Conference Summary
TALGS (5th Annual TESOL Applied Linguistics Graduate Student) Conference
February 16, 2008, Greenville, NC

Bryan Meadows
PhD Candidate
Second Language Acquisition and Teaching GIDP

I attended the Fifth Annual TESOL and Applied Linguistics Graduate Students (TALGS) conference held on the campus of East Carolina University on February 16, 2008. This conference is a relatively small gathering which promotes an interactive and collaborative atmosphere for the purpose of facilitating mutually-beneficial academic scholarly exchange.

At the conference, I was able to present my discourse analysis of second-language-learners involved in the explicit negotiation of cultural and linguistic boundaries. In particular, I was able to introduce to the audience my observation of the ‘familiar exotic’ and directly relate it to the teaching of culture in the foreign language classrooms. As there were many foreign language educators in the audience, my analysis sparked an engaging group discussion during the question/answer period immediately following my presentation. Their commentaries (both positive and negative) helped me to identify further directions for my scholarly interest in cultural instruction. Following the convening of my session, several attendees pulled me aside for an extended discussion about my research and how it relates to their approach to culture instruction in their classrooms. Finally, an influential and celebrated scholar in the field of sociolinguistics was in the audience and shared approving comments of my analysis afterwards. Considering this scholar’s 40+ years of experience in the field, this was welcome commentary indeed!

The conference presentations by fellow graduate students were insightful and thought-provoking. One presentation on the Standard Language Ideology and its influence on writing instruction was especially informative. I have had an interest in the Standard Language Ideology for some time now but have had difficulties commenting on it in a concise and synthesized way. In contrast, this student’s presentation provided a model of what my past discussions had been missing. Following the presentation, the fellow student and I discussed our respective understandings of the Standard Language Ideology and ways to minimize its negative impact on young students’ self-esteem. In our discussion, it became clear that we had complementary lists of scholarly references, and we agreed to exchange lists for our mutual benefit. A second memorable presentation reported on the practice of ‘Othering’ at three sites: (1) authoring of the American Declaration of Independence, (2) British written response to the Declaration of Independence, and (3) present-day commentary on the nation of Pakistan by the current U.S. administration. This discussion was especially helpful because it provided some theoretical background to the practice of ‘Othering’ of which I was not aware. My thorough understanding of ‘Othering’ will be essential to my continued study of culture instruction in foreign language classrooms, especially if I wish to conduct a comprehensive treatment of it for my dissertation (and beyond).
 

In sum, my experience at the TALGS conference contributed to my continued development as a junior academic. By attending the conference, I was able to receive valuable practice presenting my ideas to audiences along with valuable audience feedback. Furthermore, the conference provided me with an opportunity to engage myself with the research of fellow graduate students and to interact with junior and senior professors whose advice and insights I find to be profitable to my academic training. I sincerely appreciate the Herbert E. Carter Travel Award for making such opportunities a reality.