#CommunicateNow: new tools for language learners and sport | Palmerston North

Great Kiwi Research: Sharing women's discoveries

Great research is going on in Aotearoa New Zealand, and we want to share it with you this year as part of the Royal Society Te Apārangi celebrations on becoming 150 years old. In particular, we have provided this opportunity to showcase women’s research, across all disciplines, reflecting our mandate to explore, discover and share knowledge. We hope you enjoy this special series.

Performing in the spectacle: 21st-century Gladiators in the modern day Coliseum

Selfies, hashtags and Instagram; social media as pervasive parts of modern consumer culture are central to the immediacy and reach of sport communication. In this talk, Ashleigh will consider social media as a sport communication tool, will share how athletes are negotiating and performing in this new arena, and consider how sport fans now form part of the spectacle.

Dr Ashleigh-Jane Thompson's current research interests are in sport communication with a particular focus on the (re)presentation of sport entities on digital and new media. She is also interested in examining the influence and impact of digital and social media on image management and the communication between sport organizations, athletes and consumers.

Ashleigh is an Editorial Board member for the International Journal of Sport Communication, and ad-hoc reviewer for the Sport Management Review. In addition to this I currently serve on the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand (SMAANZ) Board.

Why it’s good to learn another language - right now

What are the benefits of learning another language? Why can’t the whole world just speak English? Why are languages so hard? Cynthia will tackle these questions from a New Zealand perspective, acknowledging the meaning of language learning for individuals, and what’s exciting about new language learning opportunities accessible 24/7 within individual lifeworlds.

Cynthia White is Professor of Applied Linguistics, Massey University, and Research Director for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.  She has published widely on distance and online learning, emotion in language learning, learner autonomy, and teacher identity and agency. Her publications include two books (Cambridge University Press, Multilingual Matters), 57 refereed articles, 18 book chapters, and several guest editorships of journal special issues. Cynthia has completed collaborative research projects with Oxford University, Open University UK and Nottingham University and is currently the Director of the Massey University-Beijing Language and Culture University Research Centre in Applied linguistics. She is a member of Editorial Boards of seven international journals, and has been plenary speaker at international conferences in Germany, the UK, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, China, UK, Hawai’i and Malaysia. 

Presented in partnership with Massey University.

FREE PUBLIC EVENT - register to gaurantee your seat
Views expressed at this event may not reflect those of Royal Society Te Apārangi