ESIDRP Conference 2025

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Conference plenary speakers

ESIDRP 2022

Petre Lameski (Saints Cyril and Methodius University, North Macedonia): Linking AI and Natural Language Processing

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Artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied to language processing since its inception in the last century. However, only lately, some major breakthroughs have been achieved in its application especially in regard to combining natural language processing (NLP), as part of the AI, with machine learning (ML). More precisely, the deep learning algorithms have taken the ML to a higher level, achieving much better state-of-the-art results. Some of the major breakthroughs were achieved in the past decade thanks to the deep learning algorithms, the transfer learning approaches and in the last several years, with the introduction of the attention mechanisms, such as Transformers.

In this presentation I am going to present the state-of-the-art approaches used for NLP for several applications such as text classification, conversational frameworks (chat bots), machine translation, text to speech and speech to text tasks with the emphasis on their practical usage and implementation. Specifically, several overviews will be presented: 1) an overview of the application of transfer learning using pre-trained models of similar languages to achieve speech recognition of a new language, comparing older and newer methods for their performance; 2) an overview of several applications of text classification for various domain use-cases; for example, churn prediction and customer satisfaction based on text corpuses; and 3) an overview of sentiment analysis application for various domains, one of which is restaurant success prediction. Finally, I am going to address text to speech achievements for the Macedonian language and discuss the future challenges in the field. (Abstract also available in

Macedonian⁠

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, natural language processing, speech recognition, text classification, machine translation

Bio: Petre Lameski was born in 1985 in Kavadarci. In 2008 he graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies at the University of Sts Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, where he works as Assistant professor. From September 2008 until now he has been teaching Introduction to Robotics, Distributed Computer Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms for Data Analysis, Information Systems and Mobile Information Systems. His research interests include Intelligent Robotics Systems, Machine Intelligence, Cognitive Systems and Cognitive Robotics, Time Series Data Analysis, Wireless Sensor and Actor Systems, etc.

Loraine McKay (Griffith University, Australia) Exploring the contribution of arts-based reflection to strengthen teachers' identity development

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A culture of surveillance and accountability, increasing workloads, lack of autonomy, and challenging student behaviour are identified as factors contributing to lower levels of teachers’ job satisfaction and ultimately their sense of well-being. The uncertain times as a consequence of the global pandemic have also exacerbated these negative outcomes for teachers who may also be experiencing empathy fatigue and vicarious trauma while assisting colleagues, students and families. How then can we prepare and support teachers to navigate the personal and professional challenges in their day-to-day work, especially for those teachers working in challenging communities or with children from trauma backgrounds? In this presentation we will explore the value of the arts in supporting identity development that incorporates self-care, resilience, and agency. In particular, we examine the use of photo-elicitation, collage, poetry, and graffiti boards, and the flexibility they provide as tools for reflection. While the presentation will focus on experiences of using arts-based reflection with preservice and in-service teachers, connections will be made evident in how arts-based reflection can be used across the life-span and within multiple contexts. As we engage on this journey, participants will be encouraged to reflect on how arts-based methods could be a useful strategy in their own lives and the lives of those with whom they work.

Key words: Arts-based research; identity; resilience; self-care; agency; teachers and teaching; reflection and reflexivity

Bio: Dr Loraine McKay is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University, Australia. She is currently Program Director of the Master of Primary Teaching Program. Her research interests are associated with preservice teacher identity development. She used arts-based processes to engage preservice teachers in various forms of reflection to examine sociocultural and personal factors that support identity, agency, resilience and wellbeing, and to explore the affective nature of teaching. She is passionate about social justice and the role that education and teachers can play in improving life opportunities for all children, particularly those who experience trauma.

Silvia Schultermandl (University of Münster, Germany): Instagirls as Quick Media Feminist Icons

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Feminist art projects on social media have successfully called attention to cultural practices and notions of identity which deliberately go against mainstream assumptions of womanhood. Often through auto-performative responses to sexist and misogynistic tropes, they impel audiences to question late-capitalist and neoliberal constructions of “girl-hood.” In my talk, I will look at Instagram art projects which critically engage with the trope of the so-called Insta-girl in an attempt to raise issues about the cultural constructions of girlhood on social media and in “real life.” With the help of two case studies – Amalia Ulman’s Excellences & Perfections and Noa Jansma’s Dear Catcallers, I will discuss the production, circulation, and consumption of a particular type of Insta-girl which appeals to audiences via modes of fetishization and abjection. Jansma’s work consists of selfies she took with random men who catcalled her. The documentary character of her project supports her aim to record the nature, extent, and frequency of catcalling she experienced. In turn, Amalia Ulman’s Excellences & Perfections critiques the trope of the Insta-girl, a postfeminist, late-capitalist figure characterized by her “oversharing” of intimate details about her everyday life. Both artists received strong reactions from their followers for their playful adaptations of the genre of Insta-girl life narratives. The use of pastiche in their own Insta-narratives incites comments about authenticity and, in turn, throws into relief the inherent misogyny at play when “girls’” authorial practices are called into question.

Keywords: social media, feminist art, affect, precarity, life writing

Bio: Silvia Schultermandl is Professor and Chair of American Studies at the University of Münster. She is the author of Transnational Matrilineage: Mother-Daughter Conflicts in Asian American Literature (2009) and Ambivalent Transnational Belonging in American Literature (2021) and co-editor of eight collections of essays which explore various themes in transnational studies, American literature and culture, as well as family and kinship studies. Her articles have appeared in the following journals, among others: Meridians, Atlantic Studies, Interactions, Journal of Transnational American Studies, and Journal of American Culture. She is currently developing the Palgrave Series in Kinship, Representation, and Difference and is embarking on a new project on kinship and social media. Her areas of interest include affect theory, literary theory, critical race theory, queer theory, aesthetics, and transnational feminism.

Monika Kopytowska (University of Lodz, Poland): Language, distance and (mediated) social reality

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While language itself is a powerful tool in the social construction process (Berger and Luckmann 1991/1966: 40) and the prerequisite for the existence of other social institutions (Searle 1995), media, considered the source of “pictures in our heads [...] of the external world that is out of reach, out of sight, out of mind” (Lippmann 1922: 29), have undoubtedly transformed and accelerated this process. As observed by Urry (2002), people aim for proximity within three dimensions – with other people in face-to-face interactions, with unique locations in face-to-place interactions, and with special events in face-to-moment interactions, which has been termed by Boden and Molotch (1994: 258, 277) as “compulsion of proximity”. Enabling mediated forms of such interactions, technological affordances of the media together with language have thus satisfied the basic human need, which has gained particular relevance in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis bringing about travel restrictions, lockdowns and quarantine. Thanks to its near-instantaneous, dialogic, and decentralized nature and interactivity, cyberspace, in particular, has become an ultra-attractive site for interpersonal and professional communication, socio-political debate, citizen participation, and a more direct and effective communication between political elites and the rest of the society (Kopytowska 2020).

Starting from the tenets of proximization theory as developed by Chilton (2004, 2005, 2010, 2014) and Cap (2006, 2013, 2017) on the one hand and Searle’s theory of social ontology (1995, 2006, 2010) on the other, the presentation discusses the Media Proximization Approach (Kopytowska 2013, 2014, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2018a, 2018b, 2020) as a perspective on the construction of (mediated) social reality. Key in this approach are distance-related operations of media text prosumers (both journalists and social media users) enabled by media “techno-discursive design” and “prosumption” dynamics (KhosraviNik 2014, 2017, 2018). Discursive practices, along with verbal and visual strategies, help to reduce temporal, spatial, axiological, epistemic and emotional dimensions of distance, which in turn impacts on how social relations and the Other are constructed, and how, more generally, certain phenomena, groups or individuals acquire their axiologically and emotionally imbued representations, often with real life implications, within the sphere of collective consciousness. In the presentation we will try to answer the following questions: (1) How do technological affordances and language shape distance dynamics, thus entrusting individuals and institutions with quasi-status functions and deontic powers, reconfiguring relations and bringing about material consequences? (2) How do the structural and functional features of online communication influence its uniting and dividing potential, and how anonymity, on one hand, and mass public accessibility, on the other, enhance these processes?

