Linguistics

The impact round table was led by Ros Mitchell and Guy Cook, Diane Larsen-Freeman and Jeanine Treffers-Daller as discussants.

Diane Larsen-Freeman talked about how complexity theory should be applied when researching/talking/disseminating/investigating the different areas in applied linguistics. According to her, problems are not solved in a linear way but rather in a multifaceted manner; issues are not solved in a top-down manner but by specialists getting together and talking about it.

Ros Mitchell presented some examples of pilot projects funded by the Research Excellence Framework. She also highlighted the impact of Tony Young’s research and development of the Dementia Toolkit for Effective Communication. Jeanine Treffers-Daller talked about the importance of drawing attention to the impact of research.

The audience discussion on what kind of research impact is valid in terms of funding (REF) was very interesting. Ros said that if a piece of research that only has impact within Academia wouldn’t be valid. However if, for example, a piece of research has an impact on a wider audience outside academia then it would be more easily accepted.

Finally, Guy Cook claimed that applied linguistics needs to participate more actively in public debates and policies, e.g. language and education, social use of language, etc.

Tomorrow is the last day to check the Evolving English exhibition at the British Library. I visited it some weeks ago and thought it was very interesting. It’s worth checking:

1. The attitudes to language interactive display where you can hear testimonies of a variety of people talking about their use and views of the English language.

2. The linguistic analysis of political discourse and famous speeches.

3. The instruction manuals, pamphlets and elocution guides from the end of the 18th century that were extremely popular among lower-middle-class speakers keen to acquire the prestigious accent (received pronunciation – don’t forget to drop the h!).

4. The personal correspondence section with letters full of repetition, inconsistency, slang and cliche dated from the last two centuries. My favourite one was a cleverly written letter from rather a witty school boy done as his writing practice, probably some kind of homework.

5. The big interactive map with accents from all over the UK.