Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:55:27.065Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Trading Places, Creating Spaces: Chris Candlin's contribution to aligning research and practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2018

Cynthia White*
Affiliation:
Massey University, New Zealand
Janet Holmes*
Affiliation:
Victoria Wellington University, New Zealand
Vijay Bhatia*
Affiliation:
Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hellenic American University, Athens

Abstract

In referencing the title of Chris Candlin's (2008) plenary, this paper focuses on the continuing concern to align research and practice in applied linguistics, and more particularly in language for specific purposes (LSP) and professional communication. We examine how Candlin identified practices for trading places between research and practice and for creating synergies between them – and in so doing opened up new spaces for enquiry and understanding in the field. We identify and critically examine four approaches that Candlin developed to promote the alignment of research and practice: through particular research tools and methodologies, through the investigation of professional settings and inter-domain constructs (such as quality, trust and risk), through a concern with both rigour and relevance in relation to research and training, and through a focus on ‘critical moments of interaction’ in ‘crucial sites of engagement’ (Candlin 2008). To this end, we draw on the diverse domains and trajectories of enquiry outlined in the opening plenary symposium at the 4th Asia-Pacific Language for Specific Purposes & Professional Communication Association Conference from five standpoints: in recent impact case studies of professional communication in the Hong Kong context (Cheng 2017), in a ‘multi-perspectival’ account of Candlin's enacted philosophy of teaching and learning (Moore 2017), in examining the communicative basis of expertise (Sarangi 2017) and the concept of interdiscursivity (Jones 2017), and in the extensive fieldwork and analysis of workplace talk underlying the development of resources for new migrants in New Zealand (Holmes & Riddiford 2017). In conclusion, we pay tribute to an inspirational researcher and teacher whose influence will continue to impact applied linguistics for decades to come.

Type
Plenary Speeches
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

From the open plenary symposium at the 4th Asia-Pacific Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) and Professional Communication Association Conference 2017, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

References

Bhatia, V., Candlin, C. & Gotti, M. (eds.) (2012). Discourse and practice in international commercial arbitration: Issues, challenges and prospects. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. (1987). Explaining moments of conflict in discourse. In Steele, R. & Threadgold, T. (eds.), Learning, keeping and using language. Language Topics (vol. 2). Proceedings of the 1987 AILA Congress, Sydney. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 413429.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. (2006). Accounting for interdiscursivity: Challenges to professional expertise. In Gotti, M. & Giannone, D. (eds.), New trends in specialized discourse analysis. Bern. Peter Lang Verlag, 125.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. (2008). Trading Places, Creating Spaces: Aligning research and practice in LSP and professional communication. Plenary paper presented at Partnerships in Action: Research, Practice and Training Inaugural Conference of the Asia-Pacific Rim LSP and Professional Communication Association. Hong Kong, 9–10 December 2008.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. (2009). Preface. In Bhatia, V. et al. (eds.), Language for professional communication: Research, practice and training. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 610.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. & Lucas, J. (1986). Interpretations and explanations in discourse: Modes of ‘advising’ in family planning. In Ensink, T., van Essen, A. & van der Geest, T. (eds.), Discourse analysis and public life. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Foris, 1338.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. N. & Plum, G. A. (1999). Engaging with challenges of interdiscursivity in academic writing: Researchers, students and teachers. In Candlin, C. N. & Hyland, K. (eds.), Writing: Texts, processes and practices. London: Longman, 4269.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. & Sarangi, S. (2004). Making applied linguistics matter [Editorial]. Journal of Applied Linguistics 1.1, 18.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. & Crichton, J. (2011). Introduction. Discourses of deficit. Palgrave Macmillan, 122.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. & Crichton, J. (2012). Emergent themes and research challenges: Reconceptionalising LSP. In Petersen, M. & Engberg, J. (eds.), Current trends in LSP research: Aims and methods. Bern: Peter Lang, 277316.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. & Crichton, J. (2013). From ontology to methodology: Exploring the discursive landscape of trust. In Candlin, C. & Crichton, J. (eds.), Discourses of trust. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 118.Google Scholar
Candlin, C., Crichton, J. & Moore, S. H. (eds.) (2017). Exploring discourse in context and action. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Candlin, S. (2003). Issues arising when the professional workplace is the site of applied linguistic research. Applied Linguistics 24.3, 386394.Google Scholar
Candlin, S. & Candlin, C. (2014). Presencing in the context of enhancing patient well-being in nursing care. In Hamilton, H. & Chou, W-Y. S. (eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and health communication. Abingdon,: Routledge, 259278.Google Scholar
Cheng, W. (2017). How to deepen our understanding of professional communication in English. Paper presented at a plenary symposium in honour of Chris Candlin as part of the 4th Asia-Pacific Language for Specific Purposes & Professional Communication Association Conference, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Holmes, J. & Riddiford, N. (2009). Talk at work: Interactional challenges for immigrants. In Bhatia, V. (eds.), 217234.Google Scholar
Holmes, J. & Riddiford, N. (2017). Research that works: Applying workplace research to assist new migrants. Paper presented at a plenary symposium in honour of Chris Candlin, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Holmes, J., Marra, M. & Vine, B. (2011). Leadership, discourse and ethnicity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, A. (2017). Chris Candlin's ongoing engagement with the concept of interdiscursivity. Paper presented at a plenary symposium in honour of Chris Candlin, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Knight, K. & Candlin, C. (2015). Leadership discourse as basis and means for developing L2 students into future leaders. In Shrestha, P. (ed.), Current developments in English for academic and specific purposes: Local innovations and global perspectives. Reading: Garnet, 2750.Google Scholar
Lingard, L. (2012). Rethinking competence in the context of teamwork. In Hodges, B. & Lingard, L. (eds.), The question of competence: Reconsidering medical education in the twenty-first century. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 4269.Google Scholar
Moore, A., Candlin, C. & Plum, G. A. (2001). Making sense of viral load: One expert or two? Culture, Health and Sexuality 3, 429450.Google Scholar
Moore, S. (2017). To Sir with Love: Recalling Chris Candlin the teacher. Paper presented at a plenary symposium in honour of Chris Candlin, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Riddiford, N. (2017). Communicating effectively in job interviews: A resource for newcomers to New Zealand. The Language in the Workplace Project, School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, Victoria University of Wellington. Also available at: www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/interviews.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. (2010a). Healthcare interaction as an expert communication system: An activity analysis perspective. In Streeck, J. (ed.), New adventures in language and interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 167197.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. (2010b). Reconfiguring self/identity/status/role: The case of professional role performance in healthcare encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 7.1, 7595.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. (2015). Experts on experts: Sustaining communities of interest in professional discourse studies. In Gotti, M., Maci, S. & Sala, M. (eds.), Insights into medical communication. Bern: Peter Lang, 2547.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. (2017). The communicative basis of professional expertise. Paper presented at a plenary symposium in honour of Chris Candlin, 26–28 April, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Sarangi, S. & Candlin, C. (2001). ‘Motivational relevancies’: Some methodological reflections on social theoretical and sociolinguistic practice. In Coupland, N., Sarangi, S. & Candlin, C. (eds.), Sociolinguistics and social theory. London: Longman, 350388.Google Scholar
Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar