Facilitator: Graham Squires, University of Newcastle

The Language and Culture Research Group has been established to facilitate cooperation between LCNAU members working in different disciplines, language areas and universities on an ongoing basis. We hope to create an ongoing discourse amongst researchers in different disciplines and institutions that will foster both collegiality and innovation across the sector.

The activities of the group will include one-day ‘mini-conferences’, which are free to all financial members of LCNAU.

Reports on past mini-conferences

The second mini-conference organized by the Language and Culture Research Group was held at the Defence Force School of Languages in Laverton, Victoria on November 14, 2016. The event was organized by Anna Ivanova, Head of Development DFSL with the assistance of Mojgan Rezai. Many of the papers highlighted the work of the DFSL which is very different to the kind of language teaching and learning that goes on at civilian universities. The papers were all interesting and well presented. The hospitality was also warm and generous so attendees had an informative and enjoyable day. The presentations were as follows:

  • Wing Commander Paul Deighton, Commanding Officer DFSL Opening remarks
  • Mr Robert Tynem, Army Manager Languages  Army Linguists in the ADF: Language training, preparation and employment
  • Ms Anna Ivanova, DFSL Head of Development DFSL: language teaching and learning context
  • Ms Mandy Wimetal (Tetum Dept), DFSL Military briefing scenarios for language consolidation and reinforcement
  • Mrs. Kwishik Ahn (Korean Dept) and Mr. Emil Abdel-Malak (Arabic Dept), DFSL Operational Engagement between LSP and the foundational stream: Striking the right balance
  • Mr Julien Leyre, Monash University Designing language learning activities to build self-awareness and resilience in situations of ambiguity
  • Ms Novy Arnost (Head of Indo-Malay Wing) and Ms Ratna Setiabudi (Indonesian Dept), DFSL  Strategic Engagement course In Country Training
  • Dr Graham Squires, University of Newcastle Developing an on line Japanese language program for first year students
  • Mr Bede Harradine (Indonesian Dept), DFSL Maintaining content currency in a language course : tips and strategies from a DFSL Strategic Engagement Course
  • Scott Grant, Monash University Virtually Enhanced Languages (VEL) project
  • Mr Bin Sheik Husain (BL Dept) and Mr Fabrice Pilon (French Dept), DFSL Enhanced LOTE Learning through the use of DFSL Moodle-Based Platform
  • Mr Jason Telford (Knowledge Manager), DFSL Consumer virtual reality experiences in support of Language and Cultural Training
  • Wing Commander Paul Deighton, CO DFSL Closing remarks

The first of the mini-conferences was held at the University of Newcastle on Thursday June 16, 2016.

The conference was successful in providing academics from a range of institution with the opportunity to interact informally and through this build professional links. The following papers were presented:

  • Sun Tzu & The Art of Language, Graham Squires, University of Newcastle.
  • Defence Force School of Languages Strategic Engagement Course – Design Phase, Anya Ivanova, Defence Force School of Languages.
  • Project-Based Learning For A Post-Beginner Level Japanese Subject: Setting a Task That Encourages Real Language Use, Watanabe Yasuhisa, University of Melbourne.
  • Learning Japanese In Collaborative Digital Storytelling Projects: Sociocultural Perspectives, Nishioka Hiromi, Macquarie University.
  • Indebtedness as Linguistic Politeness: Pragmatic Perspective in Japanese Persuasive Discourse, Chavalin Svetanant, Macquarie University.
  • ‘Questioning Residual Colonial Orders Of Dominance’: Using the French Empire to Approach Global French Studies, Alexis Bergantz, University of Technology Sydney.
  • The Autobiographical Recount Genre: A Comparison of Spanish L1 and Spanish L2 Writing, Lorely Aponte Ortiz & Elena Sheldon, University of Technology Sydney.
  • Relative Clauses in Languages With(out) Relative Clauses, Alan Libert, University of Newcastle & Supakorn Phoocharoensil, Thammasat University.
  • A Case Study Of Primary School Persian Heritage Language Learners In Australia, Mojgan Mokhatebi Ardakani, Macquarie University.

For more information about the Language and Culture Research Group contact Graham Squires.