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Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Limerick, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2015

Angela Chambers ,
David Atkinson  and
Fiona Farr
Angela Chambers
Affiliation:
University of LimerickAngela.Chambers@ul.ie
David Atkinson
Affiliation:
University of LimerickDavid.Atkinson@ul.ie
Fiona Farr
Affiliation:
University of LimerickFiona.Farr@ul.ie
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The Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS), founded in 1997, brings together researchers and postgraduate students from several disciplines in language studies, and is structured in three research clusters: New learning environments; Discourse, society and identity; and Plurilingualism and language policy. There is a certain amount of overlapping between the clusters, and several researchers are active in more than one cluster. Thus research in language teacher education is present both in the New learning environments cluster and in Discourse, society and identity. Corpus-based methodologies are also prominent in both these clusters. Furthermore, discourse analysis is present as a methodology in all three. The following sections provide information on current research and selected research outcomes within the three research clusters from 2011 to 2013.

Information

Type
Research in Progress
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 288 - 292
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

The Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS),Footnote 1 founded in 1997, brings together researchers and postgraduate students from several disciplines in language studies, and is structured in three research clusters: New learning environments; Discourse, society and identity; and Plurilingualism and language policy. There is a certain amount of overlapping between the clusters, and several researchers are active in more than one cluster. Thus research in language teacher education is present both in the New learning environments cluster and in Discourse, society and identity. Corpus-based methodologies are also prominent in both these clusters. Furthermore, discourse analysis is present as a methodology in all three. The following sections provide information on current research and selected research outcomes within the three research clusters from 2011 to 2013.

The Centre currently has 68 members, which includes associate members from other Irish and European universities, and 22 doctoral researchers. Recent developments in CALS include two structured Ph.D. programmes, one in Applied Language Studies and one in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

1. New learning environments

Research in this cluster focuses on a number of areas within language learning and teaching, including aspects of language teacher education, the use of online tools in language learning, and academic writing. Mishan (Reference Mishan2011), for example, examines the potential of problem-based learning in language teacher development, while O’Keeffe & Farr (Reference O’Keeffe, Farr, Biber and Reppen2012) investigate the role of language corpora in initial teacher education. Riordan (Reference Riordan, Hourigan, Murray and Riordan2011) assesses the integration and quality of online tools in language teacher education. In the context of language learning research, the use of online tools such as the discussion forum, wiki and blog in learning and teaching about culture was the subject of Florence Le Baron-Earle's doctoral thesis, and has led to publications examining how these tools can contribute to the acquisition of intercultural competence (Le Baron-Earle Reference Le Baron-Earle, Alderete-Diez, Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Ni Dhonnachadha and Ni Uigin2012). Alfonso & Giralt (Reference Alfonso and Giralt2013) examine the role of multimodal discourse and oral language skills in digital portfolios for language learning.

Academic writing is the subject of research in CALS from two perspectives. On the one hand, corpora of academic writing are investigated to see how they can contribute to the teaching of languages for specific purposes to undergraduate students of biotechnology (Rodgers, Chambers & Le Baron-Earle Reference Rodgers, Chambers and Le Baron-Earle2011), or to the teaching of academic writing to novice researchers in economics (Carter-Thomas & Chambers Reference Carter-Thomas, Chambers, Boulton, Carter-Thomas and Rowley-Jolivet2012). On the other hand, colleagues in the Writing Centre focus on ways to encourage academic writing development among undergraduate students in general (O’Sullivan & Cleary Reference O’Sullivan and Cleary2012). This is one example of how CALS research includes contributions to research through hosting conferences and publishing selected papers. Similarly, Farr & O’Keeffe (Reference Farr and O’Keeffe2011) edited a special issue of the International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, which included articles based on papers delivered at the IVACS (Intervarietal Applied Corpus Studies) conference in Limerick in 2008, and which also includes contributions on academic writing.

