Brisbane Applied Linguistics Research Network Inaugural Symposium
Welcome to the Brisbane Applied Linguistics Research Network Inaugural Symposium!
This in-person event is a great chance to connect, share ideas, and explore new research in Applied Linguistics together. Whether you're an Applied Linguistics student or researcher, come join the conversation and be part of the launch of this new network.
Keynote
Students’ translanguaging practices in EMI classes at universities in Vietnam
This presentation reports on a study into the functions of student translanguaging during student–student and student–teacher interaction in English-medium instruction (EMI) classrooms at two Vietnamese universities. The study examines naturally-occurring classroom recordings from English-medium courses in translation and interpreting, sociology, marketing, and economics.
Analysis reveals that translanguaging is central and multifunctional in EMI classrooms at these Vietnamese universities. Yet, although learners translanguage to address communication challenges, limited English proficiency is the least common reason for using the L1. More frequently, translanguaging performs academic, management, and interpersonal functions. Students navigating academic content may translanguage to facilitate content transfer, explain concepts, ask and answer questions, and co-construct disciplinary knowledge more efficiently. They also use it for procedural management: supporting task organisation, assigning roles and responsibilities, and encouraging participation. And there is an interpersonal function: learners translanguage for rapport-building, humour, identity expression, expressing shared cultural meanings, and delivering criticism.
In these Vietnamese EMI contexts, translanguaging emerges not as a linguistic safety net but as a flexible communicative resource that supports content learning, task management, and interaction.
Ian Walkinshaw, Griffith University
Ian Walkinshaw is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at Griffith University. His research encompasses TESOL, English as a lingua franca, pragmatics, multilingual education, and Global Englishes, often with an Asia-Pacific focus. His work has appeared in the Journal of Pragmatics, Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, Teaching and Teacher Education, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Studies in Higher Education, Contrastive Pragmatics, and others.
The View from Japan: Language Learning, Mobility and Higher Education
Drawing on my current Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Fellowship, this presentation reflects on language learning, international mobility and higher education between Japan and Australia. I discuss ongoing collaborations with Japanese universities, emerging directions in study abroad research as the geopolitical situation changes almost weekly and how digital communications and AI are changing the conversations about experiences of living and learning across borders. The talk offers a snapshot of current projects, observations from the field, and some reflections on future directions for language and intercultural education.
Levi Durbidge , University of Sunshine Coast
Levi Durbidge is a Senior Lecturer in World Languages at UniSC and currently a Japan Foundation Indo-Pacific Partnership Fellow. His research examines language learning, study abroad, digital communication, and multilingual identity, with a particular focus on Japan, transnational mobility, and intercultural communication.
Invited Workshop: Vibecoding for Language Researchers: Building Your Own Digital Tools with Claude and Google AI Studio
Generative AI has removed the technical barriers that once separated language researchers and educators from building their own digital tools. This hands-on workshop introduces vibecoding - AI-assisted, natural-language-driven software development - as a practical, transferable method for applied linguists with no programming background. Drawing on the vibecoding-as-method framework (Crosthwaite & Özer, 2026, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics) and real-world examples including CorpusMate, a corpus-based data-driven learning tool, and its domain-specific extension VetLingua, participants will see how bespoke pedagogical and research tools can move from idea to working prototype in a single session.
Using two leading AI platforms, Claude and Google AI Studio, the workshop will live-demonstrate the vibecoding process end to end: articulating a research or teaching need in plain language, iteratively prompting an AI assistant to build and refine a functional tool, and testing the result with real data. Participants will leave with a working understanding of the vibecoding workflow, practical prompting strategies for tool-building, and a critical appreciation of the method's current strengths and limitations. No coding experience is required - only curiosity about what's now possible when language expertise meets accessible AI development platforms.
Peter Crosthwaite, The University of Queensland
Peter Crosthwaite is Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at The University of Queensland. His research focuses on corpus linguistics, second language writing, academic discourse, and AI-assisted language learning. He is Co-Editor in Chief of Language Learning & Technology, Editor-in-Chief of Australian Review of Applied Linguistics and serves on the editorial boards of CALL, System, JEAP, JSLW, System and RMAL. He is featured in the Stanford Top 2% Scientists lists 2023, 2024.
