Pre-conference worshops have also been organised and will be held on 28th June (morning).

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Writing for Beyond the Ivory Tower

Christine Feak (University of Michigan, US)

ABSTRACT

The push towards making research accessible to the broader public adds another layer of complexity to the writing that scholars do. Scholars are now being expected to write plain language summaries not only for research articles, but for department websites, blogs, and even funding proposals. Writing to improve public understanding of science does not come easily to most researchers. This raises the question of how to “translate” complex research for different audiences so that it is easy to understand for a general audience. Is it a matter of merely eliminating technical terminology and simplifying vocabulary? Or is there something more to be done?

In this hands-on workshop, we will focus on strategies to communicate research in writing for a broad audience. We will analyze different texts to understand the similarities and differences between a text targeting experts and one on the same topic targeting a broader audience. We will discuss the elements of a nonexpert text that contribute to successful understanding and spend time on a revision activity.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Compiling and Annotating Professional Spoken Corpora: Trends, Tools, and Recommendations

Eric Friginal (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

ABSTRACT

This workshop overviews the process of designing, compiling, and annotating professional spoken corpora, in particular, English-based workplace interactions across multiple (multilingual and multicultural) settings. I will present a summary of corpus-based approaches to text transcription and annotation, advancements in Multimodal Annotation, and current/future approaches and directions.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Integrating New Digital Academic Genres into the Writing Classroom

Christine Tardy (University of Arizona, US)

ABSTRACT

Today’s landscape of academic writing is evolving. While genres like research articles and grant proposals still tend to hold the highest stakes and prestige for writers, researchers can also now communicate their work through emerging genres like video explainers, informational social media posts, podcasts, and infographics. These newer forms of communication offer a means for developing writers’ understanding of audience and identity and can play a valuable role in LSP instruction. In this workshop, we will explore the why and how of bringing emerging digital academic genres into the LSP classroom. Participants will leave with concrete ideas for using such genres to help their students develop rhetorical flexibility.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: Qualitative Methods for Investigating Academic Literacy Development

Laura-Mihaela MURESAN (Bucharest University of Economic Studies)

ABSTRACT

In this Workshop we will start by exploring the relationship between the author’s research question(s) and the methodological approaches opted for. The focus will be on Qualitative Analysis, illustrated through a selection of studies investigating academic literacy development in different country contexts. The proposed activities will allow us to compare methodological approaches and selection criteria of a specific approach in relation to the intended research purpose, as well as to discuss how we can enhance the validity and reliability of qualitative research. What does it entail, in practical terms, to conduct a focus group, for instance, as compared to an interview? How can we enhance the value of (self-)reflection? How can we integrate collaborative approaches? What follows after the data gathering stage? These are only some of the aspects we aim to look into, and the participants will be encouraged to contribute examples from their own research experience.

Muresan, L.-M. & Orna-Montesinos, C. (Eds.). (2021). Academic Literacy Development: Perspectives on Multilingual Scholars’ Approaches to Writing. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62877-2