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Department of Linguistics

LINGLINE

ISSUE 79 - 4 June 2010
lingline

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@mq.edu.au  Any ideas or comments re this newsletter will also be gratefully received and can be directed by email to this site.

Inside this Edition:

LINGLINE celebrates 10 years

Welcome to the 10th anniversary edition of LINGLINE. Yes I find it hard to believe that it has been 10 years since I compiled the first edition of LINGLINE way back in May 2000. Since then, thousands of students have studied in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie and many of these students, as well as other alumni including former staff, often write to me to let me know that they still like to read LINGLINE so they can keep in touch with linguistics news and events and people at Macquarie University. It is great to hear that LINGLINE provides that link and while I'm not sure if I'll manage to keep editing LINGLINE for another 10 years, I do hope both our new students and alumni will always like to keep some connection to Linguistics, be it through friends they have made, or through further study at Macquarie University.

Tessa Green (Editor)

Linguist in the limelight

The Linguist in the limelight series introduces you to some of our research students, staff and alumni.  In this way, we learn more about what attracts people to the study of linguistics, where they have come from, and some of their thoughts about linguistics.  If you would like to tell your own linguistics story or know of others’ stories, please email the editor, Tessa Green at Tessa.Green@mq.edu.au

Our latest Linguist in the limelight is staff member and PhD student, Marcel Leneham. Below, Marcel shares with us his journey to Linguistics at Macquarie University.

Marcel Leneham

marcel lenehamI work as a casual lecturer in Translation & Interpreting in the Linguistics Department at Macquarie University, primarily working within the Auslan (Australian Sign Language) stream, but I also give guest lectures in other units on occasion. I am a PhD candidate, researching strategies in interpreting and translating texts from Auslan to English. In addition to my work at Macquarie University, I am currently the National President of the Australian Sign Language Interpreters’ Association (ASLIA) – the peak body representing the needs and interests of Auslan/English interpreters and Deaf (Relay) Interpreters in Australia. As such, it is fairly evident that interpreting and translation are my areas of interest within the field of Linguistics. However, my path into the T&I industry was somewhat convoluted and unplanned.

Within the Deaf community, we often use colloquial labels to identify groups of people, such as: “CODA” (Child of Deaf Adults); “Deaf of deaf” (deaf child with signing deaf parents). I don’t fit into either of these categories; I am a “NERD” (not even related to deaf). I learned Auslan as an adult, while completing my undergraduate degree in visual art. After completing my Auslan studies, I worked as an interpreter for deaf students within primary and secondary school settings in Brisbane. This motivated me to undertake teacher training. Upon gaining my teaching qualification, my first full-time teaching position was teaching deaf students in a regional school in Queensland. Shortly after moving to that town I met a group of deaf people in the street who encouraged me to sit the exam for NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters) Paraprofessional Interpreter accreditation. In July 1996, without any formal interpreter training and without knowing what was involved in the NAATI exam (NAATI had sent me the wrong information!), I managed to pass the exam and gained my Paraprofessional Interpreter accreditation.

It wasn’t until I commenced the Postgraduate Diploma in Auslan/English Interpreting at Macquarie University in 2002, that I began to develop greater insight into the processes and theoretical knowledge underpinning, best practice in interpreting.

As mentioned above, my PhD research explores the strategies used by interpreters when interpreting and translating an Auslan text into English. My project required using a videotaped Auslan source text and analysing strategies used by six Auslan/English interpreters with NAATI Interpreter accreditation to interpret the text, first into spoken English (as a simultaneous interpretation), and second, into written English (as a translation). I also had 10 bilingual deaf participants who translated the text into written English.

In the last few years, with increased access to technology, there has been an explosion in the prevalence of Auslan/English translations. Some of the more common examples of English-Auslan translations are: websites, public announcements/information, legislation, children’s books, theatrical productions and signed translations of songs. Translations in the opposite language direction (Auslan-English) are less common, but some examples are: Deaf community TV programs, documentaries and movies (translated into spoken English and/or captions); educational resources, and witness statements.

The results of my research indicate that the processes used to interpret and translate an Auslan text are markedly different, but with a great deal of similarity between strategies used by participants, whether deaf, or not. The processes are so markedly different, that it leaves little doubt that there is a need for formal Auslan/English Translator accreditation.

One of the goals of my PhD research is to provide evidence in support of establishing NAATI Auslan/English Translator accreditation. In addition, my research encourages us to question definitions used for ‘translation’, which link it exclusively to ‘written’ texts.