Phraseological Complexity Within the CAF Framework: Evidence From L2 Speaking Performances
Phraseological complexity has recently emerged as a construct at the lexis-grammar interface, complementing traditional measures of lexical and syntactic complexity within the complexity–accuracy–fluency (CAF) framework. Evidence to date, however, has focused largely on L2 writing, leaving oral production underexplored. It also remains unclear how the three dimensions of complexity compare in distinguishing proficiency levels in speaking, and how phraseological complexity in particular relates to accuracy and fluency. This study addresses these gaps by examining a self-built corpus of 122 speaking performances from practice sessions of the Vietnamese Standardized Test of English Proficiency (VSTEP). Participants were first- and second-year students at a Vietnamese university, allocated to two course levels based on placement test scores (lower-level n = 60; higher-level n = 62). Phraseological complexity is operationalized as the diversity and sophistication of three dependency relations (amod, advmod, dobj), with the Spoken BNC2014 as the reference corpus. Lexical and syntactic complexity are measured using Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools. Fluency is examined through speed, breakdown, and repair dimensions, while accuracy is measured through morphosyntactic error coding.
Transcription has been completed, with 99.53% inter-coder agreement on a 20% subset. Data cleaning and automatic data segmentation into T-units have been carried out, with validation against manual coding underway. Extraction of lexical and syntactic measures is in progress, which will be followed by measurement of phraseological complexity, fluency, and accuracy. The study is expected to extend complexity research on L2 spoken production, with implications for the development of rating rubrics in local speaking assessments.
Mai Khanh Dang, The University of Queensland
Mai Khanh Dang is a Master of Applied Linguistics (Coursework) student at The University of Queensland. They hold a BA (Hons) in English Teacher Education. They are interested in English language teaching methodology, learner corpus research, sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis.
Phonics instruction in adult EAL education: Teacher beliefs and practices in Australia
Phonics instruction explicitly teaches relationships between written letters and speech sounds. It is widely recognised as an important component of early reading instruction (Castles et al., 2018). However, research into phonics has predominantly focused on children learning to read. Considerably less is known about its role in adult English as an Additional Language (EAL) education, where learners may have diverse linguistic, educational and literacy backgrounds. These differences may affect both the need for phonics instruction and how it can be incorporated into adult language classrooms. Teachers play an important role in shaping classroom practice through their knowledge, beliefs and instructional decisions (Borg, 2003). There has however been little research examining how teachers understand and use phonics with adult EAL learners, particularly in Australia. This study investigates the beliefs and reported practices of teachers working with adult EAL learners in Australian TAFE institutions and private English-language providers. It examines how teachers perceive and use phonics-based instruction and what they believe about its effectiveness in supporting adult EAL learners’ reading development. The study uses a mixed-methods design combining an online teacher survey with follow-up semi-structured interviews. Survey data will be used to identify patterns in teachers’ reported beliefs and practices, while interview data will provide more detailed accounts of teachers’ experiences, instructional choices and perceived challenges. By examining phonics from the perspective of practising adult EAL teachers, the study seeks to address a gap in the largely child-focused phonics literature and contribute to a better understanding of phonics in Australian adult EAL education.
Dane Kyle, The University of Queensland
Dane Kyle is a Master of Applied Linguistics student in the School of Languages and Cultures. He has eleven years’ experience teaching English as an additional language to children and adults in the People’s Republic of China. He currently works on freelance curriculum and education-related projects.
Affective and Interpersonal Concerns in Korean Learners' Peer Interaction across ESL and EFL Contexts
Peer interaction provides opportunities for second language (L2) learners to attend to linguistic problems through language-related episodes (LREs) (Swain & Lapkin, 1998). However, learners' engagement with these opportunities may be shaped by affective and social as well as linguistic factors (Philp et al., 2010). Korean learners have been found to produce fewer LREs and take fewer turns than learners from other language backgrounds (Spinelli et al., 2022), while concerns surrounding potentially face-threatening situations have been suggested as one possible influence on peer correction (Choi & Iwashita, 2016).
This study examines how affective and interpersonal concerns, including face concerns and fear of negative evaluation, may relate to Korean learners’ participation and avoidance during peer interaction. It draws on small-group interaction and interview data from Korean ESL learners in Australia and Korean EFL learners in Korea. The two datasets are analysed separately, taking into account differences in their participants and data-collection procedures. Interaction data are analysed for LREs and patterns of participation and avoidance, while interview accounts are used to contextualise these patterns.
Preliminary examination of the data suggests that linguistic assistance often emerges following learners' requests for help, while some potential opportunities for peer correction are not pursued. Potential correction opportunities are also sometimes left unaddressed or accompanied by laughter. Initial interview accounts further point to participants’ awareness of interpersonal concerns surrounding peer correction. These preliminary patterns are considered across the two contexts, with attention to potential similarities and differences while recognising differences between the datasets. The study aims to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of Korean learners’ engagement in peer interaction and to inform more affectively and interpersonally responsive approaches to peer interaction.
Yujeong Han, The University of Queensland
Yujeong Han is a Master of Applied Linguistics (TESOL Studies) student at The University of Queensland. Her research interests include second language acquisition, peer interaction, affective factors in language learning, and Korean learners of English. Her current dissertation examines affective and interpersonal concerns in Korean learners' peer interaction.
