Australians and Americans talking: culture, interaction and communication style. No relationship is more important to Australia than our relationship with the United States of America, yet remarkably, there has been no systematic study of how Australians and Americans interact differently. This project identifies and explains these differences in a way that is rigorous, accessible, and useful to non-specialists.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$312,000.00
Summary
A comparison of everyday and therapeutic talk. This project aims to equip therapists to support clients to overcome mental distress. Psychotherapy is an established approach for treating mental distress, but how therapy differs from supportive conversations with family or friends remains unclear. The project will use text analytic software and conversation analysis to identify therapeutic ways of discussing personal troubles and their association with therapeutic outcomes. Understanding this ass ....A comparison of everyday and therapeutic talk. This project aims to equip therapists to support clients to overcome mental distress. Psychotherapy is an established approach for treating mental distress, but how therapy differs from supportive conversations with family or friends remains unclear. The project will use text analytic software and conversation analysis to identify therapeutic ways of discussing personal troubles and their association with therapeutic outcomes. Understanding this association is expected to enable therapists to use communication practices that are most likely to benefit clients.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL120100116
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,416,141.00
Summary
How gender shapes the world: a linguistic perspective. This project will seek to understand and explain gender roles in Australian society, and in nearby nations. Emphasis is placed on training researchers with an immigrant or minority background, working towards the empowerment of women researchers. This will enhance our nation's capacity to interpret and manage gender roles in multicultural contexts.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100211
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
The Big Australian Speech Corpus: An audio-visual speech corpus of Australian English. Contemporary speech science and technology are driven by the availability of large speech corpora. While audio databases exist for languages spoken in America, Europe and Japan, there is currently no large auditory-visual database of spoken language, and certainly not one for Australian English. Here we will establish the Big Australian Speech Corpus, which will support a speech science research and developmen ....The Big Australian Speech Corpus: An audio-visual speech corpus of Australian English. Contemporary speech science and technology are driven by the availability of large speech corpora. While audio databases exist for languages spoken in America, Europe and Japan, there is currently no large auditory-visual database of spoken language, and certainly not one for Australian English. Here we will establish the Big Australian Speech Corpus, which will support a speech science research and development using Australian English and facilitate the development of Australian speech technology applications from automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech synthesis used in taxi and other ordering services, to hearing prostheses and talking head aids for learning-impaired children, and a range of security and forensic applications.Read moreRead less
How languages differ and why. When languages interact, they become similar in certain ways. This project will explore the reasons for this, by examining why there are many languages of diverse structures in certain regions, focussing on New Guinea, Amazonia and north-east Queensland. The project will assist with understanding how language helps and hinders inter-ethnic communication.
The grammar of knowledge: a cross-linguistic view of evidentials and epistemological expressions. How does a speaker know that what they say is correct? Some languages have obligatory marking for stating 'information source' ('seen', 'inferred', or 'reported'). In others a source is optional - 'the (reported) theft'. This cross-linguistic investigation will advance our understanding of human interaction and the expression of knowledge.
Tense and topic in English as an Asian lingua franca. Using the Asian Corpus of English (ACE), this project will investigate linguistic features of 'Asian' English, how Asian multilinguals use English with each other and consider the implications of this for regional communication and English language teaching.
An investigation of meaning negotiation in electronic discourse. This project investigates the use of collaborative electronic exchanges between language students in Indonesian and Queensland schools to enhance language and inter-cultural development. The chief investigators will develop a new model of discourse appropriate to such asynchronous communication (e-mail and forums), as well as investigate developments in technological literacy. Other outcomes will include guidelines for creating pra ....An investigation of meaning negotiation in electronic discourse. This project investigates the use of collaborative electronic exchanges between language students in Indonesian and Queensland schools to enhance language and inter-cultural development. The chief investigators will develop a new model of discourse appropriate to such asynchronous communication (e-mail and forums), as well as investigate developments in technological literacy. Other outcomes will include guidelines for creating practical technology-mediated tasks, and protocols for establishing and maintaining electronic tandem exchanges with a developing country. Results will be reported to the Industry Partner and relevant educational authorities and published in national and international journals such as ARAL, Babel and CALL Journal.Read moreRead less
Talking knowledge, doing learning: the early years. An enduring problem in Indigenous schooling is the discrepancy in outcomes compared to mainstream children, but little is known about one crucial factor: the role of Indigenous ways of speaking and their ways of engaging with knowledge and learning. This ground-breaking project aims to compare preparatory school students in two urban settings: a mainstream school and a school with high Indigenous enrolments. The project also seeks to examine le ....Talking knowledge, doing learning: the early years. An enduring problem in Indigenous schooling is the discrepancy in outcomes compared to mainstream children, but little is known about one crucial factor: the role of Indigenous ways of speaking and their ways of engaging with knowledge and learning. This ground-breaking project aims to compare preparatory school students in two urban settings: a mainstream school and a school with high Indigenous enrolments. The project also seeks to examine learning in children's homes to establish how the flow of knowledge is managed in Indigenous and mainstream families. By investigating these four settings, it is expected to provide important evidence for understanding how language and cultural ways of knowing contribute to the discrepancy in schooling outcomes.Read moreRead less
The impact of technological modality on troubles telling and advice giving on a national children's helpline. Over half a million children and young people contact the Kids Help Line every year. They make contact through telephone calls, emails and online interactive chats. This study of these differing types of contact will advance knowledge of children and young people's social and emotional health, the national priority area Promoting and maintaining good health. It informs the counselling, h ....The impact of technological modality on troubles telling and advice giving on a national children's helpline. Over half a million children and young people contact the Kids Help Line every year. They make contact through telephone calls, emails and online interactive chats. This study of these differing types of contact will advance knowledge of children and young people's social and emotional health, the national priority area Promoting and maintaining good health. It informs the counselling, health and educational communities. It addresses key priorities identified in National policy documents on children and young people. Finally, the study will have direct relevance for professional training in telephone and computer mediated forms of communication for counsellors, young people, educators, health professionals and policy makers. Read moreRead less