KAREN FOLEY: Welcome back
to the Student Hub Live.
In this session we take a
look at applied linguistics.
And joining me to discuss this
is Maria Leedham and Laura
Paterson Thank you
for joining me today.
We've had a lot of discussion
about bilingual teaching
and English as a second
language on the chat today.
And so do keep your
questions coming in
if there's anything that
you'd particularly like
to know about this pathway.
And Zach and Lee will put those
to our panel in the studio.
Maria, you're a senior
lecturer at the OU
and you work on two modules
in the applied linguistics
pathway, the MA in education.
And Laura, you're a lecturer
in applied linguistics
and English language at the OU.
And you're also on the module--
well you're the
team chair of EE817,
which is the first module on
the applied linguistics pathway.
And we'll talk a little
bit about pathways later.
The broadly what does
applied linguistics cover?
MARIA LEEDHAM: I
think if you see it
as any issue, any aspect of
real world language issue.
So it covers-- it
might not be a problem.
It could just be an issue
that you want to investigate.
It might be translation,
interpreting, teaching,
social media, looking at
language and new technology.
So really it's a
very, very broad area.
Do you want to add anything?
LAURA PATERSON: So
language permeates all.
So you can put an
applied linguistic lens
on absolutely anything.
And we've had students
do projects on language
in a classroom with
autistic children.
We've had students look
at the language of law
and is it penetrable to the
everyday person, business
contexts where they've
gone and kind of done
a bit of research
in their offices
and that kind of
thing, anything.
We can put an applied
linguistics stamp on anything.
KAREN FOLEY: If people missed
our earlier session today
we were talking a
little bit about careers
and we were saying what sorts of
things could you do with an MA
in applied linguistics.
Could you recap on that briefly?
MARIA LEEDHAM: Sure I mean
we sit within the umbrella MA
education.
So most of our
students are either
TESOL, teaching English to
speakers of other languages
teachers, or teachers,
educators in some sense,
whether it's in a secondary
school, further education.
But we do have
people who are just
interested in learning language,
learning through language,
learning about language.
You might just be
a math teacher,
but you're interested in
how your students learn math
through language.
Everything is mediated
through language.
And having an applied
linguistics degree
at a high level is useful
for a wide range of careers--
maybe journalism, interpreting,
translation, maybe publicity
advertising areas, anywhere
where language is important.
KAREN FOLEY: So it doesn't have
to just relate to teaching.
MARIA LEEDHAM: No
it doesn't at all.
And you could you could
study on our pathway
and not be a teacher, not
work in an education setting,
but maybe you teach your child.
You help your children
with their homework through
language, or you teach your
next door neighbour to get
on the internet.
It could be anything like that,
anything through language.
KAREN FOLEY: So if
we've got anything
and it's very, very
broad, then what
is the focus in the applied
linguistics pathway on the MA?
MARIA LEEDHAM: Do
you want to start?
LAURA PATERSON:
We start on EE817,
which is applied linguistics
in English language.
And what we do on that module
is we introduce students
to lots of different ways
of going about investigating
language and lots of different
types of interaction as well.
So we might look at
doctor-patient interaction
or something like that and apply
different frameworks to it.
Or we might give the students a
puzzle or a problem or an issue
and say, OK, of the frameworks
that you've come across
so far, which do you think might
be applicable here and why,
and kind of walk
them through how,
whilst we have all of
these fantastic tools,
not everything applies
to every situation.
So by learning how to be
critical of the tools that you
use, you learn how better
to analyse language.
KAREN FOLEY: We've put lots
of widget questions up.
And someone's just
joined us from Asia.
Hello.
We'd like to know where you are.
So if you could let
us know on the map
where you're based
at the moment,
all you do is press the area
that applies to you on the map.
We've also got some word
clouds that you can fill in.
And these say things
like three words
to describe my identity,
what's your work setting,
and three words to describe
applied linguistics.
No right or wrong here.
We've seen it's a
very, very broad area.
But for these word
clouds with three things,
you do need to put three things
in to submit your answers.
So if you can only think of one
or two, that's absolutely fine.
Just put a full
stop in the others
and then your
results will submit.
We'd also like to know which
module you're studying.
So there's a series of E
numbers there, not the bad sort.
But you can let us know which
module you are studying.
And of course if there
are any questions,
Lee and Zach can put those to
our live panel in the chat.
But if you're
watching on catch up--
and all of this is
available on catch up--
then you can email us,
studenthub@open.ac.uk,
and we'll make sure
that your question
gets to the right person.
So we've talked a bit about
the applied linguistics and it
covering a lot of things
and the focus as well.
How are students then
guided through this MA?
I mean, can you tell
them about the structure
and what they can expect?
MARIA LEEDHAM: In stage one
of the whole MA education
there are three pathways.
And you've heard from the
other two pathway leads.
Now we're onto
applied linguistics.
You can study any of
the stage one modules,
and then at the end of
that stage one year,
you can decide
whether to continue
with that pathway, which is
in fact what most students do,
or you might want to switch.
You might decide you're
doing leadership management
and then you want to switch
to applied linguistics,
Or vice versa.
Once you're onto
stage two, then you
stay with that for stage two
and for the final dissertation
module.
So we've got you to the end
then of the three years.
KAREN FOLEY: Now we were talking
before about the dissertation
module and about
research questions
and about really how to
focus those and how broad
they can be, but
also how important it
is for things to be manageable.
What does the dissertation
look like then
in implied linguistics?
MARIA LEEDHAM: You
draw on the tools
that you've covered in
Laura's material, stage one,
and in stage two and
the methodological tools
and the technology
you've explored.
And you can draw on
any of those to examine
an issue in your own teaching
and learning context.
Which could be,
how can I improve
a small, manageable aspect of
my teaching-learning context
and make things better?
It might not be a problem
that you want to resolve.
I mean, it often is.
It might be, my students
don't talk enough in class,
or how can I make my
students' writing better?
Or it might just be
an issue, you know,
what happens if I introduce
a wiki into my classroom?
And you can try that
out, investigate it
through maybe questionnaires,
interviews, talking
to students, trying it
out to kind of before
and after testing and
examine the results using
a form of linguistic
analysis, and then try
to improve things that way.
Or just see what
happens if I intervene,
if I make this intervention.
Really the key is that it's
small scale, manageable,
because while you've got a year
for the dissertation module,
it's got to fit in
with your teaching
or your neighbour's availability
if you're showing them how
to get on the internet.
So it's got to be manageable
within your time frame.
And it's a 12,000
word dissertation,
which might seem a tall
order, but it's guided.
You have to TMAs,
tutor-marked assignments
that guide you through it.
And you have a lot of one-to-one
support from your tutor
as well.
KAREN FOLEY: These
are important points.
Michelle has just
joined us from China.
Lee, would you
like to fill us in?
LEE: Yeah, Michelle joining
us all the way from China.
It's evening there
at the moment.
She says she only
planned to learn
the first module of her MA
in education since English
is her second language, and
it's also her first OU course.
So she's already looking
forward to being part
and joining us today.
KAREN FOLEY: We've
got a lot of people
from around the
world watching now.
And if you are new to
the OU, Lee and Zach
are the best people to
ask any questions too
because, in addition to
being students and manning
our hot desk, they also work
on our student support team.
Lee and Zach, fill those people
in who have just joined us
on the sorts of
things that people
might want to get in
touch with you two about.
ZACH: Well, anything
really, anything
that your tutor may
not be able to answer
in the first instance,
if you are having issues
or want to find out some
more information about how
to plan your studies, maybe
looking at time management.
Perhaps some life
events have happened
that have affected your studies.
Anything at all really that
could happen or would happen
or you want to ask in the future
about then you can always just
get in contact with your
student support team
and we'll kind of guide
you through different bits
of policy and give you
advice and guidance on how
to plan and stay on track.
KAREN FOLEY: And lots of people
can talk to you because you're
open very sociable hours.
