At the LLDSA, we are ridiculously proud to present a fantastic program of papers at our annual Linguistics and TESOL symposium which takes place this Friday, 23 October, 10.30-4.45, at SJSU, Engineering Building 285 & 287. Please come and support past and present classmates and colleagues from other LLD departments around California and (well) beyond…
…for what promises to be a genuinely stimulating event.
Please contact us at lldsasec@gmail.com for further details.
With due apologies for last-minute notification of the first of this two-part workshop led by Kevin Moore which looks fascinating. In Kevin’s own words:
INVITATION TO A WORKSHOP ON DISCOVERING CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS
When people use conceptual metaphors, they systematically talk about one kind of thing as if it were another. For example we can talk about understanding as if it were seeing: If we understand an idea well, we can say that we “see” it “clearly”; and if we don’t understand it, we can say that it is “not clear”. That is, it is hard to “see” well. But if we “shine some light” on it, we can “see” it better; in other words, it becomes easier to understand. Another example of systematic correspondences involves moving objects and time. If a time is in the future, we can say it is “far away”. For example on Monday, Friday seems so far away. Then, as the days “go by”, Friday gets “closer and closer”, as if days were moving objects that could approach and then pass by us. (These ideas are from Lakoff & Johnson’s Metaphors We Live By.)
In the first session of the workshop I will present and explain various conceptual metaphors in English, and teach participants how to analyze them. These metaphors have to do with different aspects of experiences in life. For example, talking about achieving goals as motion (I am “half way through” the job), emotions as forces (They “exploded” with anger), and importance as size (That was a “huge” achievement). For the second session, I will ask participants to bring examples of ordinary everyday conceptual metaphors from different languages that they know or work on, and we will analyze those data together.
The first session is this Tuesday, 13 October from 3 to 4:15 p.m. in Clark 412.
The second session is Tuesday 20 October from 3 to 4:15 p.m. in Clark 412.
Please let me (kevin.moore@sjsu.edu) know if you plan to come, so I can estimate how many handouts to make, but come anyway even if you don’t get a chance to let me know.
Take a well deserved break from the stresses and strains of October mid-terms, projects and assignments! Join us at Whispers at 150 South Second St, SJ, on Thursday 15 October from 5.00 p.m. for fun and friendly conversation over a drink and free appetizers!
You can RSVP on our Facebook page or just turn up on the day.
We’re looking forward to seeing you!
Robin Melnick is holding a workshop for our visiting friends from the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, this Friday (October 9), from 2.00-5.00 p.m., Clark Hall 242. LLD staff and graduate students (and alumni too) are most welcome!
Language Variation: Social & Cognitive
The workshop will begin with a presentation overview of variation along several social dimensions (geographic –> demographic –> clique/community –> context-based stylistic variation within the individual) before proceeding into psycholinguistic variation (i.e., variation choice within the individual speaker based on processing costs in context; or between individuals based on variation in cognitive factors). The main focus will be on introducing the methods and tools of quantitative analysis of variation, with an emphasis on regression modeling. We’ll work hands-on with software and techniques used most commonly in quantitative variation analysis in the field today.
Please let Robin know if you’re considering attending so that he can get a rough anticipated headcount. Attendees may also be asked to download a few sets of files in advance, instructions to be sent later in the week to those who indicate an interest in attending.
Robin can be contacted at robin.melnick@sjsu.edu
With your support, our students have gained invaluable classroom teaching experience!
We would like to thank the following programs for hosting practicum students during Spring 2015: