Tuesday 5 July 2016

My guest post on TLANG blog: gaining new approaches to the study of school environments

The UK research blog TLANG blog invited me to summarize my visit to the University of Leeds in December 2016 and I was happy to write about contemporary approaches to the study of school environments. TLANG is the title of a research project and stands for Translation and Translanguaging: Investigating Linguistic and Cultural Transformations in Superdiverse Wards in Four UK Cities. Team members summarized their main goals on the blog as follows:
We will look closely and over time at language practices in public and private settings in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, and London. We will investigate how communication occurs (or fails) when people bring different histories and languages into contact. Outcomes will impact on policy on economic growth, migration, health and well-being, sport, cultural heritage, and law, by informing the work of policy-makers and public, private and third sector organisations. 
My impressions from the Leeds campus
In Leeds, I gave two invited presentations on schoolscape research and had very inspiring meetings with TLANG team members James Simpson, Mike Baynham, John Callaghan, Jolana Hanusova, Jessica Bradley and Emilee Moore De Luca. I enjoyed their company and received insightful feedback on my work which helped me a lot. I hope I can visit them again soon.

Here you can read my post: