base, Ian Bruce proposes a new model of genre-based approaches to academic writing, and analyses the ways in which this can be implemented in pedagogy and curriculum design. 'Academic Writing and Genre' is a cutting-edge monograph which will be essential reading for researchers in applied linguistics.

From John Benjamins - http://www.benjamins.com/

Selves and Identities in Narrative and Discourse. Series Title: Studies in Narrative 9. Publication Year: 2007 - Editors: Michael Bamberg, Anna De Fina, Deborah Schiffrin. Book URL: http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=SiN%209.

The different traditions that have inspired the contributors to this volume can be divided along three different orientations, one that is rooted predominantly in sociolinguistics, a second that is ethnomethodologically informed, and a third that came in the wake of narrative interview research. All three share a commitment to view self and identity not as essential properties of the person but as constituted in discursive practices and particularly in narrative. Moreover, since self and identity are held to be phenomena that are contextually and continually generated, they are defined and viewed in the plural, as selves and identities. In the attempt of moving closer toward a process-oriented approach to the formation of selves and identities, this volume sets the stage for future discussions of the role of narrative and discourse in this generation process and for how a close analysis of these processes can advance an understanding of the world around us and within this world, of identities and selves.

Journal calls

The PROFILE Journal Editorial Committee is pleased to invite you to submit papers for issue 10.

The journal is mainly interested in sharing the results of classroom research projects undertaken by primary and secondary school teachers as well as adult teachers while taking part in the Professional Development Programmes carried out by the Foreign Languages Department at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. It also includes articles written by teacher educators and guest teachers willing to disseminate innovations and research findings. We are pleased to inform that from next semester on, Profile will be published twice a year. For more information, please contact us:

Melba Libia Cárdenas B. Editor. Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras - Universidad Nacional de Colombia., Ciudad Universitaria. Carrera 30 No. 45-03, Bogotá, Colombia. Phone: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16780 Fax: 57(1) 3165000 Ext. 16780 /16773. E-mail:  rprofile_fchbog@unal.edu.co Our website: http://www.humanas.unal.edu.co/revistaprofile/RegistroRevista.php

English Language Teaching

English Language Teaching" is a new journal in English language teaching and education published by Canadian Center of Science and Education. We welcome research papers in English language teaching and education, theory, methodology and educational psychology in English language teaching. Writing your manuscript in English and in MS-Word format, please send to: elt@ccsenet.org. For more information, please visit: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal.html

Call for Papers: E-pisteme. Theme: Voice - Call Deadline: 15 April 2008

E-pisteme, a postgraduate e-journal based in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Newcastle University, is dedicated to publishing fresh and vibrant research of the highest quality from postgraduate students and postdoctoral scholars. The journal focuses on themes that reach across disciplines, seeking to challenge traditionally defined ways of thinking and doing research. E-pisteme is designed as a forum for international academic exchange and aims to publish peer-reviewed scholarly articles by new researchers, providing an opportunity for postgraduates to write in an academic style for an interdisciplinary readership. We are pleased to announce that E-pisteme is now accepting articles for its inaugural issue on the theme of 'VOICE'. The issue aims to explore some of the complexities of the concept 'voice' by bringing together contributions of masters, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers working in a variety of disciplines across the Humanities and Social Sciences. Suggested areas for articles include, but are not restricted to:

Please send article submissions as MS Word attachments via e-mail to: e-pisteme@ncl.ac.uk For more information about E-pisteme and our submission guidelines please visit our website: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/e-pisteme/

Register and Context - Call Deadline: 31-Mar.

Register and Context is published as an open-access, peer-reviewed electronic journal, appearing four times a year and is seeking submissions of previously unpublished manuscripts on any topic dealing with occupational discourse. We are accepting submissions from a range of linguistic perspectives, both theoretical and applied. We especially welcome both practical and research focused articles. Please visit http://www.registerandcontext.de for more information.

Samara AltLinguo E-Journal - Call Deadline: 31-May-2008

SamaraAltLinguo announces call for papers for the third issue of its e-journal (to be published in June 2008). Submissions in Russian or English are welcome in any area of linguistics, including (but not restricted to):

We also welcome notes and reactions on papers published in the previous two issues. For details of article presentation go to http://samaraaltlinguo.narod.ru/ejournal.html

Positions Vacant

Applied Linguistics/TESOL post - Victoria University of Wellington.

