Biography
Jean Conacher is Senior Lecturer in German within the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics and an active member of the Centre for Applied Language Studies at the University of Limerick.
Her research interests include GDR Studies, literature and film in post-unification Germany, and language-in-education policy, pedagogy and practice. She welcomes enquiries from potential postgraduate students in any of these areas. Recent supervisions include Clive Earls's doctoral study of English-medium degree programmes in Germany (PhD awarded 2013) which was published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2016.
Her publications include Perceptions and Perspectives: Exploring Connections between Ireland and the GDR (ed. with Gisela Holfter and Deirdre Byrnes, 2019), German Reunification and the Legacy of GDR Literature and Culture (ed. with Deirdre Byrnes and Gisela Holfter, 2018), and Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration (ed. with Barbara Geraghty, Bloomsbury, 2014). A monograph entitled Transformation and Education in the Literature of the GDR was published by Camden House in January 2020.
Research Interests
GDR Studies; literature and film in post-unification Germany; language-in-education policy, pedagogy and practice; new language-learning environments
If you are interested in collaborative projects and/or postgraduate supervision in any of the above areas, please contact me at jean.conacher@ul.ie.
Teaching Interests
My teaching interests are wide-ranging and research-informed.
Within German Studies, I teach language, literature and culture across a range of modules, with a particular interest in GDR Studies, 20th & 21st century literature and applied language studies (grammar in context, translation and interpreting).
At postgraduate level within Teacher Education, I am centrally involved in the teaching of language pedagogy (particularly target-language teaching, learner autonomy and syllabus & planning for the language classroom) for students on the Professional Masters in Education (Languages).
Professional Activities
Education
- 2018 Institute of Linguists - Diploma in Translation
- 1991 University of Aberdeen - Ph.D.
- 1986 University of Aberdeen - Master of Arts
Association
- 2009 Member, Committee for Modern Language, Literary and Cultural Studies, Royal Irish Academy
- 2008 Co-Chair, Association of Third-Level Teachers of German in Ireland (ATLTGI)
- 2007 Committee Member (co-opted), Association of Third-Level Teachers of German in Ireland (ATLTGI)
- 1997 ordinary member, German Studies Association of Ireland (formerly ATLTGI)
- 1990 Member, Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland
Employment
- 2000 Scottish CILT, University of Stirling - Research & Development Fellow
- 1996 University of Limerick - Senior Lecturer in German
- 1991 University of Limerick - Lecturer in German
- 1990 University of Limerick - Assistant Lecturer in German
- 1988 University of Aberdeen - Demonstrator, Department of German
- 1986 Wilhelm-Pieck-Universität, Rostock, GDR - Gastlektorin für Englisch
Award
- 1986 - Douglas Yates Prize for German Translation
- 1983 - DAAD Scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service)
Language
- German
- French
- Italian
- Portuguese
Publications
Book
Book Chapter
Adapting Hein's 'Willenbrock': Andreas Dresen and the legacy of the GDR ensemble' tradition
Conacher, JE
Adaptation as a Collaborative Art Process and Practice
DOI: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-25161-1_10
Capturing the Zeitgeist: On Human Experience and Personal Historiography in Helga Königsdorf's 1989 oder Ein Moment Schönheit
Conacher, JE
German Reunification and the Legacy of GDR Literature and Culture
The Enduring Legacy of GDR Literature and Culture: An Introduction
Conacher, JE;Byrnes, D.;Holfter, G.
German Reunification and the Legacy of GDR Literature and Culture
Language as gate-keeper of quality? Exploring Austria's English-only policy for national research funding
Conacher, JE
Multilingualism and English in Twenty-First-Century Europe
DOI: 10.3726/b10460
Language Learning: Communicating in the Contact Zone
Geraghty, B;Conacher, JE
Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration
Migration and Language Contact
Conacher, JE;Geraghty, B.
Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration
Introduction: Approaching Migration, Intercultural Contact and Language Learning
Geraghty, B;Conacher, JE
Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration
Conclusion
Geraghty, B;Conacher, JE
Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration.
Migration and Contact: Community and Individual Experience
Conacher, JE;Geraghty, B
Intercultural Contact, Language Learning and Migration
Internet and Language Learning
Conacher, JE; Royall, F.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning
'Die Sehnsucht nach Zugehörigkeit': An exploration of Heimat in the essays and short stories of Helga Königsdorf
Conacher, JE
Local/Global Narratives
New learning environments: holistic approach or challenge?
Conacher, JE
Holistic Approaches to Language Learning
Laying good foundations: the language resource centre as meeting-place of policy, pedagogical theory and practice
Conacher, JE; Murphy, S
ICT and Language Learning: Integrating Pedagogy and Practice
New language learning and teaching environments: How does ICT fit in?
Conacher, JE; Taalas, P; Vogel, T
ICT and Language Learning: Integrating Pedagogy and Practice
Meeting half way: An exploration of intercultural exchanges
Penman, C; Conacher, JE
Interkulturelles und transkulturelles Lernen im Fremdsprachenunterricht
Helga Königsdorf
Conacher, JE
Encyclopedia of German Literature
LSP research as a basis for classroom applications
Conacher, J.E.;Royall, F.
Issues in Languages for Specific Purposes: Theoretical Approaches and Practical Applications.
The learner's diary: (Self)reflections on the language learning process
Conacher, JE
Ab initio Language Learning. A Guide to Good Practice in Universities and Colleges
Native Speaker to Native Speaker: Crossing the Translation Gap
Conacher, JE
Teaching Translation in Universities. Present and Future Perspectives
Preparing engineering and science students for study abroad: The need for a specific approach
Conacher, JE
Language Needs in Business.
Pressing for change: the case of Helga Königsdorf
Conacher, JE
Women and the Wende: Social Effects and Cultural Reflections of the German Unification Process.
Conference Contribution
Women in German Studies 31st Annual Conference
Conacher, JE
German Studies Association 2019
Conacher, JE
Women's Writing and Science
Conacher, JE
University College Lecture Series (University of Melbourne)
Conacher, J.E.
Literature to Film Film to Literature (NUIG)
Conacher, J.E.,
Edited Book
Other Journal
Zur Optimierung des ERASMUS-Studienaufenthalts im englischsprachigen Raum
Conacher,JE
Zeitschrift für Beratung und Studium
Has anyone seen the translator? Literary translation in theory and practice
Conacher, JE; Ellickson, T
Translation Ireland
Peer Reviewed Journal
Transformation and Education in GDR Youth Literature: A Script Theory Approach
Conacher, JE
International Research in Children's Literature
DOI: 10.3366/ircl.2016.0183
Home Thoughts on Abroad`: Zur Identität und Integration irischer ERASMUS-StudentInnen in Deutschland
Conacher, JE
German As A Foreign Language
An evaluation of the use of new technology for purposes of language learning: the Internet for students of languages
Conacher, JE; Royall, F
Language Learning Journal
Published Report
Assessment of Achievement Programme First Survey of Modern Languages (French and German) 2001
McPake, J., Conacher, J.E., Johnstone, R., Thorpe, G. and S. Kirk,
The Stirling-Besançon Telephone Partnership, 2000-2002: A SCOTLANG Project.
Duncan, A., Conacher, J.E., Low, L. and C. Penman
Evaluation of the Clackmannanshire MLPS Visiting Specialist Programme
Low, L. Johnstone, R., and J.E. Conacher,