Imagine learning a second language with the help of your mobile phone.
How this and other innovative learning methods are made possible will be explored at the inaugural Peking University/Griffith University Applied Linguistics Symposium this week.
Symposium convenor Associate Professor Greer Johnson said the conference would further research possibilities about language and learning in a globalised and digitised world.
“It will explore opportunities including the advent of new technologies in language learning such as computers and mobile phones and the internationalisation of language and cultural adaptations,” she said.
“Another topic is the role of TESOL (teaching English as a second language), and its impact on the global community. It is important that cultures which have embraced English do not damage their own intrinsic linguistic customs.”
Speakers include six professors from Peking University and nine Griffith University academics including Professor Paul Thibault (Professor of Linguistics and Media Communication) who recently joined Griffith from Agde University College, Kristiansand, Norway.
The international symposium is part of the Peking University-Griffith University Research and Learning Centre which opened at Griffith in 2006.
Peking University is currently ranked the number one university in China. It was positioned at number 15 in the world’s top 200 universities by the UK-based Times Higher Education Supplement (October 2005).
Griffith’s Applied Linguistics programs are offered at the Gold Coast, Nathan and Mt Gravatt campuses. Undergraduates learn a range of both European and Asian languages. Postgraduate offerings include a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics in TESOL, as well as the teaching of other languages.
The symposium will be held from today, Monday April 30 to Friday May 4 at Griffith’s South Bank and Mt Gravatt campuses.
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