Bio: Monika Kopytowska received her Ph.D. from the University of Lodz, Poland, where she is currently affiliated with the Department of Pragmatics. Her research interests revolve around media discourse and the pragma-rhetorical aspects of the mass-mediated representation of conflict, ethnicity, and religion. She has published internationally in linguistic journals and volumes.

Aron Aji (University of Iowa, USA): Literary Translation and the Ethics of Hospitality

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In global circulation of international literature, translations into English are often considered either as a proof of ‘fame’ or, more likely, as an entryway to broader and more diverse international reading markets. The venues and networks that facilitate the international literary exchange through English obtain significant roles in shaping the ethics and aesthetics of literary translation—from what gets translated to how, why and by whom. In this new context, the literary translator can resist the traditional call to make the original work read “as if written in English” and, instead, capitalize on the intrinsic mutability/hybridity of the English language so it can better express the aesthetics of other languages, especially in cases of less frequently translated world languages. The practice field of literary translation as such becomes a regenerative site for both the guest (source) and the host (target) languages.

Bio: Aron Aji, Director of MFA in Literary Translation at the University of Iowa, is a native of Turkey, and has translated works by modern and contemporary Turkish writers, including Karasu’s The Garden of Departed Cats, (2004 National Translation Award); and A Long Day’s Evening, (NEA Literature Fellowship; short-list, 2013 PEN Translation Prize). His forthcoming translations include Ferid Edgü’s Wounded Age and Eastern Tales (NYRB, 2022), and Mungan’s Tales of Valor (co-translated with David Gramling) (Global Humanities Translation Prize, Northwestern UP, 2022). Aji was president of The American Literary Translators Association between 2016-2019.

ESIDRP 2019

Richard Fay: “Languaging interdisciplinarily: English at the intercultural interface”

Interdisciplinary collaboration is notoriously difficult, and knowledge flows between disciplines have been critiqued for privileging certain voices from certain contexts (geographic and disciplinary) in certain languages (e.g. English), thereby raising the possibility of epistemic injustice. English, as THE global language of our time, is at the interface of such concerns. It is also a major medium for intercultural encounters of both an interpersonal and inter-knowledging character. What happens when ideas from one discipline are brought - through the medium of English - into another? And what are the implications — for English language specialists (and especially teachers and researchers) — of the role of English in such encounters? In this talk, I will explore such questions with reference to a number of projects in which I have recently participated.

Elena Marchevska: “Caring for the future: Dystopian literature and art at the edge of a collapsing world“

In recent decades, the birth rate in many Western countries has decreased dramatically and the troles and representations of maternal figures have changed significantly. Through IVF, gamete donation and surrogacy, motherhood is no longer defined univocally, and family structures have evolved accordingly. This paper seeks to investigate how biotechnology, social and family changes inform an interdisciplinary perspective of the representations of motherhood in feminist dystopian literature, plays and art. I will focus the paper on the following three novels: Naomi Alderman’s The Power (2016); Anne Charnock's Dreams Before the Start of Time (2017) and Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God (2017). I will use comparative analysis to discuss how these novels engage in a dialogue with wider contemporary trends in feminist writing and art, which look at dystopian visions of humans’ reproductive strategies. I will use the work of the feminist philosophers Rosalyn Diprose and Lisa Baraitser to contextualise how these novels challenge and extend notions of the ethics of care. I am particularly interested in how the authors’ depictions of a dystopian future see the act of caring for children (and consequently each other and the world) as interdependent activities which involve constant learning of how to wait, be patient, trust and listen.