2. Discourse, society and identity

The second research focus within the Centre is on language in context. The interrelationship between language, society and identity is important here, and varietal and pragmatic accounts are strong themes within this cluster. Two general publications on discourse analysis, pragmatics and corpora are Vaughan (Reference Vaughan, Arthur, Waring, Coe and Hedges2012) and Vaughan & Clancy (Reference Vaughan and Clancy2013). More specifically, the type of discourse used in language teacher education contexts features here and has expanded into new discourse types. Investigations into a range of synchronous and asynchronous online modes of interaction can be found in Riordan & Murray (Reference Riordan and Murray2010), with a specific focus on blogs in Riordan (Reference Riordan, Farr and Moriarty2012). Online discourse is compared with more traditional face-to-face modes found in discussions and teaching practice feedback sessions in Farr & Riordan (Reference Farr and Riordan2012), which provides insights into the various affordances offered by different modes of communication and their potential place as development agents on teacher education programmes. All of these studies employ a corpus-based discourse analysis methodology, which is a strong feature of CALS research in the arenas of discourse and application as seen in the previous section.

Context is also influential in a geographically nuanced sense with research continuing to emerge on aspects of Irish society and its many discourses. A good example of this is the Baumgart & Farr (Reference Baumgart, Farr, Egger and McDonagh2011) study, which examines the integration of Polish teenagers into the Irish secondary school system, outlining persisting issues concerning integrational and linguistic factors. Research into Irish English continues to take a strong pragmatic focus with general themes such as that found in Vaughan & Clancy's (Reference Vaughan and Clancy2011) article ‘Pragmatics and Irish-English’. Others examine Irish English through a more focussed lens, for example, the use of vocatives (Murphy & Farr Reference Murphy, Farr, Migge and Ni Chiosain2012), and the use of specific linguistic items such as ‘now’ in Clancy & Vaughan (Reference Clancy, Vaughan, Migge and Ní Chosáin2012).

3. Plurilingualism and language policy

The work of CALS on the interaction of macro and micro aspects of language policy has continued to develop and diversify. A prominent strand of this work is a focus on the situation of the Irish language, the results of which have been published in both Irish (for example, edited collections such as Ó hIfearnáin & Ní Neachtain Reference Ó hIfearnáin and Ní Neachtain2012) and English. Publications have included contributions to the study of many aspects of language policy and planning in the Irish context such as: language maintenance (e.g. Ó hIfearnáin Reference Ó hIfearnáin, Norrby and Hajek2011); language attitudes (e.g. Ó hIfearnáin Reference Ó hIfearnáin2013a); and standardisation (e.g. Ó hIfearnáin Reference Ó hIfearnáin, Ó hIfearnáin and Ní Neachtain2012). Further work has also been published on other minoritised language contexts such as Sami (e.g. Kelly-Holmes Reference Kelly-Holmes, Pietikäinen and Kelly-Holmes2013); Breton (e.g. Ó hIfearnáin Reference Ó hIfearnáin2013b); and Catalan (e.g. Atkinson & Moriarty Reference Atkinson and Moriarty2012).

Much recent work has also contributed to and benefitted from a productive synergy with CALS activities in the area of Discourse, society and identity. In many cases this has involved discursive analysis of (language) ideologies and their relationships, whether more or less direct, to issues of planning and policy, in arenas such as: comedy (Atkinson & Kelly-Holmes Reference Atkinson and Kelly-Holmes2011, Moriarty Reference Moriarty2011); politics (e.g. Atkinson Reference Atkinson and Lorenzo-Dus2011); tourism (e.g. Kelly-Holmes, Pietikäinen & Moriarty Reference Kelly-Holmes, Pietikäinen and Moriarty2011) and commerce (e.g. Pietikäinen & Kelly-Holmes Reference Pietikäinen and Kelly-Holmes2011). Analysis of language and the media has also continued to expand (e.g. Kelly-Holmes & Milani Reference Kelly-Holmes and Milani2011, Reference Kelly-Holmes and Milani2013). This has involved a substantial amount of work relating to online discourse by both established researchers (e.g. Kelly-Holmes Reference Kelly-Holmes2011) and CALS colleagues who have recently completed doctoral studies in this area (e.g. Lenihan Reference Lenihan, Thurlow and Mroczek2011).

There has also been a notable increase in contributions from CALS members to a wide variety of influential special issues, handbooks and encyclopaedias (e.g. Moriarty Reference Moriarty2010; Kelly-Holmes & Pietikäinen Reference Kelly-Holmes, Pietikäinen and Chapelle2012; Kelly-Holmes Reference Kelly-Holmes, Martin-Jones, Blackledge and Creese2012).

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