Congratulations to:

  • Dr. Catherine McMahon and Neil Bryant on the recent birth of their baby girl, Lauren Grace Bryant McMahon
  • Helen Slatyer who was successful in obtaining $21,955 through the Macquarie University Research Development Grant Scheme for a project entitled “Exploring healthcare interpreting in Australia. Perceptions of role and practice.”
  • Professor Stephen Crain who has received funding of $25,000 from Harvard University in order to host a Harvard/Macquarie workshop on Language, Learning and Logic. 

With great sadness

Many staff and alumni will remember fondly our colleague, Frances Wilson, who sadly passed away on Monday 24 May after a 10 month battle with motor neurone disease. The enthusiastic support Frances gave for more than 20 years to so many of us through her librarianship and service to the NCELTR Resource Centre, the AMEP and Macquarie University Library has been widely appreciated and very much missed. The Linguistics Department at Macquarie University wishes to express our deepest sympathies to all of Frances Wilson’s family and friends. Below is the link to the Sydney Morning Herald’s notice http://www.onlinetributes.com.au/Frances_Wilson

From the Linguistics Postgraduate Office

Applications for Semester 2 intake
Students wishing to commence a Postgraduate course in Semester 2 , 2010 should note that applications are being accepted from now up until the closing dates of  30th June (for on Campus study).  Note that applications have already closed for distance study. Further information about Linguistics Postgraduate programs can be found at http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/postgraduate/coursework.htm

Enrolment dates for semester 2
Continuing students are able to add or change their semester 2 unit enrolment anytime from now until 5th July, and then from Thursday 15th July until Sunday 1st August. Classes for Semester 2 commence on Monday 2nd August.
Please be aware that the very last date to withdraw from a Semester 2 unit without Academic or financial penalty (early withdrawn) is 31st August (Census date).
Further information about enrolment dates can be found here: http://www.student.mq.edu.au/enrol/current/datesInfo.html

Release of Semester 1, 2010 examination results
Exam results will be available on the web from Tuesday 13th July, 12.01am.
If you are an undergraduate student expecting to complete the requirements for your degree this semester, you should complete an “I expect to complete” form available from here: http://www.reg.mq.edu.au/academic-index.html
Postgraduate students do not need to complete this form however all students expecting to graduate should check their qualification and graduation details via student immediately following the release of exam results. If you have not qualified for an award but believe you should have, please contact apsinfo@mq.edu.au

Macquarie Linguists in the media

  • The language of the Federal budget speeches
    Dr Annabelle Lukin from the Centre for Language and Social Life has been analysing the language of the budget and comparing Wayne Swan, Federal Treasurer's previous two speeches and Peter Costello's budget speeches as well as Tony Abbott’s recent budget reply speech. The following links from The Age, ABC Ballarat and the Sydney Morning Herald relate to some of the recent media mentions regarding Annabelle’s study.  See Macquarie University’s report on this.

  • An interview with Ingrid Piller
    Professor Ingrid Piller’s interview with Laurel Kamada from Tohoku University appears here in the JALT online publication The Language Teacher http://www.jalt-publications.org/archive/tlt/2010/03/art6.pdf  Ingrid Piller will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming International Gender and Language Association (IGALA6) Conference in Tokyo from September 18-20, 2010. For conference information go to orc.tsuda.ac.jp/IGALA/ocs

From the Applied Linguistics and Language in Education Research Centre (ALLE RC)

Professor Anne Burns' position as Professor within the Department of Linguistics and as Director of ALLE was ceased on 14 May after 20 years with the Department. Anne worked at the National Centre of English Language Teaching and Research (NCELTR) and the Adult Migrant English Program Research Centre for 15 years, and for the last five years as the Director of the ALLE Research Centre.  She played a major role in the development of the Masters in Applied Linguistics and Doctorate of Applied Linguistics Programs and had extensive experience of teaching and supervising on distance learning programs. Anne is internationally known for her work with the AMEP, particularly in the areas of teacher education and action research. Her latest books are The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (2009, edited with Professor Jack C. Richards), which was shortlisted for the 2009 Ben Warren Prize, and Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners (2010,Routledge).

End of IELTS monopoly in Australia

Many readers will be interested in the following article which recently appeared in The Australian reporting that “Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans has given in-principle approval for rival tests to be officially recognised for checks of English proficiency when overseas students or workers seek visas.”  Go to http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/chris-evans-ok-tests-language-examiners/story-e6frgcjx-1225868354315

Linguistics research seminars

The Linguistics Research Seminar Series for 2010 is held in the Linguistics seminar room (W5C221) and seminars are held on various Mondays throughout the year from 11 am to 12 pm. All are welcome to attend. Upcoming seminars for this series include:

August 9 - Professor Trevor Johnston and Ms Della Goswell
August 23 - Dr. John Knox
September 13 – Dr. Felicity Cox
October 18 – Dr. Jan Tent

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

Career workshops for research students

  • Wed 9 June at 1pm in Room E4A Level 6 - Resumes and Cover Letters
  • Thurs 24 June at 1pm in Room W6A 107- How to Network and Build Contacts

You can register via CareerHub: www.careerhub.mq.edu.au/login.chpx Under ‘Events’ on RHS, click on ‘view all events’ then locate ‘workshops’ and view all workshops to find the one that you are interested in attending. For further information, contact  Linda Yeomans, Career Learning & Development Specialist PostGrad linda.yeomans@mq.edu.au.