Joy Lynn Egbert: “Task engagement as a facilitator of achievement in language learning“

Motivation -- which can be loosely defined as a person’s willingness or desire to become involved in a specific field, content, or task -- has been linked to achievement in language learning for decades. More recent study, however, suggests that motivation itself is insufficient to support learning, and, perhaps, does not explain outcomes as clearly as the notion of task engagement does.

Task engagement is generally defined as the level of involvement in a task. Catalysts for task engagement noted in the literature include authenticity, interest, a challenge/skills balance, an autonomy/structure balance, social interaction, and support (including just-in-time feedback). Additional constructs such as “playfulness” are under study.

Although it helps, it is not necessary to have motivation to be engaged in a task, in the same way that being motivated does not imply that a task will be engaging. For example, many learners are quite motivated in general to learn English; when they get to class, however, the tasks may not be engaging to them, and they may not learn as well or as much as they could. Conversely, if learners are not motivated toward English but the language tasks are engaging to them, learners can still achieve.

Emerging theories of task engagement address diverse learners across fields and levels. Applying facilitators of task engagement to lessons may help teachers mediate factors in the environment external to the classroom and lead to more equitable access to learning, better integration of disciplines and topics, and greater learner achievement.

Steven V. Foulke: “Attitudes Towards Immigrants and Immigration in the U.S. Great Plains: Regional Literature as A Lens“

The U.S. Great Plains – stretching from the Dakotas in the north to the panhandle of Texas in the south – is a vast region, dominated by seemingly endless grazing acreage and farmland. Euro-American settlement of this part of the United States began in the mid-19th century and was tied largely to European immigrants who became land holders. Spurred on by the Homestead Act of 1862 – which opened land in the American heartland to a variety of those who felt disenfranchised, including non-citizen immigrants – ethnic peoples from across Europe streamed onto the Great Plains. As famously depicted in the literature of Ole Edvart Rölvaag, Mari Sandoz, and Willa Cather, immigrants were an essential piece of this region’s social and economic fabric in the late 19th century. If immigrants were not beloved, they were at least tolerated during the homesteading era.

During World War I, attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in the Great Plains changed drastically when the region turned against the tens of thousands of German immigrants in the region with a chilling anti-German fervor, as vividly depicted in the fiction of Will Weaver.

In recent decades, the region’s agricultural economy came to depend on of immigrant laborers from Latin America. Polling data and voting patterns strongly suggests that many people in the Great Plains are uncomfortable with the immigrant population in their midst. This presentation traces the shifts in attitudes toward immigrants and immigration in the Great Plains as depicted in regional literature and historical data.

ESIDRP 2016

Michael Aaron Rockland: “Popular Culture: or Why Study ‘Trash?’”

There is an assumption in most universities, around the world, that only “the best” or “elite” culture should be studied. But there is, of course folk culture—too often ignored—and, as well, popular culture, even more ignored. My definition of a pseudo intellectual is someone who always says, “The book was better than the movie.”

But that’s a little like saying music is better than painting. Books and movies are distinctly different art forms. Books are made up of words, and movies are primarily visual. One could say, with regard to a book that it is a better book as a book than the film adapted from it is a movie. But often a movie adapted from a book is a finer work of art than the book that inspired it. Or, as is the case occasionally, vice versa.

Popular culture studies are all about what people wish to read, wish to see, and, with regard to music, wish to listen to. Intellectuals may not want their students and others to embrace what they consider contemptible, but paying attention to what people freely choose to spend their time on tells us a great deal about those people—not necessarily what some of us might like them to be but who they really are. To ignore their tastes would be like a political scientist, who personally favors one candidate, ignoring the choices of those favoring another candidate as simply ignorant and neglecting to study them.

One other point. Much of what started out as popular culture did, over time, gain “respectability” and become elite culture. Shakespeare, as one example, was the popular entertainment of his day. Jazz music was once considered simply the music of illicit sex—played only in brothels in New Orleans. Today it is considered America’s greatest contribution to music.

