Events: BAAL Conference 2013

This year, the 46th Annual conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) will take place at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh from 5 – 7 September. The event is organised by the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies (LINCS) with Dr Bernadette O’Rourke as principal organiser. The local organising committee includes Ms. Rita McDade, Professor Máiréad Nic Craith, Professor Graham Turner, Professor Isabelle Perez, Ms. Elizabeth Thoday, Mr John Cleary, Ms Emma Guion Akdag, Dr Michelle Liao, Mr Ashvin Devasundaram, and Mr Anik Nandi.

BAAL dates back to 1965, and since then it has received encouragement from the leading linguistics scholars in Great Britain including: James Britton, Michael Halliday, Glyn Lewis, Donald Riddy, Frank Palmer, George Perren, David Stern, Peter Strevens, John Trim, and Jean Ure among others.

Over the last few decades, research in the area of applied linguistics has been transformed by an increasing focus on socio-cultural and linguistic change. This adjustment has accompanied increasing globalisation, mobility and human migration alongside new technologies and a shifting political and economic landscape. This year, the conference theme: ‘Opening New Lines of Communication in Applied Linguistics’ addresses the challenges and opportunities these developments present.

To understand the complexity of this new (socio)linguistic reality, the conference explores new lines of communication between sub disciplines within and beyond  applied linguistics. Apart from the central theme, the conference includes a diverse variety of papers spanning the spectrum of applied linguistics, ranging from Language teaching/learning to sociolinguistics. We are expecting more that 300 delegates during the three days of the conference. The plenary or keynote speakers include pioneers of modern day applied linguistics research:

Kathryn Woolard, University of California, San Diego
Jannis Androutsopoulos, Universität Hamburg
Svenja Adolphs, University of Nottingham

Bernie O’Rourke

Email – B.M.A.O’Rourke@hw.ac.uk

Academia – Bernadette O’Rourke

Twitter – @BernORourke

You Might be a Translator if…

LifeinLINCS usually does serious, thought-provoking, analytical posts but it’s summer, so it’s time for a little fun too. So, if you have ever wondered whether you or someone close to you might be a translator, here are some signs to look for:

You might be a translator if…

1)    Your favourite comics have characters who can’t decide between electronic and paper dictionaries.
2)    The nearest you get to a suntan is when you forget to turn down the brightness on one of your three computer monitors.
3)    Seeing the phrase “scanned pdf” sends you running for a crucifix, a clove of garlic and overpriced OCR software
4)    You actually understood number 3.
5)    You write your Christmas and Valentine’s cards using CAT software.
6)    Your CAT crashes and hangs more often than it purrs.
7)    You have complained to your pets about your clients
8)    … in three different languages
9)    … in the past hour alone.
10)    You are not sure whether to find Google Translation funny, annoying or insulting
11)    … but you still secretly use it to get the gist of blog posts written in languages you don’t use
12)    … and you will never, ever openly admit to that!
13)    “Being invited to a party” means “being on an online conference call”
14)    … but you still brought snacks.
15)    You completed a job while still wearing your pyjamas.
16)    People in your family are wondering when you will “get a proper job”.
17)    Your working hours are dictated more by the routine of your children or pets than by the clock.
18)    To you, misplacing a comma is a crime worthy of the death penalty.
19)    The last time you left the house, someone called the police to report a possible intruder in the neighbourhood.
20)    You have a masters degree and a bunch of certificates and yet you still have people asking you to work for less than your local minimum wage.