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Connecting Communities via Language: Reading Strategies and Translation Skills for Post-Intermediate Learners of Polish

Aims and Objectives of the Training: This training is aimed at Research Preparation Master’s students, Doctoral students and researchers whose command of Polish is at an intermediate level but who need to study primary sources in Polish, and therefore need to enhance their general and specialised reading competence for authentic sources, advanced archival research, and translation. Furthermore, the training will also enable students to exchange their own experiences and share good practice.

Organisers: These activities are offered within the framework of the AHRC's Collaborative Research Training Scheme for Language Skills Training, and are carried out  carried out in the context of the AHRC co-funded Language-Based Area Studies (LBAS) initiative and GRAMNET. The two LBAS Centres focussing on Central and Eastern Europe are led by UCL (CEELBAS) and the University of Glasgow (CRCEES). Specifically in relation to Polish, these two institutions have long-term expertise and experience in Polish language studies offered for various academic degree programmes, including formal provision in postgraduate language training up to intermediate level.

The training is organised and provided by members of staff at UCL and the University of Glasgow and external active researchers, practitioners and professional translators.

Training Structure: The full training consists of two one-day workshops and a five-day Summer School. All three training sessions are designed to complement one another but they can also be attended as separate events. The first workshop is predominantly text-based, while the second one explores a context-centred approach to reading and translation.

By the end of the first workshop, held in London, the participants will have become familiar with the key lexical, syntactical and information patterns in selected texts and will acquire skills in recognising the text’s informative, communicative and emphatic functions. They will also learn about resources for selecting and decoding texts and will be allocated a post-workshop assignment to be completed online before the next workshop.

In the second workshop, held in Glasgow, the participants will be encouraged to identify contextual factors in the text and their impact on meaning. There will be sessions with a focus on media discourse typical for the Polish language, and examples of archival family research. Participants will also be invited to reflect on these strategies in relation to their own practices.

At the five-day Summer School, besides further work on text discourse, the participants will be offered training in translation for research purposes. Furthermore, as texts in contemporary society are becoming increasingly multi-semiotic and multi-layered, language will be discussed with other semiotic forms such as visual images (for example in political campaigns or commercials).

During the Summer School the participants will also be introduced to archives at institutions that hold large collections of authentic Polish sources in the UK, and there will be visits to other institutions that offer sources of authentic information for the study of Polish communities within the UK and beyond. Visits to archives will provide participants with an opportunity to identify additional research sources and have a hands-on experience of selecting texts relevant to their own projects.

For more information download:

Poster

Dates and venues:

Workshop 1 – Friday, 10th December 2010
held at UCL in London

Workshop 2 – Monday, 4th April 2011
held at the University of Glasgow

Summer School – Monday 27th June to Friday 1st July 2011
held at UCL and other institutions in London

Eligibility: The workshops are intended to educate the group of researchers most likely to benefit from enhancing their reading skills in their ongoing and future research. The workshops and summer school are open to full- and part-time postgraduate students with priority given to AHRC-funded students.

All participants are expected to have at least a lower-intermediate command of Polish in reading.

Disciplines Supported: We aim to support mainly students and researchers who engage with literary studies, cultural studies, linguistics, media and history, although students from other disciplines would be considered.

Fees: The fees include all materials, attendance at the training sessions, and refreshments and lunch.

There are a number of subsidised places and travel bursaries available. Priority will be given to AHRC funded students and researchers. Those wishing to request a subsidised place and / or travel bursary should tick the relevant boxes on the application form.

Payment can be settled by cheque (made payable to UCL) or credit card (see additional form for credit card payment). Please enclose cheques / credit card payment details with the application form (payment will not be taken until your place on the training has been confirmed).

Registering

Due to the interactive, hands-on nature of the sessions the number of participants in the training workshops and the summer school is limited to 15. Those interested in attending should submit the application form including a brief statement (up to 500 words) describing how the workshops will impact their research and career goals. PhD student applicants should also submit one letter of recommendation from a faculty member familiar with their academic work and research interests. Application forms can be submitted via e-mail to ceelbas@ssees.ucl.ac.uk or by post to The CEELBAS Administrator, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT.

Deadlines for applications are as follows:

Workshop 1 – Friday 27th November 2010

Workshop 2 – Friday 11th March 2011

Summer School – Friday 13th May 2011

The places will be allocated on the basis of how relevant the training will be for the applicant’s ongoing or future research. Confirmation of places, especially the subsidised ones, and information on travel bursaries will be confirmed by:

Workshop 1: 3rd December 2010

Workshop 2: 18th March 2011

Summer School: 20th May 2011

Downloads:

Registration Form
Credit Card Payment Form

 

For further information, contact:

Dr Elwira Grossman elwira.grossman@glasgow.ac.uk
Dr Dorota Holowiak d.holowiak@ucl.ac.uk

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First published: 1 September 2011