From the Academic Literacy Group (ALG)

(For academic staff) - Your assistance required for developing resources for your linguistics students
In order to assist us in developing more discipline-specific academic literacy resources for your postgraduate linguistics students, Tessa Green and John Knox are asking staff to provide them with recent copies of your assignment questions including assessment criteria, and any exam questions you have set. Could you please forward these to John as soon as possible.

Postgraduate academic literacy workshops for all Macquarie students
With funding from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Provost), the Linguistics Department continues to roll out a new series of postgraduate academic literacy workshops which are suitable for all on campus postgraduate coursework students enrolled at Macquarie. These workshops are free of charge and designed to assist students with their writing, reading and speaking skills. For more information on the various academic literacy resources available, go to http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/support/academic_literacy.htm

Undergraduate academic literacy units for credit
The Linguistics Department is pleased to offer in 2010 three new undergraduate units for credit are available for undergraduate students needing to develop their academic literacy in science, business and economics, or social sciences and the humanities. In the new 2010 curriculum, the units are offered as People Units and are strongly recommended for students who have obtained a Band 4 or less in HSC English (or the equivalent) or less than a 7 in IELTS (or the equivalent). For further information on these new academic literacy units for credit, go to: http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/support/academic_literacy_credit.htm

Writing website for Linguistics postgraduate students
Linguistics postgraduate students can access LINGPWS The Linguistics Postgraduate Writing-Skills website throughout their candidature. This is a resource designed to assist Linguistics students with their academic literacy. 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

Writing and communication skills support for on-campus linguistics postgraduate students
The Linguistics Postgraduate Writing Skills Program is designed to help students of linguistics improve their academic literacy whilst they are enrolled in postgraduate linguistics subjects. This program includes writing workshops, speaking and listening seminars and presentation skills workshops. Further information on the semester 2 2010 timetable and for instructions about how to enrol go to http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/support/writing_skills/on_campus.htm

From the Macquarie University library

As the semester is rapidly coming to a close this is a reminder if you need any last minute assistance with finding resources for your assignments please do not hesitate to contact either one of us. We look forward to working with you throughout the year. (Karen Marks - karen.marks@mq.edu.au and Jo Hardy - jo.hardy@mq.edu.au)

The latest Library Newsletter for the Health Sciences is now available at the following link: http://www.library.mq.edu.au/academic-staff/newsletters/newsletter_issue_18.pdf.

The following resources have recently been added to the Library Collection and are now available for borrowing:

  • Routledge handbook of forensic linguistics / edited by Malcolm Coulthard and Alison Johnson. New York, N.Y. : Routledge, 2010. Main Collection HV8073.5 .R68 2010.
  • Routledge handbook of corpus linguistics / [editors] Anne O'Keeffe and Michael McCarthy. New York, NY : Routledge, 2010. Main Collection  P128.C68 R68 2010.
  • Strategic language learning: the roles of agency and context / Xuesong (Andy) Gao. Gao, Xuesong. Buffalo, N.Y. : Multilingual Matters, 2010. Main Collection. PE1068.C5 G36 2010.
  • Meaning in context: strategies for implementing intelligent applications of language studies / edited by Jonathan J. Webster. London ; New York: Continuum, c2008. Main Collection. P325 .M395 2008.
  • Teaching grammar in the context of narrative / by Kathy Rushton. Marrickville, N.S.W.: Primary English Teaching Association, 2010. Curriculum Collection (Level 3). PE1065 .P4 no 010 2010.
  • Language for writing / Siegfried Engelmann, Jean Osborn. Columbus, OH: SRA/McGraw-Hill, c2006. Curriculum Collection (Level 3). PE1112 .E4534 2006.
  • Japanese language teaching : a communicative approach / Alessandro G. Benati. London ; New York : Continuum, c2009. Main Collection. PL539.5.E5 B46.
  • Encyclopedic dictionary of semiotics / general editors, Thomas A. Sebeok, Marcel Danesi ; editorial board, Myrdene Anderson ... [et al.]. , 3rd ed., rev. and updated. Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, c2010. Reference Collection (Level 2) [Not for Loan]. P99 .E65 2010.
  • Etymological dictionary of the Hittite inherited lexicon / by Alwin Kloekhorst.
    Leiden ; Boston, MA : Brill, 2008. Reference Collection (Level 2) [Not for Loan] P945 .Z8 2008.
  • Etymological dictionary of proto-Celtic / by Ranko Matasović. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2009. Reference Collection (Level 2) [Not for Loan] PB1083.5 .M38 2009.
  • Linguistic history of Arabic / Jonathan Owens. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2006. Main Collection. PJ6075.O95 2006.
  • Change in contemporary English: a grammatical study / Geoffrey Leech ... [et al.]. Leech, Geoffrey N. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009. Main Collection. P128.C68 L43 2009.
  • Key terms in systemic functional linguistics / Christian M. I. M. Matthiessen, Kazuhiro Teruya and Marvin Lam. London : Continuum, c2010. Main Collection P147 .M38.
  • Text and context in functional linguistics / edited by Mohsen Ghadessy. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: J. Benjamins, c1999. Main Collection. P325.5.C65 T48 1999.
  • Etymological dictionary of Latin and the other Italic languages / by Michiel de Vaan. Leiden ; Boston : Brill, c2008. Reference Collection (Level 2) [Not for Loan] PA2518 .V33 2008.

Upcoming conferences, symposia and workshops

Call for papers - 4th International Free Linguistics - 9th-10th October 2010, The University of Sydney www.freelinguistics.org Freedom from subfield divisions.  Freedom from themes. Freedom from fees. (Abstract submission deadline: Thursday August 12, 2010). We are pleased to announce that the 4th International Free Linguistics Conference is now accepting papers.  Please find our Call for Papers below and attached.  We would be much obliged to you if you could please circulate this to your colleagues and students on our behalf. Registrations are also open at www.freelinguistics.org/register and will remain so until the day before the conference (please note that registration is free).

Language, Culture and Social Connectedness in our Diverse Landscape: One-day symposium at University of Southern Queensland, Australia.
Applied Linguistics/TESOL and Faculty of Education at USQ invite you to join their symposium on September 22 in Toowoomba. The Call for Proposals is open and ends on June 9. Early bird registration is available until July 31. For details see the website http://www.usq.edu.au/lcdl

ASFLA10 Conference is to be held in Adelaide in September this year. Detailed information about the Conference and the Pre-conference Institute, including the Call for papers, can be found at the ASFLA10 website at http://www.asfla2010.net 

Please note that the referred conference proceedings from ASFLA 2009 conference, held at QUT in Brisbane, have been finalised and uploaded to http://www.asfla.org.au

MRC 2010 -The 6th International Workshop on Modelling and Reasoning in Context in conjunction with ECAI 2010 -The 19th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Lisbon, Portugal.
MRC 2010 is a multidisciplinary workshop looking at issues of context, in particular, at how information from different approaches to context can be integrated. It is a very open and friendly community, with very lively discussions. Proceedings are published and we try to do a special journal issue each year. This year MRC is being held at ECAI 2010 in Lisbon. More information is at http://events.idi.ntnu.no/mrc2010/

AILA 2011 (Beijing)
For those not familiar with this conference, it is something like the 'applied linguistics olympics' (held every three years), and is a great conference to attend, with many of the leading scholars in applied linguistics presenting. Many Macquarie people plan to be there (including our research students).  We look forward to seeing you there too. http://www.aila2011.org/en/

For researchers

From the Macquarie University Postgraduate Representative Association (MUPRA)

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, find further information and the latest news at http://www.mq.edu.au/mupra

Prospect Journal ceases publication
Please note: Prospect ceased publication in 2009. This page remains as an archive only - http://www.ameprc.mq.edu.au/resources/prospect

Prospect: An Australian Journal of Teaching/Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) acted as a forum for those professionally involved in TESOL and applied linguistics. It reflected research and professional issues in TESOL and applied linguistics, including the adult and school sectors. It also explored the relationship between research, theory, practice and professional development.

New publications

International Commercial Arbitration Project
Details are available here regarding the most recent volume (in presss) regarding Professor Chris Candlin’s international project on International Commercial Arbitration.

From Equinox
Recent publications from Equinox including a re-titled journal can be found here.

From Palgrave MacMillan
Details are available here for the upcoming book on Discourses of Deficit edited by Professor Chris Candlin and Jonathan Crichton (PhD Macquarie) which includes chapters from other distinguished Macquarie Linguistics alumni and colleagues (Beth Armstrong,Lynne Mortensen, Alison Ferguson, Sally Candlin, Arthur Firkins and Rodney Jones).

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@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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