Beyond and After: SOLL Researchers’ Presentations at AAAL 2023 in Portland
Three SOLL graduate researchers, Jingxuan Wu, Niles Zhao, and Rena Gao, attended and presented their research outputs at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) annual conference , which took place in Portland (U.S.) between the 17th and the 21st March 2023. As the biggest conference in applied linguistics in the United States, this conference presents the latest tendencies of research in the field and provides a precious chance for researchers from all over the world to meet in person, exchange ideas, and build future collaborations. This year AAAL focuses on the theme of Collaborating and Mentoring in Applied Linguistics.
Dr. Jingxuan Wu talked about the key findings of his doctoral research project, which examines proficiency and post-expansion sequence in Second Language Mandarin Chinese refusals. Jingxuan received much useful feedback from the audience.
Niles Zhao spoke about the test impact from the perspective of agency; his study contributes to the ongoing effort to make language tests more equitable.
As a student representative in the International Language Testing Association (ILTA), Niles also presented the development of the Language Tester Mentoring Program (LTMP) in a special session during the conference.
Rena Gao explained how Zoom online interactions shape the listener responses of English Second Language speakers and introduced her novel methodology in studying active listenership in social interactions. After the presentation, a number of interesting questions arose from the audience, which provided a new perspective for her future research in listenership.
In addition to the academic presentations and the useful exchange of ideas during the conference, Niles and Rena, two 2022 Duolingo Doctoral Awards winners, also met with the Duolingo communication specialist and were featured on the Duolingo official social media accounts.
The meaning of attending an international conference is more than just to showcase one’s research output, but it is also to get new insights from excellent peers and researchers from all over the world, which gives a chance to look beyond one’s comfort zone and to get an idea of what might happen in the field after the current stage.
The AAAL conference was held in Portland this year and, as is the case with many international conferences, travelling from Melbourne was a long and high-cost trip. In SOLL, there’s funding for graduate researchers who plan to attend international or national academic conferences (for more information: https://scholarships.unimelb.edu.au/awards/conference-travel-scholarships). My conference trip was financed by internal funding, by the Graduate Research in Arts Travel Scheme.