Keynote Speakers

Professor Andy Kirkpatrick

Title: Language education policy in Asia: Implications for regional multilingualism

About the speaker
Abstract

About the speaker:

Andy Kirkpatrick is Professor in the School of Humanities, Languages, and Social Science at Griffith University. His research areas are World Englishes, in particular the development of Asian varieties of English and the role(s) of English as a lingua franca within Asia. He is also interested in multilingual education policy within Asia. He also works on the role of English and other languages in the internationalization of education. He has held a number of offices in Universities all over the world. He has served as the Griffith University's School of Languages and Linguistics Head of School, Director of the Research Centre for Language Education and Acquisition in Multilingual Societies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (now the Education University of Hong Kong) and, prior to that, was Professor of Language Education at Curtin University. He has taught in tertiary institutions in China, England, Myanmar, and Singapore. His two recent books are Multilingual Education in Hong Kong Primary Schools (2019, Springer, co-authored with Wang Lixun), and The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy and Practice in Asia (2019) (co-edited with A.J. Liddicoat).

Abstract:

In this talk, I will identify the major trends that can be determined from an overall study of recent language policies across Asia (Kirkpatrick & Liddicoat Eds. 2019). The trends can be seen across three interrelated themes, namely: the promotion and privileging of one language as the national language as part of an attempt to create a nation state, often in states that are linguistically extremely diverse; a decrease in the promotion of indigenous languages other than the national language and the neglect of these in education in many countries; and the promotion of English as the first foreign language in education systems, often giving other ‘foreign’ language a minimal role in education. Possible reasons and motivations for these trends will be considered and countries where exceptions to these trends can be determined will be described. The talk will critically evaluate selected language education policies and conclude with predictions for the future linguistic ecology of the region and for the interrelationships of the respective national language, indigenous languages and English.

Reference:

Kirkpatrick, A & Liddicoat, A.J.L. (Eds.). The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy and practice in Asia. Routledge: London & New York.

Professor Feng Anwei

Title: Cognitive, Affective and Economic Dimensions of Multilingual Education

About the speaker
Abstract

About the speaker:

Anwei Feng is Professor of Language Education and Director of Research in the School of Education, the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). He has had teaching and research experience in many countries and regions including China, Qatar, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. His research areas include bi-/tri-/multi-lingualism, bi-/tri-/multi-lingual education, and intercultural studies in education. He has supervised more than two dozens of doctorate students to completion and published many peer-reviewed journal articles and several books in the research areas including Trilingualism in Education in China: Models and Challenges (2015, with Adamson); English Language Education across Greater China (2011); Becoming Interculturally Competent through Education and Training (2009, with M. Byram and M. Fleming); Bilingual Education in China: Practices, Policies and Concepts (2007); and Living and Studying Abroad: Research and Practice (2006, with M. Byram).

Abstract:

Cognitive advantages of bilingualism or multilingualism over monolingualism do not only appear to be widely acknowledged in the scholarship but also commonly perceived by the general public through ad hoc observations. This is particularly true when the languages involved are economically powerful. The commonplace perception is apparently the very reason why countries such as China would invest immensely on bilingual education in their national language and an additional powerful language such as English, despite concerns over the ideological consequences of promoting the latter. What is less acknowledged is the benefits and merits of bilingualism or multilingualism with the first language of the users being an ethnic minority language seen as less economically useful. In situations where such a ‘less useful’ language is involved, bilingual or multilingual education is often subtractive with the first home language (L1) of the students being watered down in teaching and learning, deliberately ignored or even suppressed, while focus of schooling is placed on promoting the national language (L2), and, in favourable circumstances, offering a foreign language such as English (L3) according to the national curriculum so as to look equitable in schooling.

This paper focuses on these situations, more specifically on multilingual provisions for ethnic minority groups in mainland China. Drawing on empirical evidence from recent research into and scholarship on trilingual education in mainland China, the paper gives a critical account of the significance, benefits as well as issues and challenges from cognitive, affective and economic perspectives of multilingual education. The key argument to be made is that multilingual education, if conducted in its full sense, is the way forward for the 21st century, to ensure educational equity and equality, ethnic minority students’ cognitive development, their confidence in claiming multiple identities, societal harmony, and to lead to a situation where ethnic minority languages are not seen as a problem, but as resource and right.

Professor Luke Kang Kwong

Title: Interculturalism in Interaction: Evidence from Singapore

About the speaker
Abstract

About the speaker:

K.K. Luke is Professor of Linguistics and Chair of the School of Humanities at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Prior to joining NTU in 2009 he was Professor at the University of Hong Kong and Head of the Department of Linguistics from 1997 to 2006.

K.K. has done work on a number of areas of linguistics, including Phonology, Syntax, Sociolinguistics and Natural Language Understanding. The main focus of his research is on talk and social interaction using an Ethnomethodological Conversation Analytic approach. This research explores the ways in which joint actions are achieved through talk (and ‘body language’), and is driven by the fundamental question of what makes communication possible. How are intersubjective understandings achieved in interaction and what role do linguistic and embodied resources play in that process?

Among K.K.’s publications are Utterance Particles in Cantonese Conversation, Telephone Calls: Unity and Diversity in the Structure of Telephone Conversations across Languages and Cultures, and two special issues on ‘Turn-continuation in conversation’ and ‘Affiliation and Alignment in Responding Actions’ for Discourse Processes and Journal of Pragmatics respectively.

K.K. is an Editor of Chinese Language and Discourse: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal and an editorial board member of several professional journals and book series.

Abstract:

In an early publication on multilingualism and multiculturalism in Singapore, Geoffrey Benjamin (1975) underscores the importance of uncovering new and innovative elements emerging out of the confluence of the multiple and diverse cultural traditions that defines Singapore as a prime example of a multilingual, multicultural and multiethnic community. Subsequent work by Purushotam and Siddique (1982 1990, 1997) have added much to our understanding of multiculturalism in Singapore, with particular reference to the Indian communities. However, in spite of this, much more work needs to be done to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of interculturalism through a detailed examination of ‘culture in action’, i.e., the use of localisms and distinctive forms of expression in everyday conversations amongst Singaporeans. In this paper, we present naturally occurring data in the form of recordings and transcripts of everyday conversations in Singapore, report findings emerging from analytical engagement with that data, using an Ethnomethodological Conversation Analytic approach, as a means of documenting and celebrating the creative and rich set of practices that constitute ‘talking the Singapore way’.

Dr. Linda Tsung

Title: Multilingual Education and Minority Language Maintenance in China

About the speaker
Abstract

About the speaker:

Linda Tsung is Associate Professor in Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney. Her research interests are multilingualism, multilingual education, language policy and cultural identity in Greater China and in Australia. She is one of the Chief Investigators for the Australian Research Council funded project “Maximizing the potential of Australia’s language resources: exploring and developing languages across sectors, schools and communities”, topics on which she has published extensively.

A/Professor Tsung has also co-authored Bilingual Education and Minority Language maintenance in China: The role of Schools in Saving the Yi Language (Springer, 2019) and two sole authored books: Language Power and Hierarchy: Multilingual Education in China (Bloomsbury 2014) and Minority languages, Education and Communities in China (Palgrave Macmillan 2009), which have both received excellent reviews by scholars in Asia, the UK and the US. Her co-edited books entitled Contemporary Chinese Discourses and Social Practice in China (Benjamins, 2015) and Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Contexts (Continuum, 2010) provide research leadership in the discipline of Chinese discourse studies, multilingual education and teaching Chinese as a global language.

Abstract:

China is one of the most multilingual countries in the world. The government of the People’s Republic of China promotes the country as a harmonious and unified nation with 56 distinct ethnic groups who speak more than 400 languages. The government has not only legally recognized multilingualism but also publicly encouraged a climate in which the teaching and learning of a variety of languages can flourish. Adopting theories of language ecology and human capital, this paper explores multi-model approaches in multilingual education (ME) and minority language (ML) maintenance in China. In doing so, it provides insights into our understanding of national ME implementation and ML maintenance.

This paper is based on extensive empirical research and case studies in China’s multilingual regions and provinces. It examines the application of the Chinese government’s ME and ML practices over the last 30 years with its underlying language ideology and practices, revealing de factor language policies. In doing so, it analyzes language management at school levels, the linguistic landscape around minority areas and the language attitudes and cultural identities held by present minority students, teachers and parents.

My findings indicate that while modern standard Chinese (Putonghua) continues to be a powerful factor in both consolidating and probing educational, cultural, social and political discourse as well as the spatial environment, Xi Jinping’s recent “One Belt and One Road” project has created a new linguistic environment which has affected the use of languages within diverse minority groups. This has accelerated the deep concern shared among those advocating ML maintenance in China. The implementation of ME in China is under great challenge: ML maintenance is not static and its movement in one direction or another at macro or micro levels is a result of many influences that require careful consideration.

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Important Dates
Abstract submission deadline
1 February 2019 16 February 2019
Notification of acceptance
14 March 2019 or earlier
Registration opens
14 March 2019
Early bird registration closes
15 April 2019
Conference Dates
22 June 2019 to 24 June 2019