.. that’s how the GLO-LO team felt this September after presenting our ongoing work at two different conferences within a fortnight!
First, we went south, all the way to Spain. At ICOP-L2 in Barcelona – the conference for interactional competence and practices in a second language – we met colleagues with whom we share an interest in studying second language learning as a social practice. Here we were in excellent company to discuss using conversation analysis to learn more about the development of interactional competence in- and outside the classroom, in our case while learning manual skills needed for construction work. The shared theoretical and methodological interests gave us plenty of common ground that showed, for example, in the quality of comments and suggestions our presentations got for future directions. In addition, our PI Niina Lilja inspired all the conference attendees with her plenary talk “Monitoring and guiding recipient’s visual attention in instructions for manual actions”.
The next conference led us north, to the University of Jyväskylä and to ALAPP that focused on applied linguistics and professional practices. While at ICOP, the biggest common denominator was the method, conversation analysis; at ALAPP, the presenters approached different contexts of work with varied methods. Different approaches to the same topic felt truly complementary, and the big picture of if and how the contexts of construction work, vocational schools and other sites of manual work can present opportunities for language learning, and, on a broader scale, integration, felt a little bit clearer. We also engaged in fruitful discussions about methodological issues regarding ethnography and fieldwork.
We are now back home with our heads full of new ideas, impressions, and a refreshed conviction of the societal impact that our work has. We also look forward to deepening existing and forging new connections at events to come!
Teksti: Nathalie Schümchen & Hanna-Ilona Härmävaara
Kuva: Niina Lilja