You also have different
ways that maybe
our international
students may find easier.
LEE: Absolutely.
I mean, we know a lot of
people like to call us.
And that's absolutely fine.
And we do take
international calls as well.
But of course they can
be quite expensive.
So you can email us and you can
contact us through a contact
page and form in student home.
And we're always available
through student home that way.
And we have a turnaround time of
about one to two days, usually,
we'll get back to a
student from an email.
So that's another way of
keeping in touch with us.
KAREN FOLEY: Excellent.
And are there any
urgent questions
that we need to
cover, Lee and Zach?
And know you talk about
lots of other things
and covering an awful
lot out there as well.
But anything that you'd like to
know about applied linguistics?
ZACH: Not yet.
We have put the
question out there just
to get in contact
with our guests
about if they've got
anything in particular
about applied linguistics.
Did have a lovely story from one
of the guys on the chat, Sharon
Sweetland, whose tutor
actually identified
that she had dyslexia
back in 2013, which
may be quite relevant
if you're someone
that studies
applied linguistics.
Is that a skill
that you can have,
identifying how people use
language to kind of better
their learning as well?
So maybe that
relevant, I don't know.
KAREN FOLEY: I think
that's a really good point.
Often dyslexia people commonly
associate with misusing words.
But sometimes it can relate
to thought processes as well.
And we know that a lot of OU
students study with dyslexia
and there can be
ways of spotting it.
Does studying language and
when language is going wrong
give you an indication that
there might be something there?
MARIA LEEDHAM: We have
quite a strong accessibility
team at the OU.
We try to make sure
all our module material
is accessible to
people with any range
of any kind of disability.
So I'm going broader
than dyslexia here.
If you've got vision
or hearing issue,
then we try to make
everything-- you
can read the
transcript if you can't
follow the audiovisual
materials for example.
So I think there is a
lot of help and guidance
out there for students.
LAURA PATERSON: I
was going to say
I think as well in terms of our
students, some of our students
may be practitioners working
with dyslexic children
or dyslexic adults.
You can use the tools
that we teach you within
your professional practise.
KAREN FOLEY: And if you're
worried about any of that,
you can speak to the
student support team.
And there are some
basic tests that you
can do to check
if you might want
to look at some sort
of diagnostic process
for something like that.
We've asked about identity
and a lot of words
are coming up like professional,
being a teacher, student,
studious, linguistics,
et cetera.
So lots of various
things going on there
about how people perceive
their identities.
But I wanted to ask you, sort
of going back to that idea
about making the
most of your studies,
you know, this is very much
a practical qualification,
as are the others that
we've been looking at.
How do students make the most
of their time as a student?
LAURA PATERSON: I think bring
your enthusiasm, for starters.
I think one of
the hardest things
is making sure that
you plan your time
and setting off with a good
start on the module by working
out when in the week you're
going to be able to study,
keeping in contact
with your tutors,
and if you have an issue, if
you need some help, do ask them.
And being active on the
module forum and getting
involved with your
other students
as well and kind of
getting a rapport going,
because it is
sometimes isolating
to work at a distance.
But if you meet people
online in these groups,
you can build those rapports and
you know that you're not alone.
KAREN FOLEY: Yeah, no, exactly.
The community is
really important.
And we asked people what
module they were studying.
29% are doing 817, EE817.
No one's 818.
819 with 14%, 57% during
another module at the moment.
So this whole idea then
of forums and things,
we've got some people who
have just joined the OU who
might not know what a forum is.
What advice would
you give students
about sort of navigating
some of these aspects?
Where do they start
and what should they
be doing right now in week one?
LAURA PATERSON: If
you are on EE817,
we've produced a
screencast which shows you
how to navigate the module
web site which shows you
where the different tutorial
rooms and different forums are.
So you can go and have
a look and go and see
who interacts in
different forums.
So there is a guide there
for you as a starting point.
Anything else?
MARIA LEEDHAM: I think
definitely getting
involved in the student
forum, meeting people.
We've heard lots
from introduction
on 817, people telling
us where they are.
