Language and Work: Concepts, Questions and Methods

25-26 March 2021

Maria Rosa GARRIDO SARDÀ

Dr. Maria Rosa Garrido Sardà, UNIL

Prof. Alfonso del Percio, University College London

Dr. Elisabeth Barakos, Aston University & Hamburg University

Dr. Kamilla Kraft, University of Copenhagen

Dr. Beatriz Lorente, UNIBE

This two-day doctoral workshop aims to take stock of the increased interest that work and labour have attracted in language studies. I propose to invite five leading scholars in this field, who will engage both conceptually and methodologically with doctoral students about what it means to do research on language and work. The lecturers will engage with students on the basis of their own research. They will discuss the continuities and changes in terms of the research questions that have been asked and of the different ways language has been conceptualised in this scholarship. Students will also learn about the different roles that language and multilingualism can play at work (or to find work) as well as how different types of 'language work' and 'language workers' have been conceptualised in sociolinguistics. Attendees will be further introduced to academic research linking language and work with larger histories of colonialism and capitalism and learn how critical ethnographic sociolinguistics (Heller, 2011) can contribute to the study of history and political economy. While all lectures will link theoretical considerations with the analysis of empirical data, they will be complemented by data sessions allowing students to discuss methodological considerations about what it means to do research on language and work, ideally making use of their own data. In order to provide a successful learning experience and to maximize students' possibilities to engage in conversation with the invited lecturers and with their peers, we propose a mix of learning formats including an opening poster session, lectures, data analysis sessions, a reading discussion as well as slots for exchange and networking.

Online

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