Pre-Conference Workshops

lanna Réamhchomhdhála

5 July 2006                     5 Iúil 2006

Pre-Conference Workshops will be held on Wednesday 5 July 2006 under the titles

1.  Language variety: the case of Irish-English

2.  Current Issues in the Sociolinguistics of Irish 

3.  Knowledge Transfer.

The workshops will be held in parellel and followed by a session devoted to

  Future trends in publishing in sociolinguistic journals.

The workshops are designed for researchers, particularly postgraduates who feel they may benefit from discussion with experts in these important areas for sociolinguistic research, whether or not it is their primary area of specialisation.  The sessions will finish in time for the SS16 Welcome Reception in the Atrium of the University Concert Hall.

For further information or to contact the convenors of the workshops, please send an e-mail message to ss16@ul.ie with the subject title "Pre-Conference Workshop".

Timetable

Meet with workshop convenors at UL Main Reception at 10.45. Coffee will be available at 11.00 for participants. The workshops will consist of two 2 hour sessions, either side of lunch, 11.00-13.00 and 14.00-16.00. Lunchwill be provided.

Rooms

1.  Language variety: the case of Irish-English: C1056

2.  Current Issues in the Sociolinguistics of Irish : C1062

3.  Knowledge Transfer: C1061

Registration

Registration for the pre-conference postgraduate workshops is free for those who are also registering to attend the whole of SS16. A fee of 40 euro will apply to those who wish to attend the workshops but will not be registering for the conference. All those wishing to attend must complete the separate registration form for the workshops which is available here as a downloadable MS Word document. As of 27 June 2006, there are still a very small number of places  available in each workshop.

Pre-Conference Workshop Registration Form

Please send the form as an attachment to SS16@ul.ie , with the subject line "Pre-Conference Workshop Registration".

Workshops

1. Language variety: the case of Irish-English

Convenors: Fiona Farr (University of Limerick), Anne O'Keeffe (Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick)

Aims:

This workshop will explore the notion of real language use from the perspectives of geographical variety and the increasing importance of genre and its influence on variety. Using computerised databases of different types of language the workshop will introduce participants to corpus-based approaches to the analysis of spoken and written language with a particular focus on Irish English usage vis-à-vis other varieties.

Format:

Introduction to research and discussion on language variety.

Some examples of inter and intra-varietal features from corpora.

Introduction to the principles of corpus-based analyses. 

Hands-on tasks exploring various genres of Irish English relative to other varieties.

2. Current Issues in the Sociolinguistics of Irish

Convenors: Tadhg Ó hIfearnÁin (University of Limerick), Muiris Ó Laoire (Institute of Technology, Tralee)

Aims:

The current sociolinguistic situation of the Irish language, the Gaelic language which is an official language in Ireland but spoken regularly only by a minority of the population, is widely cited in the sociolinguistic literature, but often misunderstood. This workshop will explore current issues with regard to Irish as a community language, its position and role in wider society, and  language planning in Ireland from corpus, status and acquisition perspectives.

Format:

Introduction to research and discussion on current issues in Irish sociolinguistics: a brief overview of the sociolinguistic literature on Irish and of current research.

Bilingualism; diglossia; language shift and revitalisation.

It will be possible to adjust the programme to the needs and interests of participants in the workshop after pre-workshop discussion.

3. Knowledge Transfer

Led by Joan Beal (University of Sheffield) and Paul Foulkes (University of York)

Knowledge Transfer, also known variously as ‘Third Arm/ Leg/ Stream’ is  increasingly being emphasised in the mission statements of universities and research councils. Whilst colleagues in Science and Engineering concentrate on ‘technology transfer’ and partnerships with industry, in Arts and Social Sciences the range of activities is greater, including collaborations with museums, galleries and charitable organisations, working with schools, dissemination of research findings in the media and non-academic publications, and consultancy.

In this workshop, Joan Beal will provide an overview of Knowledge Transfer activities in Language and Linguistics, demonstrating how these can complement rather than compete with research. There will be sessions devoted to dissemination and consultancy, and participants will be encouraged to consider the potential of their own research for knowledge transfer.

This workshop is suitable for postgraduates, especially those nearing completion, and for those in academic posts.

Joan Beal is Professor of English Language and Director of the National Centre for English Cultural Tradition at the University of Sheffield . She teaches a Research Training module on Knowledge Transfer, offered to final-year PhD students in the Arts Faculty at Sheffield . From 2002-5, she was Innovation Fellow for the Faculty, a role which involved liaising with businesses and other outside organisations, and championing knowledge transfer activities within the Faculty.

4. Sociolinguistic Journals

This session will take place at 16.30 in the Jean Monnet Lecture Theatre (JM). It will last for approximately 60 minutes. There are now a large number of sociolinguistics journals serving the profession. This session will provide an interactive forum for editors of some of the leading journals to discuss the contents of their journals and what areas they would like to develop or in which they would like to attract  submissions in the short to medium term.