| Episode | Description | People | Date |
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| Integrating AI Chatbots and the Metaverse in Language Education |
For academics and educators everywhere, it is important to integrate the latest digital technology into teaching practices. Yet technology develops and changes very quickly, meaning that it is sometimes difficult to keep up-to-date with all the online tools available, as well as how best to use these. Luckily, Dr Seongyong Lee takes time to visit the lab and talk to us about his latest article "Integrating AI chatbots into the metaverse: Pre-service English teachers' design works and perceptions" published in the Journal of Education and Information Technologies.
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Dr Seongyong Lee
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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13 March 2025 |
| The dynamics of redistribution, inequality and growth across China's regions |
For this episode, Dr Xiaoliang Yang, assistant professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, explains to us how China’s tax-sharing reforms have developed over time, and how this has impacted upon GDP. Most significantly, the different levels of regional and international taxation have led to some stark economic differences across the nation.
Full article: The dynamics of redistribution, inequality and growth across China’s regions
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Dr Xiaoliang Yang
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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20 February 2025 |
| Online Trolls are Targeting Members of Parliament in the UK – what does it all mean…? |
For this month’s podcast, we have another very special guest – our Dean Professor Catriona Morrison, who joined UNNC last year to lead the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Catriona kindly took some time out of her busy schedule to drop by the Language and Pedagogy Laboratory and talk to us about her published paper “The Prevalence and Impact of Online Trolling of UK Members of Parliament” in the Journal of Computers in Human Behavior.
Online discourse is difficult to control and can be highly problematic when directed at individuals, particularly negative behavior such as ‘trolling’. Listen to Professor Catriona talk about her experience conducting research in the British Parliament amongst British politicans, explaining how the topic became of interest and how she organised this unique project.
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Professor Catriona Morrison
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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15 January 2025 |
| Should you really start school early? Studying twins can tell us... |
Today many parents are concerned about their child’s learning, and want to know how to accelerate this. One common belief is that starting school early can give children an increased head-start in education. However, is this really true? Dr Xuyan Lou, Assistant Professor in the School of Economics, was determined to find out the answer. Together with her collaborators, Xuyan adopted a novel approach to studying this question: she examined data from twins in China, using this to assess if the common Chinese saying “the early bird will catch the worm” is correct or not. Join us as we discuss Xuyan’s paper “Does the early bird catch the worm? The effect of school starting age on educational attainment and labor market outcomes: Evidence from Chinese urban twins data” published in the Journal of Comparative Economics.
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Dr Xuyan Lou
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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13 December 2024 |
| Exploring Transpositioning and Translanguaging in the Classroom |
For this episode, we have a special guest: Dr Kevin Tai from the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong. This month Kevin visited UNNC to give a guest presentation to our School of Education and English. During his time here, he stopped by the Language and Pedagogy Laboratory to talk to us about his new paper “Transpositioning in English medium instruction classroom discourse: insights from a translanguaging perspective” published in the journal ‘Language and education’.
Join Derek and Mary as they explore the various ways in which teachers can position themselves in the classroom and learn how switching between different languages – known as ‘Translanguaging’ – can aid learning. |
Dr Kevin Tai
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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21 November 2024 |
| North Korean Cinema: Deciphering Society through Film |
One of the most fascinating, productive and popular domestic film industries in Asia is that of North Korea! Dr JeongWon Bourdais Park talks us through the changing depictions in one of the most interesting yet least-studied film industries today, in our discussion of her paper ‘Statism as a lifestyle: deciphering society in films on North Korea and evolving communication through cinema.’ |
Dr JeongWon Bourdais Park
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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22 October 2024 |
| Classical Realism, status and revenge in the UK intervention in Libya |
The British-led military intervention into the Libyan crisis of 2011 took many observers by surprise. Why did a nation that had seemingly little to gain, engage in such drastic actions? Dr Grant Dawson joins us in the lab to discuss these motivations in his fascinating publication ‘No future for Libya with Gaddafi: Classical Realism, status and revenge in the UK intervention in Libya.’
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Dr Grant Dawson
Dr Mary Jane Ainslie
Dr Derek Irwin
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24 September 2024 |