Expanding the boundaries of language and communication: exploring embodied and object-based research methods

This one-day student-led workshop will present a series of hands-on activities, collective readings and reflections on the role of multimodality in research. Drawing on our own research, we will invite participants to join us in considering how walking methods, the use of artefacts, drawing and sonic methods can enhance research in language and communication and beyond, as well as how such methods can serve to democratise the research process and support a more participatory research stance. We will be joined by Dr Vally Lytra (Goldsmiths) who will share with participants her own research in multilingualism in diverse schools, homes and communities drawing on participatory, embodied and object-based methods.

This workshop is particularly relevant for researchers in the fields of language and communication research as it opens up reflection on new thinking in this field. However, the broader focus on communication means that the methods proposed will be of interest to scholars in other disciplines.  It may also be relevant to researchers in anthropology, education or migration studies who are interested in bringing elements of language and literacy to their own research.

This workshop addresses current developments in the field of applied and sociolinguistics which interrogate the dominance of the ‘linguistic’ in language and communication focussed research (Block 2014). An important body of work has emerged over the last decade which has begun to increase our understanding that linguistic resources are just one element in communication practices, highlighting multimodal, sensory, visual and embodied elements (Bucholz and Hall 2016, Rymes 2014) and the importance of objects and artefacts (Canagarajah and Minakova 2023). The workshop leaders draw on their own research to present methodological approaches which bring the embodied and the physical to the centre of language and communication scholarship.

During the workshop, participants will take part in multimodal and multisensory walks and will be invited to use objects to explore and talk about their own research. Activities will also allow space for methodological and theoretical reflections in the areas of decolonisation, critical literacy and participatory research. We will conclude with a reflective discussion, which will draw on participants’ experiences of the workshop activities, their own research and some short readings.                                                                                              

This workshop is free of charge and lunch/coffee will be provided, but places are limited.

To register for the workshop please complete this registration form by Friday June 23.

For further information about the workshop contact Becky Winstanley 677372@soas.ac.uk

Bionotes

Becky Winstanley is a CHASE funded PhD Linguistics student on a collaborative doctoral award (CDA) with SOAS/Goldsmiths and Osmani Trust. Her main research interest is language and migration and her PhD investigates the relationship between migration and multilingual communicative repertoires in east London. She is also interested in participatory approaches to ethnography and language education.

Cris Sara Zaror is a full-time PhD student in the Educational Studies Department at Goldsmiths. She is being funded by the Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo [ANID] through the programme Becas Chile for doctoral studies abroad. Cris completed her MA in Children’s Literature at Goldsmiths. She also holds a BA in Graphic Design from Universidad de Chile.

Sara Shahwan is in the fourth year of her PhD at Goldsmiths. Her research project investigates the ways children of migrant backgrounds negotiate their ecological identities through poetry reading/writing and walking. She works as a forest school leader in London and has been an assistant lecturer in English Literature at Ain Shams University (Cairo).

Carmen Silverstri is a CHASE-funded PhD student in Applied Linguistics at the University of Essex. Her project investigates multilingual practices and pedagogy in an Italian complementary school in London and aims to understand how children perform and negotiate identities. She is a heritage language teacher and a social activist and has a background in linguistics and philology.  

Vally Lytra is Reader in Languages in Education and Director of Postgraduate Research in the department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research, practice and community engagement focuses on multilingualism in society and language education in migration and minority contexts and is informed by (auto)ethnographic and collaborative methodological approaches.   

Caption: Mural in Shadwell Gardens, east London, (part of Becky Winstanley’s walking research data)

Time	Activity
10.00 - 10.15	Registration + Coffee
10.15 - 10.20	Welcome and outline of the day
10.20 - 10.40	Warmer activity - Participants introduce themselves using an object and/or a photo
10.40 - 11.10	Workshop focus 1a- Presentation of walking methods Sara Shahwan, Becky Winstanley and Carmen Silvestri present walking methods in their own research.
11.10 - 11.40	Workshop focus 1b- Experiencing walking methods In pairs, participants carry out exploratory research walk
11.40 - 12.00	Workshop focus 1c- Reflecting on walking methods Discussion in small groups to reflect on 1a and 1b
12.00 - 13.00	Lunch and informal discussions
13.00 - 13.30	Workshop focus 2a- Presentation of using Object/Artefacts Dr Vally Lytra and and Cris Sara-Zaror present their own research
13.30 - 14.20	Workshop focus 2b- Experience using Object/Artefacts Participants talk about their research using objects/artefacts followed by group reflections.
14.20 - 15.00	Theoretical provocations: Participants read short extracts in small groups and then bring reflections to the larger group (with coffee).
15.00 - 15.30	Panel discussion - Conversation led by Dr Vally Lytra (Goldsmiths) with the workshop leaders and participants on the issues emerging from both the reading and the workshop activities.