I think we cover
every continent,
don't we, the entire world?
And students interacting
with each other, that's
the key point, not
so much telling us
but telling each
other where they are,
and people hooking up.
Kind of oh yeah,
I'm in China too.
Let's not quite
meet up for coffee,
but we've got the
same context there.
And I think introducing
yourself to your tutor
and being involved--
everything's online
but there are synchronous and
asynchronous communication
going on.
So you can be live
with your tutor.
You can engage in the
moment with the tutor.
And having that
context and having--
you've almost promised
to somebody else
that you will study
this and somebody else
looking out for you.
Your tutor will notice
if you're getting behind,
if you don't submit your TMA
and will prod you along a bit.
You need that contact
with other people.
While I think a
lot of our students
really enjoy the
flexibility with the OU,
that they can study when
they want, where they want,
I think you also
need somebody else
looking out and kind of
knowing that they're going
to be watching out for you.
Oh, you've not been
active in the forum?
That kind of thing
is really important.
KAREN FOLEY: Now
bearing in mind we've
got a lot of students who aren't
studying applied linguistics
at the moment, what advice would
you give them who are thinking,
oh, I don't really
know if this is for me.
You've mentioned
how broad it is.
And you've also mentioned this
various methodological tool kit
which I was very interested in.
So how might people know
whether this is something
that might be for them?
MARIA LEEDHAM: They could
look at the YouTube videos
that we produced on what is
applied linguistics, which
I think will be shown and it's
in the resources on Student Hub
Live.
They could follow us on
@OUDALEL, applied linguistics
English language, and you
could ask a question that way.
They can look at our
web site, MA education
applied linguistics.
And you've got a
little introduction
to each of our three modules
there and see what is covered.
KAREN FOLEY: And Liala says
that the introduction to EE817
is excellent.
She says well done.
[LAUGHTER]
MARIA LEEDHAM: Good to hear.
LAURA PATERSON: Good to hear.
KAREN FOLEY: Good.
So there are lots
of different ways
that people can find
out about whether or not
this might be for them.
Is there a certain
type of student
who might do well at this?
And also what sorts
of skills would you
say that students need to
be mindful of developing
and shaping as they're sort of
moving into postgraduate study?
LAURA PATERSON: That's
a very good question.
I think you have to be
interested in language.
That's probably rule number one.
If you do use language
in a teaching capacity
in your daily life, obviously
we're on the MA in education
pathway.
Another thing is,
well, maybe just
to go back to what
Maria was saying
is if you're not too sure
if applied linguistics is
for you, if you are
an OU student already
on whatever module, if
you go to the OU library,
there is an article
"What is applied
linguistic" by Burns et al.
2009.
It's very short.
It gives a nice
overview of what we do.
And it could be your way
into doing linguistics.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Yeah, definitely.
If you explore these
resources, probably something
along the way will grab your
interest and make you think,
you know, yeah, that
resonates with me.
I can see that.
You can also look at the
LAL, School of LAL, Languages
and Applied Linguistics website
and see the kinds of research
that we do and where
language study fits in there.
KAREN FOLEY: We're going
to show a video in a minute
about applied linguistics.
So people can
watch that as well.
But before we end, I wondered
if you could both tell me--
you're both actively researching
as well as doing your work
on the modules, et cetera--
why is applied linguistics
so exciting for you?
MARIA LEEDHAM: My
previous research
has been in EAP, English
for academic purposes.
And I looked at Chinese
students writing
in English in UK universities
and compared that
with British students and
found that Chinese students
use a lot more visuals
in their writing.
So if they're working in
biology, undergraduate biology,
they were more likely to
put in drawings and diagrams
and so on in order to convey.
And given that biology is
a very visual discipline,
that worked really well.
So it's a different thing,
not a deficient thing.
So I was looking at the
language there, student writing.
Currently I'm on a
project called with WiSP,
Writing in Social
Work Practise, where
I'm looking at the
writing of social workers,
collecting the text with
Theresa Lillis, who's
PI on the project.
