Why presenting at an international conference is Moorditj!
When I was offered the opportunity to present at the 25th International Sociolinguistics Symposium in Perth, Australia, I was in two minds. Of course, the opportunity to talk about my research at a prestigious conference to an international audience, alongside colloquium members from The University of Sheffield and beyond would be a privilege. But it would also be nerve-wracking, expensive, cause jet lag, require me to leave the UK while a family member I care for was unwell, and be bad for the environment. In the end I decided these opportunities don’t come along every day and went for it. (I’m still thinking about what I can do to appease my climate guilt!)
The benefits of going were partly as a result of the conference itself- although sociolinguistics is not my discipline, there was a diverse programme, and I was interested to hear about how operators’ unconscious bias means that callers’ accents impact the response they get when calling emergency services, and how skilled carers interweave relationship building chit chat with direct instructions on home visits to the elderly, despite never having been trained to do so. Neither of these topics have any relevance to my PhD, beyond the fact that how we communicate is important, but were brilliant examples of how research can be turned into an absorbing story in a half hour time slot. Being part of an international colloquium panel was an opportunity for me to see that what can sometimes feel like quite a lonely journey (I don’t know anyone else using the same methodologies as I am) is in fact connected to many other research projects in other topic areas, disciplines, and countries. One of the keynote speakers, Professor Annelies Kusters, presenting in BSL, introduced me to her concept of calibration- of how we communicate best when we respond to the person we’re trying to communicate with and calibrate our language choices accordingly (see, for example, Full article: Deaf cosmopolitanism: calibrating as a moral process (tandfonline.com)). I trained as a teacher of the deaf 20 years ago and really enjoyed this celebration of deaf language and culture, but also see how calibration could be a term I could think about in my own research to reflect on the need to adapt and individualise communication with participants.
However the trip also benefitted my PhD thinking beyond the conference; To admit that whilst in Perth I visited the Art Gallery of Western Australia might sound like a bit of a jolly. However, as I was in Perth for research purposes, I seemed to see everything through the lens of my PhD research- The exhibition of First Nations art complimented but further provoked my thinking about colonialism in language and learning beyond what I had thought about in the lecture theatre. I admired the bright pink neon sculpture by Amanda Bell, From our lips, mouths, throats and belly (2021), which fills the room with a warm glow from the word “Moorditj” — a Noongar word which translates to “good” or “awesome” in English- and wondered how when I come to disseminate the art made in my research project I can create a similar welcoming vibe. But then I noticed 2 girls (who gave permission for me to share their photo) with their backs to the art gallery exhibits, looking out at the street artist using an image on his phone as a template, painting a wall mural on the far side of the glass which Bell’s artwork is reflected in- so important for me to think about what is art and where the art that we engage with is, how art and technology interact, who we think or hope our audience is, and are we presenting in the right place and right way for them to see it? These questions further my thinking about my own arts-based research practice.
The opportunity to go to a conference in a different discipline and a different part of the world offers thought provoking learning opportunities both in and beyond the lecture theatre. Thank you to my supervisor Dr Jess Bradley and The School of Education for enabling me to go. The next Sociolinguistics Symposium is in 2026 in South Africa. And finally, you surely didn’t expect me to go all the way to Australia and not…
Sally Thomas is a PhD student using participatory arts-based research methods.
