News and events
The RCLC runs a regular research seminar program during teaching time. The program of upcoming seminars is available on-line (PDF, 150kb). To receive weekly email announcements of the following week's seminar, please contact Tim.Curnow@unisa.edu.au.
The Centre's annual symposium for 2009, examining 'The Current State of Applied Linguistics in Australia', will be held on 19-20 November in Adelaide. More details on this exciting symposium will appear here soon.
September 2009
- Kathleen Heugh gave a series of invited papers on linguistic diversity in Africa for the European Commission's Sustainable Development in Diversity Network at the University of Naples in Procida, the Centre for Research on Bilingualism at Stockholm University, and the MIDP Conference on Language Planning from Below at the University of Antwerp.
- Angela Scarino, Tony Liddicoat and Tim Curnow have recently received a grant for $45,000 from the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to undertake research and development for a revised Draft National Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools, 2009-2012.
- Angela Scarino and Andrew Scrimgeour have been appointed to the national expert group to advise the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) in its work in developing the national curriculum for languages in Australian schools.
- Andrew Scrimgeour has been appointed to lead the 2010 Endeavour Language Teacher Fellowship Study Program, funded by DEEWR and managed by the Asia Education Foundation. Thirty-five trainee and practicing teachers will participate in the program, based in Nanjing and Fuzhou between 30 December 2009 and 22 January 2010.
- Giancarlo Chiro was elected president of the Dante Alighieri Society of South Australia at the AGM held on 30 September 2009. The Società Dante Alighieri was founded in Rome in 1889 by the Nobel prize winning poet, Giosuè Carducci to support the diffusion of Italian language and culture in the world. Today there are over 400 branches worldwide.
August 2009
- Angela Scarino gave an invited keynote on 'Teaching and learning languages: A re-consideration' at the statewide conference for teachers of languages held in Adelaide on 22 August 2009. She also gave an invited keynote address on 'Teaching and learning languages' at the Aboriginal Languages Conference held in Adelaide on 21 August 2009.
- Tony Liddicoat has been appointed to ERA's Research Evaluation Committee for the Humanities and Creative Arts for the 2009 trial. This committee consists of only 22 national and international researchers who are "outstanding individuals with experience in assessment processes and with appropriate discipline expertise" (http://www.arc.gov.au/era/recs.htm).
July 2009
- The Research Centre for Languages and Cultures has won two substantial national projects led by Angela Scarino and commencing in 2009: 'Student achievement in Asian languages education' ($745,680, funded by DEEWR) and 'Professional standards project 2' ($200,000, funded by the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations).
- Eight members of the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures gave papers at the Australian Federation of Modern Languages Teachers Conference, Sydney, 10-12th July 2009.
- Kathleen Heugh has been made Extraordinary Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics in the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, in recognition of her contribution to the field of language planning and policy. In July 2009, Kathleen was also made International Advisor to the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University as part of a UNICEF funded project which focuses particularly on minority and tribal children's education in India.
- Andrew Scrimgeour gave the keynote presentation 'Textbooks for intercultural learning: resources to meet the goals of Chinese literacy for the 21st century' at the National Chinese Language conference in Adelaide on 11-12 July 2009.
June 2009
- Neil Murray's most recent book Writing Dissertations and Theses was published by Pearson Longman in June 2009.
- Angela Scarino was invited in June 2009 to be a member of the National Assessment Panel for the Science and Languages Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools element of the Federal Government's Building the Education Revolution Program.
- Angela Scarino and Tony Liddicoat have authored Teaching and Learning Languages: A Guide, published by Curriculum Corporation in June 2009, funded by DEEWR. It is described by Julia Gillard in her forward as "a key part of the Government's commitment to support teachers in delivering quality language education programs for all young Australians". The Guide is distributed to all schools in Australia and supported by a website, developed by the RCLC team, which provides materials and guidance for language teachers.
May 2009
- Ibrahima Diallo gave the plenary presentation 'Laïcité et Islam en France' at the annual SAFTA Year 12 Night Seminar organised by South Australian French Teachers Association (SAFTA) at Adelaide University on 12 May.
- Dr Tim Curnow was the South Australian coordinator and member of the steering committee for OzCLO 2009, the Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad. The state round of this national competition for secondary students from years 9-12 was held on 5 March at City West Campus, with the top three teams and the top junior team progressing on to the national round, held across the country on 1 May. A South Australian team, from Immanuel College, were the national winners for 2009.
January 2009
- In January 2009, Dr Kathleen Heugh participated as part of the European Commission's Sustainable Diversity Network, SUS.DIV, in a research and training program in multilingual education at the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysore.
- Angela Scarino has been invited in 2009 to contribute to the South Australian Languages Forum, convened by the Department of Education and Children's Services. The purpose of this inter-sectoral group is to address matters related to the development of state and national languages education policy and programs.
- Neil Murray's book Academic listening and note-taking skills (Contemporary topics 3) was published by Pearson Longman in January 2009.