Mark Wyatt: “Exploring teachers’ cognitions regarding their own continuing professional development in a Macedonian context“

It is increasingly recognized by teacher educators around the world that continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for language teachers can be more effective when they make the teachers themselves, their learners and their contexts central to the educational process. When, therefore, teachers are actively engaged as knowledge generators, critically and collaboratively (supported by context-sensitive mentoring) reflecting on and exploring their beliefs and practices, the view of many teacher educators is that this is likely to be more beneficial than if the teachers are treated simply as knowledge consumers, there simply to receive. It is uncertain, though, how language teachers in different national contexts perceive the CPD opportunities that have been provided for them. Are their reported experiences more of ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’ CPD, and how do they feel about this? Are there any messages about the CPD opportunities provided for them that teachers need to send to their administrators? This talk reports on a recent study involving Macedonian English language teachers that explored this issue. Implications for practice in teacher education are discussed.

Slobodanka Dimova: “The Role of Language Assessment in the Implementation of Language Policies in Higher Education”

Language assessment is often used to enforce language policies established by governments, institutions, and different educational and cultural agencies. As instruments of such policies, language assessments impact educational systems and societies, so their uses and consequences need critical examination. Of equal importance is defining the ethical relationship between policy-making and language assessment and understanding the practical concerns regarding assessment procedures, as situated within the particular social, economic, and historical contexts. This paper addresses how educational and language policies at the University of Copenhagen have affected the university-wide uses of standardized tests (e.g., TOEFL and IELTS for international student admission) and the development and validation of local language assessment procedures (e.g., TOEPAS for oral English language certification of lecturers). Given the complexity of the local teaching and learning contexts and traditions in which these assessments are administered and used, the paper emphasizes the challenges in the endeavor to reach improved understanding of the interface between language, disciplinary content, and pedagogy.

Conference proceedings

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ESIDRP 2022 Conference Proceedings

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`ESIDRP 2019 Conference Proceedings`⁠
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`ESIDRP 2016 Conference Proceedings, dedicated to our dear colleague Ognen Cemerski`⁠
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Photos

For a selection of photos from our 2016 conference, please see here:

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ESIDRP archive

Conference plenary speakers

ESIDRP 2022

Petre Lameski (Saints Cyril and Methodius University, North Macedonia): Linking AI and Natural Language Processing

Loraine McKay (Griffith University, Australia) Exploring the contribution of arts-based reflection to strengthen teachers' identity development

Silvia Schultermandl (University of Münster, Germany): Instagirls as Quick Media Feminist Icons

Monika Kopytowska (University of Lodz, Poland): Language, distance and (mediated) social reality

Aron Aji (University of Iowa, USA): Literary Translation and the Ethics of Hospitality

ESIDRP 2019

Richard Fay: “Languaging interdisciplinarily: English at the intercultural interface”

Elena Marchevska: “Caring for the future: Dystopian literature and art at the edge of a collapsing world“

Joy Lynn Egbert: “Task engagement as a facilitator of achievement in language learning“

Steven V. Foulke: “Attitudes Towards Immigrants and Immigration in the U.S. Great Plains: Regional Literature as A Lens“

ESIDRP 2016

Michael Aaron Rockland: “Popular Culture: or Why Study ‘Trash?’”

Mark Wyatt: “Exploring teachers’ cognitions regarding their own continuing professional development in a Macedonian context“

Slobodanka Dimova: “The Role of Language Assessment in the Implementation of Language Policies in Higher Education”

Conference proceedings

⁠ESIDRP 2019 Conference Proceedings⁠⁠

⁠ESIDRP 2016 Conference Proceedings, dedicated to our dear colleague Ognen Cemerski⁠⁠

Photos

Press coverage

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`ESIDRP 2019 Conference Proceedings`⁠
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`ESIDRP 2016 Conference Proceedings, dedicated to our dear colleague Ognen Cemerski`⁠
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