Pre-Conference Pronunciation Symposium, July 2, 2012
Teaching and learning pronunciation: Local and global perspectives on research and practice
We are pleased to announce a one-day symposium on teaching and learning English pronunciation to be held in conjunction with the Australian Council of TESOL Associations (ACTA) conference in Cairns in July 2012. This symposium will bring together invited experts in different aspects of research and practice in the field and will explore a range of topics related to teaching and learning pronunciation in both local and global contexts. It will feature a half-day colloquium (morning session) followed in the afternoon by concurrent sessions in two streams: one targeting classroom teaching and one targeting research and teacher education.
This symposium represents an exciting opportunity to explore this crucial part of learning English and will be of great benefit to teachers, researchers and teacher educators. For symposium registrants who desire further opportunity to explore pronunciation research and practice, the ACTA conference will follow with a dedicated pronunciation stream and plenary speaker Professor Tracey Derwing.
We are delighted to the have the involvement of the following experts in the field:
Professor Tracey Derwing, Department of Educational Psychology (TESL), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Tracey has published extensively in collaboration with Murray Munro and other colleagues, and has researched many aspects of teaching and learning pronunciation in an ESL context. She has carried out research related to fluency and pronunciation and has investigated the relationship between accent and intelligibility, as well as different approaches to teaching pronunciation in the English classroom. Tracey has also examined the role of the native speaker interlocutor in L2 speaker-monolingual native speaker communication success. Tracey’s work with Murray Munro has had a major influence on L2 pronunciation research and has shaped the way accent and intelligibility are now studied. She has also conducted large-scale studies of immigrant settlement in Canada. Her research has been informed by her holistic approach to L2 speakers’ integration into the larger community. Tracey will also be a plenary speaker at the ACTA conference following the symposium.
Read more about Tracey at: http://www.edpsychology.ualberta.ca/People/AcademicStaff/TraceyMDerwing.aspx
Dr John Field, Centre for Research in English Language Learning and Assessment (CRELLA), University of Bedfordshire, UK.
John is a member of CRELLA, a research unit at the University of Bedfordshire, UK, which focuses on English language learning and assessment. He also teaches cognitive approaches to Second Language Acquisition at the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University; and until recently taught psycholinguistics at the University of Reading, UK. His interests lie in second language listening and in applying ideas from cognitive psychology to an understanding of second language skills. His most recent book, Listening in the Language Classroom (Cambridge University Press, 2008) argues for a radical rethinking of current methodology in the teaching of L2 listening. Amongst other publications, he is the author of a reference work on psycholinguistics (Routledge 2004) aimed at non-specialists.
In an earlier life, John was an ELT materials writer, teacher trainer and consultant. He wrote national coursebooks for Saudi Arabia, TV materials for Mainland China and two radio series for the BBC World Service. He worked with teachers in many parts of the world including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Hong Kong, and Tanzania; and was an inspector of UK private language schools.
Read more about John at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/research/bmri/crella/staff/john_field
Dr Helen Fraser, Independent researcher
Helen taught linguistics and phonetics at the University of New England (Australia) for 18 years, till she left in 2008 to pursue an independent career. Her research focuses on Cognitive Phonetics (the science of speaking and spelling), specialising in second language pronunciation and intercultural speaking and listening skills. She is a highly effective pronunciation coach for second language speakers of English, as well as offering workshops for English speakers wishing to improve their skills of speaking and listening to people with a foreign accent. She also consults as an expert witness in legal matters involving speech evidence, specialising in evaluation of forensic transcripts. Read more on Helen's website http://helenfraser.com.au.
Professor Andy Kirkpatrick, School of Languages and Linguistics, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Before joining Griffith University, Andy was Chair Professor of English as an International Language at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Director of the Institute’s Research Centre into Language Education and Acquisition in Multilingual Societies. His research interests include the development of regional varieties of English, with a particular focus on Asian Englishes. He is editor of A Handbook of World Englishes (Routledge, 2010) and author of English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN: The Multilingual Model (Hong Kong University Press, 2010) and World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and ELT (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Read more about Andy at: http://www.griffith.edu.au/humanities-languages/school-languages-linguistics/staff/professor-andy-kirkpatrick
Associate Professor Ee Ling Low, National Institute of Education, Singapore.
Ee Ling Low is currently the Associate Dean for Programme and Student Development at the National Institute of Education, Singapore and concurrently, an Associate Professor of English Language & Literature at the English Language and Literature Academic Group. Previously (2004–09), she was the Sub-Dean for Degree Programmes. She obtained her PhD in Linguistics (Acoustic Phonetics) from the University of Cambridge, UK under the Nanyang Technological University–National Institute of Education Overseas Graduate Scholarship. In 2008, she won the Fulbright Advanced Research Scholarship which she spent at the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. She was a visiting professor at the Dept of Linguistics at Chulalongkorn University in June 2008. She has published several books on English Linguistics and Phonetics and many articles and book chapters on speech rhythm, stress and intonation which have appeared in journals like AILA Review, Language & Speech, TESOL Quarterly, English Worldwide and World Englishes. She has been an invited speaker to numerous international conferences and symposia. She serves on the editorial board of the Regional Language Centre international journal and one of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association of Singapore. She is also appointed by the government to serve on the national committee of the Speak Good English Movement in Singapore. In 2008–10, she served as the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA), a role for which she was then awarded fellowship of APERA in recognition of her dedication and commitment to her service in 2010.
Read more about Ee Ling Low at: http://www.nie.edu.sg/profile/low-ee-ling
Associate Professor Lynda Yates, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia
Lynda has taught ESOL in France, Egypt, Armenia and the UK, and worked with teachers from around the world on practical issues, particularly in the area of pronunciation and pragmatics teaching. Her research interests include the teaching and assessment of pronunciation, communication skills for adult learners of English and pragmatics in intercultural communication, and she has published and lectured in these areas. She has both a research and a practical interest in the workplace and the study experiences of adult learners of English, and has conducted research related to the assessment of pronunciation and communication issues of international students and immigrant learners of English. Her current research projects focus on the communication issues of professional background adult learners of English.
Read more about Lynda at: http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/about/staff/yates_lynda/
Symposium organisers
Amanda Baker, Lecturer in TESOL, Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Linda Grant, Independent writer and consultant, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Lucy Pickering, Associate Professor, Director of the Applied Linguistics Laboratory, Department of Literature & Languages, Texas A&M-Commerce, Commerce, TX, USA.
Marnie Reed, Associate Professor, Program in Applied Linguistics,
Graduate TESOL Program, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Meg Rosse, Pronunciation Specialist, and Lecturer, Academic Language & Learning, Faculty of Science, Technology & Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Beth Zielinski, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia.
