 |
 |
Applied Linguistics Research Seminar Series Hosted by the Centre for Applied Linguistics, UCL Institute of Education, University
College London
Doing applied linguistics: A Barcelona snapshot
David Block, ICREA/University of Lleida
6:00 pm, Friday, 30 October 2015
UCL Institute of Education, Room 642, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H OAL
If we judge by what goes on at applied linguistics conferences and what is published, taught and studied under the general heading of ‘applied linguistics’, then we understand
that it is a field of inquiry which focusses on real-world issues which involve and/or are mediated in some way by language and communication. Further to this, we understand that it is a field which draws on research and scholarship taking place in well-established
academic disciplines such as linguistics, education and the social sciences in general (e.g. sociology, anthropology, geography, politics, economics). We also understand that ‘applied linguistics’ is an umbrella term for more specific areas of research, such
as language teaching and learning, language policy, bi/multilingualism, literacies, language and identity, discourse analysis and sociolinguistics (just to name a few), all the while acknowledging the large degree of overlap across these areas.
With this broad range of interests in mind, my aim in this paper is to take on the role of a applied linguist/sociolinguist
flâneur, grafting off of my surroundings and applying what I know to a
range of real-world issues encountered on a day-to-day basis. Specifically, I take my home city, Barcelona, as a base from which to talk about several phenomena going on around me at present which I think merit sociolinguistic (and applied linguistic) attention.
These phenomena include the language ecology of a multilingual city like Barcelona (to Catalan/Spanish bilingualism, we can now add English and other languages); national identity and sovereignty debates (Catalan nationalism and independence); the endurance
of neoliberalism and its consequences; English language teaching and learning; and mass tourism. My intention here is not to be
self-contemplative, but to show how all of us are surrounded
by events and phenomena which are interesting from an applied linguistics perspective and which might serve as objects of research.
Biodata
David Block is ICREA Research Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Lleida (Spain). He has published articles and chapters on a variety of topics, including
globalization, migration, multiculturalism, multilingualism, identity, narrative research and second language teaching and learning. He is interested in applying scholarship in political economy, sociology, anthropology and geography to multimodal practices
and phenomena of all kinds (e.g. social movements, multiculturalism, bi/multilingualism and the acquisition and use of languages). His most recent work has focussed specifically on neoliberalism as the dominant ideology in contemporary societies and social
class as a key dimension of being. He is author of The Social Turn in Second Language Acquisition
(Edinburgh University Press, 2003), Multilingual Identities in a Global City: London Stories
(Palgrave, 2006), Second Language Identities (Continuum/Bloomsbury, 2007/2014) and
Social Class and Applied Linguistics (Routledge, 2014), and co-author (withJohn Gray and Marnie Holborow) of
Neoliberalism and Applied Linguistics (Routledge, 2012). At present, he is working on two books:
Minority Ethnic Students in Higher Education: Talking Multilingualism and Identity (with Lídia Gallego-Balsà; Multilingual Matters) and
Political Economy and Sociolinguistics: Redistribution and Recognition (Bloomsbury). He is a member of the
Academy of the Social Sciences (UK) and the editor of the book series Language, Society and Political Economy for Routledge.
ALL WELCOME!
Dr. Andrea Révész
Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics
Programme Leader MA TESOL
Department of Culture, Communication, and Media
UCL Institute of Education, University College London
Room 623b, 20 Bedford Way
London WC1H OAL