[[ SAAL ]]

Events

24TH SAAL LECTURE

Language as Local Practice
Professor Alastair Pennycook
University of Technology Sydney

Wednesday, 23 April 2008
6.15-7.30pm
Department of English Language & Literature
Video Room 1, AS5, #02-02

Click here for more details.

Past Events

SCLSIG2

The SCLSIG2 (Second Meeting of the Singapore Child Language Special Interest Group), convened by the SIG chair Dr Madalena Cruz-Ferreira (NUS), took place on 14 October 2006 at the NUS, on the topic "A Survey of Current Research on Language Norming in Singapore". Four papers were presented -- 'Current Research on Language Norming in Singapore' (Madalena Cruz-Ferreira, NUS), 'Infant Vocabulary Norms in Singapore' (Tan Seok Hui, NUS), 'Norming the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading -- WTAR (Steven Graham & Tomasina Oh, both NUS), and 'Spelling Development in Singapore: Does Home Language Make a Difference?' (Susan Rickard Liow, NUS, Sajlia Binte Jalil, NIE & Stephanie Yeong Hui Min, NIE). For full information on the SCLSIG and its activities, please register with its network at groups.yahoo.com/group/sclsig.

SAAL GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES

SAAL kickstarted the first SAAL Graduate Seminar Series on Friday, 10 November 2006 at NIE/NTU, an initiative organised by postgraduates for postgraduates. Four postgraduate panelists (Aileen Salonga and Christine Xavier from NUS, and Bai Rui and Rachel Tan from NIE/NTU) shared their personal journeys on the topic: Deciding on your Research Topic & Design. A total of 14 postgrads from NTU, NUS and other universities locally and abroad attended this highly successful session. There were 4 professors in attendance, each of whom have supervised postgraduate students before. It was suggested that this seminar should occur once per quarter and that the different institutions can take turns playing host. The topic for the next session was also decided on: Sharing your Research Proposal. SAAL will continue to spearhead efforts to offer every support possible to keep up the interest and networking opportunities offered by this Seminar Series.

23RD SAAL LECTURE

The 23rd SAAL Lecture was delivered by Associate Professor Anne Pakir of the English Language & Literature Department from the National University of Singapore on 29 July 2006 at the RELC, Singapore. The lecture was well attended, about 55 participants (mostly SAAL members or new members). Prof Pakir spoke on the topic: Applied Linguistics in Asia: Pathways, Patterns & Predictions. A short summary of her lecture follows:

Summary

This lecture examined language trends in 21st century Asia and reports on the development of Applied Linguistics (AL) in the region. It had a dual focus: the first analyses the unique preoccupations of Asian and Asia-based applied linguistics that have given rise to present research directions and preferences. These, however, seem to be not much recognized in the currently British and North American (BANA) dominated field. A second focal point considered the larger concerns and issues that might lead to future and different directions in AL scholarship once 'proper applied linguistics' -– currently originating in the West and dominating research directions – reorients and realigns itself to include these Asian research and findings. She predicted that with this realignment, AL will grow as a field of inquiry in leaps and bounds along with the imminent rise of Asia by the middle of the twenty-first century.

SAAL'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS 2005

We marked SAAL's 20th Anniversary in 2005-2006 with a series of academic and social activities:

The 22nd SAAL lecture
Professor Sandra Lee McKay's (San Francisco State University) SAAL lecture (No. 22), 'The cultural basis of teaching English as an international language', held on 10th March 2005 at Ngee Ann Polytechnic was attended by about 50 people.
SAAL talk
Associate Professor David Deterding's (NIE/NTU) talk entitled 'The status and intelligibility of Singapore English in other parts of the world', held on 7 April 2005, jointly hosted by SAAL and the Centre for English Language Communication (CELC/NUS) was attended by 30 people.
1st Special Interest Group (SIG) Meeting
The first SAAL Special Interest Group or SIG on 'Child Language Research in Singapore' led by Dr Madalena Cruz-Ferreira held on 3rd September 2005, saw about 25 students, teachers and researchers and 4 panelists gathered at NUS. This SIG has continued to share their work over email and in person, and has reported regularly on their progress in the SAAL Quarterly. I hope more SIGs will be created in the years ahead.
SAAL Gala Dinner
The finale event for SAAL's 20th Anniversary was the gala dinner held on 28 October 2005 (Friday) at the NUSS Guildhouse at Suntec City. 71 members and friends attended this dinner.
Other Events
In addition to these activities, on 22nd February 2006, SAAL again co-hosted a talk given by KC Lee entitled, 'Tracing ideas from a pre-writing discussion session to individual drafts'. 20 people attended this talk.

SAAL-STU COLLOQUIUM

The SAAL-STU Colloquium on "The English Language in Singapore: Changing Perspectives on Grammar in the Classroom" was held on 27-28 November 2003 at the Regional Language Centre (RELC), Orange Grove Road. Keynote speakers included Prof Tom McArthur (UK) and Prof Tony Hung (HK). The guest-of-honour was Col David Wong, Chairman of the Speak Good English Movement.

AILA2002

SAAL also hosted the 13th World Congress of Applied Linguistics from 16th to 21st December 2002 at the Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, Suntec City. Invited speakers were Ulrich Ammon (Germany), Marilda Cavalcanti (Brazil), Andrew Chesterman (Finland), Michael Halliday (Australia), Shirley Brice Heath (USA), Hu Wenzhong (PRC), Claire Kramsch (USA), Allan Luke (Australia), Geoffrey Pullum (USA),Stanley Ridge (South Africa), Yoji Tanabe (Japan), and Edwin Thumboo (Singapore).