RUMACCC Projects 2005
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- Community Languages in Early 21st Century Australia
- Address in some Western European Languages
- Raising children in more than one language / Raising deaf children in more than one language
- Victorian government LOTE report
- Symposium for Professor Michael Clyne
- Thesis completions
Community Languages in Early 21st Century Australia
Researchers: Michael Clyne, Sue Fernandez, Judy Hajdu, Tibor Endrody and Anusha Premarajah.
Expected completion date: 2005
Funding: ARC Discovery funding
This project encompasses several sub-projects, all of which have made significant progress during the past year. The research relating to community languages resources in the media, libraries, public services and education has concluded, resulting in two forthcoming journal articles. The Hungarian sub-project has been completed and an article is to appear in ITL – Review of Applied Linguistics, with the final focus group for the Tamil sub-project completed in October 2005. Researchers in the Hungarian and Tamil studies are Michael Clyne and Sue Fernandez, with additional research assistance from Tibor Endrody and Judy Hajdu for Hungarian, and Anusha Premarajah for Tamil. Ingrid Seebus is currently conducting new Dutch interviews with Dutch-English bilinguals who completed similar interviews in 1971 and again in 1986.
The project has also produced a book, Australia’s Language Potential, published by UNSW Press in September, with a book launch held at the joint national ALAA and ALS conference.
Address in some Western European Languages
Researchers: Leo Kretzenbacher, Catrin Norrby, Jane Warren, and Michael Clyne.
Expected duration: 2004-2006
Funding: ARC Discovery grant
This project concerns changes in the address systems (pronouns, first names/titles/surnames, letter heads) in three languages, French, German and Swedish and to what extent the existing address paradigms reflect sociopolitical change. Address is an integral part of interpersonal communication as it both reflects and influences social relations and hierarchies. The study of address systems thus has significance for linguistics and others researching social structures and social change.
Within the domain of address, the project focuses on such issues as regional, national, social, generational and gender variation, language contact, and political factors. A range of data collection techniques are being used in the project, including: participant observation, focus groups, social network interviews, an internet survey of companies on address in the workplace and language specific chat groups on address forms. The researchers are Leo Kretzenbacher, Catrin Norrby, Jane Warren, and Michael Clyne. The local RAs are Doris Schupbach, Jo-anne Hughson and Leo Conroy and there are in-country RAs in Göteborg, Leipzig, Mannheim, Toulouse, Paris, Va(a)sa, and Vienna. The project has progressed well throughout 2005. Data is still being processed and analysed Several journal publications based on the first wave of data received have been or are in the process of being published. A further article is currently being considered by an international journal.
The Address project has also received a book contract from Cambridge University Press.
A special symposium on the Address project was also held at this year’s national ALAA conference in Melbourne and convened by John Hajek. We have recently received word that our proposal for a workshop at the International sociolinguistics conference, to be held in Limerick, Ireland in 2006, has been accepted and will be convened by Catrin Norrby and Jane Warren.
Raising Children in more than one language / Raising Deaf Children in more than one language
Presenters: Michael Clyne, Robert Debski and Susanne Döpke / Meredith Bartlett, Sandra Leanne
Completion date: ongoing
Funding: Victorian Multicultural Commission
By the end of 2005, RUMACCC will have conducted 9 seminars this year for parents, medical personnel, teachers and social workers. Funding and support has been provided by Community Languages Australia, the Victorian Multicultural Commission and Deaf Access Victoria. Speakers at the Raising Children in more than one language seminars are Susanne Döpke, Robert Debski and Michael Clyne. Seminars have been held at the University of Melbourne and Geelong and a further seminar is to be held in Clayton at All Saints Parish in early December. The Raising Deaf Children in more than one language seminars, presented by Meredith Bartlett and Sandra Leane have been held in several regional and metropolitan locations in Victoria including Sale, Shepparton, Horsham and Geelong, with a further seminar held in Sydney.
The Raising Deaf Children Bilingually booklet produced by Meredith Bartlett and Sandra Leane has been reprinted and the Growing Up with English Plus video has been reproduced with captions through funding made available by Deaf Children Australia. The video is now available through the University of Melbourne ‘e-showcase’ website and bookshop.
Victorian government LOTE reports
Researcher: Yvette Slaughter
Completion date: 2005
Funding: Department of Education and Training tender
The Department of Education and Training has contracted RUMACCC to produce the 2004 and 2005 Annual LOTE in government schools reports. The reports are intended to present a comprehensive overview of language study in Victorian government schools and will be published in 2006. Some of the results of the 2003 report, also produced by RUMACCC, were presented by Yvette Slaughter and John Hajek at the national ALAA conference in September 2005, generating considerable interest.
Symposium for Professor Michael Clyne
The major activity for RUMACCC for the first few months of 2005 involved the organization of a special symposium on 1st April, in honour of the retirement of Professor Michael Clyne, former Director of RUMACCC. Activities included a full day symposium with papers presented by Michael’s former students and colleagues and the presentation of a volume with tributes from friends and colleagues around the world. The symposium was followed by a drinks event at University House.
Thesis completions
Doris Schupbach, Jo Anne Hughson, Jovana Dimitrijevic and Ainslie Ingles all completed PhDs in 2005 under the supervision of a number of RUMACCC staff, namely, Prof. Michael Clyne, Assoc. Prof. John Hajek, Dr Catrin Norrby and Dr Jane Warren.