Irish Association of Applied Linguistics Annual Conference 2023

Taking place on the North Campus of Maynooth University, the thematic focus of the event was “Plurilingual Mindsets in an increasing bi- and multilingual World” which not only permeated the content of all papers presented on the day, but was also reflected in the interests and linguistic repertoires of attendees, as well as the composition of the organising committee, led by colleagues from all seven languages offered by the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, in close collaboration with colleagues in the Lárionad na Gaeilge

It was a particularly auspicious moment for IRAAL and Maynooth University, since it was the first time that the IRAAL Annual Conference was hosted at the institution and marked the significant growth and vitality of the discipline at MU in the 5 years since its establishment under the headship of Prof Arnd Witte in 2018.

In total, 98 researchers and practitioners from 21 higher education institutions, nationally and internationally, attended the conference. Over the course of the day, 47 papers were presented across 15 parallel sessions in addition to two thought-provoking and excellently delivered plenary lectures: translanguaging situated in the domestic context (Dr T.J. Ó Ceallaigh from University College Cork) and code-switching in the United States (Prof Brian Koronkiewicz from the University of Alabama).