And we're hoping that that
will have an impact on the work
that social workers do.
So this is an example of a
kind of a real world issue.
We hope it will feed
into social worker
education, both
preservice and in service,
and make an impact in a
small way in the real world.
KAREN FOLEY: Well a small way.
I think you're
underselling it there.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Well, we
haven't got to end yet.
KAREN FOLEY: But it's
vitally important.
I mean what you're
actually doing
is you're looking at things
like how people are actually
going out and recording notes,
which ultimately is recording
someone's life situation,
how they're feeding it back
and looking at ways that
recording things could
be made easier.
So I think you're doing
yourself a disservice there.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Well we haven't
got to the end of the project
yet.
KAREN FOLEY: But it's
got a real worth.
And I often applied
linguistics, we
asked people what
three words they
use to describe
applied linguistics,
and unsurprisingly it was things
like language and teaching.
But actually your work really
shows the huge importance that
this can have in terms
of policy and practise,
a lot more broadly than just
the language which we often
associate with
applied linguistics.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Yeah.
And if you're interested
in that project
we also have a Twitter
account @OUWiSP.
So do have a look for us
there and a website as well.
KAREN FOLEY: And they
can see if it really
is so fantastic at the end.
[LAUGHTER]
What about you Laura?
LAURA PATERSON: I work on
something completely different.
So I don't actually have
a language and teaching
background.
I work on discourse of poverty.
So I look at the language
used to describe poverty
within the UK and elsewhere.
And my results have shown
that the way poverty is talked
about has an impact on whether
people are sympathetic or not
to those who are poor.
KAREN FOLEY: Wow,
again completely
different and showing
the diversity.
And where were you at with that?
LAURA PATERSON: There will be
a book coming out next year,
but it's a new method called
geographical text analysis
where we look at how
language relates to place,
and how, if particular places
the reporter talked about,
are they perceived differently
by different media outlets?
So fingers crossed book
will come out next year.
KAREN FOLEY: Excellent.
No, it's really exciting.
And Michelle's been
talking about some
of the helpful bibliographic
tools which she's enjoyed.
Lee and Zach, how are you guys?
ZACH: Yeah, good.
As I say, yeah, Michelle was
really impressed with some
of the recommendations and some
extra reading that they can do.
Been talking about what people
can do outside of the tutor
group forums as well, how they
like to work using visual aids
and interpret new information
from the module website
materials.
LEE: Absolutely.
And with the help
of Google we've
managed to find some
Mandarin to Michelle
in the theme of linguistics.
And of course other search
engines are available.
KAREN FOLEY: I thought you would
have been using the old emojis
lee, universal language.
LEE: Absolutely.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Well
emojis are again something
that members of our
department have studied.
We're in there.
Social media,
tick, emojis, tick.
It's everywhere.
KAREN FOLEY: Yes,
because of course
it's about what is
language, isn't it,
and how we communicate.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Yeah.
KAREN FOLEY: Excellent.
Last piece of advice then for
our new students out there
who are just beginning
their modules?
MARIA LEEDHAM: I'd
say stick at it.
Do something every
week, even if you
have a week when you're
really busy with work, family,
the rest of your life.
Try and do something,
even if it's just
reading one of the articles
and catching up the next week.
There is flexibility,
but don't let more than a
week go by without studying.
KAREN FOLEY: So it's
about the momentum.
MARIA LEEDHAM: Yeah, definitely.
LAURA PATERSON: And I would say
if you need help, ask for it.
We are here.
And if anybody is on 817 and
they'd like to kind of feedback
on what they've heard
today, do talk to me.
Happy to answer questions
on there as well.
KAREN FOLEY: Brilliant.
So if you do have anything
you'd like to feedback then
email us at
studenthub@open.ac.uk
and we'll pass it on to Laura
and she will get back to you.
Well that ends our session
on applied linguistics.
It's been a
fascinating discussion.
Thank you very
much for that both.
We're now going to have
a short video which
is about applied linguistics.
And then we'll be back to
look at childhood and youth.
So join us in a few
minutes for that.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
