Congratulations to all who presented at the recent Virtual Graduate Student Symposium hosted by the Society of Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies (SALaDS).
This year’s theme was “Horizons in ALDS” and presentations at both MA and PhD levels highlighted the breadth and diversity of the field:
- exploration of the language strategies of an Instagram influencers – Jamie Takaoka
- analysis of the ways in which Syrian refugees are characterized in Canadian media – Nasim Omidian Sijani
- understanding the role of assessment and how a first year student’s changing awareness of it can influence their transition to university – Tina Beynen
- making a case for unconventional thesis dissertations – Britt Amell
- investigating what makes an effective university writing support centre – Jane van den Dries
Vibrant Q&A sessions followed each presentation with active participation from the students, faculty members, and staff in attendance.
In addition to the presentations, several awards were also announced.
The first, the Lynne Young Award, was presented to PhD student Angela Garcia, whose work explores the role of listening in pilot and aviation communications. The award recognizes academic excellence by a SLaLS graduate student and commemorates long-time SLaLS faculty member Dr. Lynne Young. Heartfelt appreciation to Dr. O’Brien for her kind words in presenting the award and to Lynne’s daughter Laura who joined the group from Edinburgh, Scotland.
The second award, Director’s Award for Outstanding Research Essay, was presented to Ren Memetaj for her paper “IS PATH WARM: A Thematic Analysis of Warning Signs in Suicide-related Posts on an Uncensored Online Suicide Forum.” The award was presented by SLaLS Director, Dr. David Wood.
And, of course, kudos to the SALaDS organizing committee, Jean Charlebois and Laura Macmillan, for all their hard work arranging, promoting and running the event. Speaking of “organizing committees,” SALaDS is now accepting self-nominations for positions in Society for 2022-23. Interested? Click here to learn more.