AUT - Research
Research
Research interests within the School of Languages and Social Sciences are varied, as you would expect in a multidisciplinary school including applied linguists, sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, anthropologists and economists.
Publications in 2008
A large number of staff were involved in research activities which resulted in:
- Contributions to books by Dr Sharyn Graham-Davies, Dr Robert Webb, Heather Denny and Kevin Roach
- Many articles in national and international academic journals.
In addition, an AUT editorial team headed by Dr Rob Webb and Professor Charles Crothers published two issues of the New Zealand Sociology journal, and Professor John Bitchener continued co-editorship of the New Zealand Studies in Applied Linguistics journal. UNESCO extended Professor Charles Crothers’s editorship of a theme on the history and development of Sociology for their Encyclopaedia of Living Systems and Dr Sharon Harvey continued in her role as Reviews Editor for The Journal of Multicultural Discourses.
Conference contributions
There were over fifty conference contributions, both national and international, in 2008.
Department of Social Sciences staff presented at numerous conferences including:
- The (SAANZ) Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand Conference, Dunedin
- The Maori Association of Social Scientists Conference, Victoria University of Wellington
- The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth, University of Auckland
Department of English and Applied Linguistics staff presented at:
- The CLESOL (National Conference for Community Languages and ESOL) conference, Auckland
- The Tertiary Writing Network
- ALANZ (Applied Linguistics Association of NZ) Symposium, Auckland.
Department of International and Community Languages staff presented at:
- The NZ Association of Language Teachers International Biennial Conference, Wellington
Funding
Academic staff made excellent use of Faculty contestable conference funding and research funding, as well as publication grants in 2008.
- $25,000 was made available to assist conference attendance and other research activities.
- 2008 saw a number of successful applications for externally-funded research projects amounting to more than $388,000. Among these were:
- Three evaluations for the Ministry of Education in languages education (led by Dr Sharon Harvey)
- A report for the Royal Commission on the Governance of Auckland (Professor Charles Crothers)
- Sasakawa Travel Awards awarded to Debbie Corder and Dallas Nesbitt
- Four staff (Dr Pat Strauss, Heather Denny, Professor John Bitchener) successfully applied for Ako Aotearoa funding (both the National Projects Fund and the Northern Hub Funding) to undertake projects closely aligned with teaching and learning
- Professor John Bitchener’s award of a Fullbright Travel Award which enabled him to deliver seminars and workshops in the United States as well as work on joint research and book writing projects with several international colleagues
- Professor Charles Crothers’ award of the SAANZ Scholarship prize for 2008 at the Otago Conference of the NZ Sociological Association.
Visitor-led workshops
Visitors to the School of Languages and Social Sciences during 2008 delivered public seminars in addition to workshops for AUT staff.
- Indonesian criminologist Dr Andrianus Meliala from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia, Jakarta
- NZ criminologist Dr. Samantha Jeffries from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane
- Professor Dana Ferris from the University of California presented keynote addresses at the ALANZ Symposium and TWN Conference both hosted by AUT
Useful Research and Consultancy Links
- The School of Languages and Social Sciences maintains close links with a number of AUT University Research Institutes and Centres, including:
- Institute of Public Policy
- Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication
- Centre for Work and Labour Market Studies (CWaLMS), and
- New Zealand Tourism Research Institute
- Journals
- Journal of Sociolinguistics
- Journal of Multicultural Discourses
- Discourse & Communication
- Australia Journal of Linguistics
- Critical Discourse Studies
- Kôtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online
- Associations
- Humanities Research Network (HRN)
- Community Languages and English for Speakers of Other Languages (CLESOL)
- Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Aotearoa New Zealand (TESOLANZ)
- Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand (ASAANZ)
- Building Research Capability in the Social Sciences (BRCSS) Network
- Sociological Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (SAANZ)
Click here to find out more about research developments driven by AUT University.