Victoria University of Wellington invites applications for a Lectureship in Applied Linguistics or TESOL in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies. The successful candidate should have completed a PhD in an aspect of Applied Linguistics or TESOL, and have experience in teaching at the tertiary level. We would be particularly interested to receive applications from candidates with teaching experience in one or more of the following areas: research design and statistics; general linguistics; academic writing; applied corpus linguistics; literacy teaching and learning; technology in language teaching and learning. However, scholars whose interests lie in any field of Applied Linguistics or TESOL are encouraged to apply. Web-link to this vacancy: http://vacancies.vuw.ac.nz/positiondetail.asp?p=4233

TESOL, IELTS and ESL teachers wanted - Global Language Centre, Sydney.

We are a newly opened English tutoring college in Sydney CBD, and we are currently looking for English teachers to teach adult students at our new campus.If you have any teachers, graduates or students of English education, TESOL, IELTS, or ESL available to teach part time or casual positions (with prospect for contract), could you please let us know? Interested applicants should email their resumes with a facial photo attached. Interviews will be held from the 25th of February and teaching starts on the 10th of March. However, positions can be applied for at anytime as new positions readily become available. For further details contact: Sean Kim, Executive Director Global Language CentreWorld Tower, Suite 1205, Level 12, 87-89 Liverpool Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Mobile: 0410 635 882.   Email: GLCentre@live.com.au

Post-doc fellow - The Institute for Theoretical and Computational Linguistics (ILTEC), Lisbon, Portugal.

The Institute for Theoretical and Computational Linguistics (ILTEC) is looking for a post-doc fellow for a period of five years, to start before May 2007. The position is part of the 2008 program of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The primary task of the candidate is to develop research under the Portal da LÃ-ngua Portuguesa project, and ideally assume responsibility for the project over time. The Portal is a project to develop and maintain an online resource about the Portuguese language, with a primary focus on lexical information. The candidate is expected to eventually supervise the lexicographic part of the further development of the lexicographic model behind the MorDebe database, to supervise the team of linguists working on the Portal, and collaborate in the further development of the software behind the web site and its content management system. Apart from that, the candidate is expected to (further) develop his or her own line of research and encouraged to submit projects to national and international project calls. The MorDebe database is a lexical information system developed at the ILTEC institute. At its core it is a large-scale full-form lexicon, construed with strict lexicographic criteria. It has a modular design, in which additional modules can provide additional types of information for the basic lemma list. The database already contains modules providing information about derivational relations between lemmas, gentile information, proper names, and grammatical characterizations, and more modules are under development. The most significant module under development is a database of phonetic transcription of the standard pronunciation in European Portuguese for all the lemmas in the database. The system is under constant revision, with the maintenance of the existing modules, the improvement of the lexicographic quality of the database, and the development of new modules for the system.

Candidates should have a PhD in the area of linguistics and have at least three years of research experience since the completion of their PhD. Preferably, the candidate should have experience in the area of computational lexicography, with both a strong theoretical background in the area of lexicology and/or morphology, and practical experience in programming. Given that the project concerns lexicographic data of Portuguese, knowledge of the language is important, yet not indispensable. The candidature should contain an introductory letter detailing the candidate's expectation with regard to working on this project, and a complete CV. The position consists of a contract for a fixed period of 5 years, and consists of a full research position with no teaching obligations. The yearly salary for the position is equal to that of an assistant professor.

ILTEC is a small research center in Lisbon, Portugal, founded in 1988. It has an autonomous status, but strong ties to the two major universities in Lisbon (Universidade de Lisboa and Universidade Nova de Lisboa). It is located off-campus in the center of the city, and provides a stimulating research environment, both for senior and junior researchers. In the last national evaluation of research centers, the institute got a very good (4 out of 5) rating. The research of ILTEC is divided in three research groups: Language and Linguistic Diversity, Lexicon and Computational Modeling, and Discourse and Literacy. More information about the ILTEC institute can be found on the web site (http://www.iltec.pt).

Lingline can be accessed via the "News" link on the Linguistics Department website at:

http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/

 
 

All items for inclusion to be submitted by email to the editor Tessa Green:
tessa.green@ling.mq.edu.au
 

Enquiries by phone: (02) 9850-6875

This is not an official publication of Macquarie University. While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information included in this newsletter, no responsibility is assumed for same.

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