Depictive hand gestures in second language use and learning
   
Studies of L2 interaction show that gestures and other bodily resources are central in achieving, maintaining and restoring intersubjectivity (e.g. Eskildsen & Wagner 2015, Lilja & Piirainen-Marsh, 2019). However, so far limited attention has been paid to the ways in which the use of bodily resources for meaning making is shaped by the organization of practical activities and their complex ecologies in interactions outside of language classrooms, i.e. in-the-Wild (Wagner 2015). 

 

This paper uses multimodal conversation analysis (Mondada, 2014, 2018) to investigate the uses of depictive hand gestures in maintaining and repairing mutual understanding in L2 interactions. Drawing on videorecordings of second language interactions in settings that center around concrete manual and physical tasks, such as gardening, cooking, and constructing, and building on the existing research on the use of bodily resources in L2 interaction (e.g. Jokipohja & Lilja, 2022), the analysis illustrates how depictive gestures are designed in relation to the material ecology of the interaction, including relevant objects, and how the use of hand gestures supports understanding. The analysis contributes to research on gestural depiction in human meaning making (Streeck, 2009), and to the study of embodiment in repair organization and discusses how embodiment and materiality support intersubjectivity and afford second language learning as part of everyday activities.

   
Dr. Niina Lilja works as a senior lecturer in Finnish at Tampere University (Finland). She is particularly interested in the role of embodiment in second language use and learning. She has published on the use and learning of Finnish as a second language in various interaction contexts, such as everyday interactions, construction sites, language classrooms and social circle workshops.

Researching virtual interaction: From content analysis to linguistic-based approaches

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The analysis of virtual interaction has been described mostly in alinguistic terms (Belz, 2003), and the methodology used has usually involved analyst-sensitive content analyses. However, recent studies (Oskoz, Gimeno, & Sevilla, 2018; Oskoz & Gimeno, 2019; Ryshina-Pankova, 2018; Vinagre & Corral, 2018, 2019) have suggested that content analysis needs to be supplemented by linguistically grounded analysis if one wants to provide a more comprehensive understanding (‘the wider picture’) of the phenomena under scrutiny. In this presentation we shall have a look at different methods to research virtual interaction from content and thematic analysis to Grounded theory, Appraisal theory and LIWC analysis, so that participants become familiar with the different options and how and when to apply them.
 

Dr. Margarita Vinagre holds a degree in Applied Linguistics from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD in English from the University of Seville. She has taught Spanish and English Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin, Dublin City University and the Universities of Nebrija and Carlos III in Madrid. She is currently Full Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, where she teaches English Language and Linguistics, new technologies and Applied Linguistics and TEFL. Her main research interests focus on the use of technology in language learning and the development of linguistic and intercultural competences in the foreign language classroom. She has published in journals such as Computers & Education, CALL, Language Learning & Technology, System and British Journal of Educational Technology. She has coordinated research projects on telecollaboration and foreign language learning and is currently the main coordinator and researcher of an international research project on telecollaboration with 20 participants from 5 different countries.

The multilingual children's library: planning case study research in the public sector

 

In this talk, we will explore the realities and complexities of case study research, from a methodological, practical, and ethical perspective. The multilingual children's library was established in Sheffield in 2018, in collaboration with central libraries, and a case study approach was utilised to understand the affordances and difficulties related to this setting, as well as the potential impact it has on the community's sense of identity and belonging. Over 15 months, statistical data from the library,  observations and feedback from events, a questionnaire, and focus groups with library staff and members of the public contributed to a holistic picture of the role of the library in its community. This talk will explore not only the data themselves, but also the pitfalls and stumbling blocks that occurred in the research, to bring forward vital considerations when planning and conducting research on this scale.

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Dr. Sabine Little's research interests lie in the links between language, identity, and belonging, and the role of multilingualism in society. She has developed and worked on a number of projects that explore multilingualism and identity as a social justice issue, seeking to push against the deficit model of English as an Additional Language. She has published widely on these topics.

The materialization of literacy in childhood: bodies, objects and spaces as discursive-material practices

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This conference starts from a critique of the approaches of pedagogy of multiliteracy and then reflects on discursive approaches based on non-representational elements. Neomaterialist and posthuman perspectives are understood to underlie the relationship between events and discursive-material practices in childhood. These are created through the body and the intra-actions that are established with objects, spaces, movements or sounds. From this perspective, literacy development in childhood has a relational, non-linear and emergent character. These relationships are born from the affection and intensity of the moment, where children create new meanings through their experiences with other bodies. In this conference, it is analyzed how the posthuman and neomaterialist perspective on literacy has generated a new concept of discourse based on the ability to create new meanings. This perspective integrate materiality, among other concepts, of embodiment, of non-linguistic sounds, of the verbal, and of the more-than-human. In particular, this talk will focus on the discursive-material practices built through the body-mind, as a way of understanding this new concept of discourse in childhood. Finally, some aspects related to the ethical dimension of this literacy will be discussed, in which spaces, artifacts, sounds or the body are understood from an ideological, material, non-linear and emerging dimension.

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Dr. Guzmán Simón received his doctorate in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Seville (Spain), where he is a University Professor in the Department of Teaching of Language and Literature. He has published several research articles on the evaluation of academic writing, as well as on literacy practices in Early Childhood and Primary Education. Currently, his research is part of a project focused on the development of multimodal literacy in childhood from a posthuman, neomaterialist and postqualitative approach.