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Dr Kerry Jane Mullan

Position

Lecturer

School /
Work Unit

Global Studies, Social Science &Planning

Contact Details

+(61 3) 9925 2264

kerry.mullan@rmit.edu.au

Location

Building: 37
Level: 4
Room: 16

City Campus

College/Portfolio

Design & Social Context

On this page:

Key activities

  • Coordinator, French Courses (Higher Education)
  • Lecturer, French Language Undergraduate Courses
  • Coordinator, Parlez-vous français? French Mentoring Program
  • GSSSP / RMIT EU Centre representative
  • Member of Global Language, Cross-Cultural Communication and International Education Research (GLACCIER) Group

Qualifications

  • Graduate Certificate in University Teaching, University of Melbourne 2009
  • Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, RMIT University 2009
  • PhD (Linguistics), La Trobe University 2006
  • BA (Hons), La Trobe University 2000
  • RSA Cambridge Certificate Course in TEFLA (Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults), International House Hastings, UK 1994

Professional interests

Melbourne Salon: French & Australian Dialogues

The Melbourne Salon is a joint venture between RMIT University, the Institute for the Study of French-Australian Relations and the Alliance Française de Melbourne.

It is a place where curious and open-minded people can engage in French-Australian cross-cultural dialogues. Talks will usually be in English; you may participate in the subsequent discussions in French or English.

The Melbourne Salon aims to:

  • broaden understanding of French and Australian perspectives on contemporary topics through conversation, debate and discussion
  • draw participants from a wide range of backgrounds: parents, teachers, academics, journalists, writers, musicians, educationalists and others who share an interest in discussing ideas in a convivial atmosphere

Other professional interests

Research/scholarship

Research interests

  • cross-cultural communication
  • interactional style
  • discourse analysis
  • pragmatics

Current research projects

  • In preparation (with Béal, C. and Traverso, V.). ‘Humour in Australian English and French conversational data’. (see SBS World View program "Cultural Confusion" interview Jun 26 2009)
  • In preparation (with Béal, C. and Peeters,B.) ‘Conversational joking during social visits in France and Australia’, Cross-culturally Speaking, Speaking Cross-culturally. Cambridge Scholars Press.

Grants

2011: Visiting scholarship June 2011, funded by Région Languedoc-Roussillon

2011: Travel grant, Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) / French Embassy

2005: La Trobe University School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry (CACE) / Linguistics Program travel grant

2001 – 2005: Australian Postgraduate Research Award Scholarship

Awards

2011: ALTC Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning

2010: Teaching Excellence Award, Higher Education (Humanities and the Arts), RMIT University

2010: Teaching Excellence Award, School of GSSSP, RMIT University

2009: Teaching Excellence Award, School of GSSSP, RMIT University

2007: Outstanding PhD Thesis Award, La Trobe University

Theses

2006, Cultural differences in the expression of opinion: a comparison of interactional strategies in French and Australian English discourse. PhD thesis, Department of Linguistics, La Trobe University

2000, How the French get engaged: an analysis of French interactional style. Honours thesis, Department of Linguistics, La Trobe University

Publications

Books

2010: Expressing opinions in French and Australian English discourse: A semantic and interactional analysis. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Book chapters

Mullan, K. (in press). “I couldn’t agree more, but …”: agreeing to disagree in French and Australian English. In Auger, N., Béal, C. and Demougin, F. (eds.). Interaction et interculturalité: varieté des corpus et des approches. France: Peter Lang.

Mullan, K. (in review). Saying what you think: an analysis of French and Australian English non-native speaker expression of subjectivity. In Baumgarten, N., Du Bois, I. and Kranich, S. (eds.). Subjectivity in Discourse – Unity in Diversity? Emerald Press.

Mullan, K. and Karlsson, S. (in review). Subjectivity in Contrast: a cross-linguistic comparison of “I think” in Australian English, French and Swedish. In Baumgarten, N., Du Bois, I. and Kranich, S. (eds.). Subjectivity in Discourse – Unity in Diversity? Emerald Press.

Journal articles (refereed)

Mullan, K. (2011). Une entente glaciale?: French and Australian English Interaction. Explorations: a journal of French-Australian connections 50, 16-36.

Mullan, K. (forthcoming). Parlez-vous français? French academic mentoring program: a case study among language students. Local -Global Journal Special Edition: Globalization, Linguistic Diversity and Sustainability.

2002: Engaging with the French: an analysis of French interactional style. Melbourne Papers in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics 2/2, 23-38

2002: How the French get engaged: an analysis of French interactional style. In Cynthia Allen (ed.) 2002 Proceedings of the 2001 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society

Journal articles and conference papers (non-refereed)

Review of Béal, C. 2010. Les Interactions quotidiennes en français et en anglais. Bern: Peter Lang. The Linguist List.

Mullan, K. (2011). Accommodating Different Learning Styles: a critical reflection on teaching practice. Humanising Language Teaching magazine.

Mullan, K. 2008: Co-operation and Conflict: a comparison of French and Australian English interactional styles. Carrefours, AFTV (Association of French Teachers in Victoria) magazine Nov. 2008, 14-21.

Conference presentations

2011 Parlez-vous français? Peer academic mentoring program for students of French. Australian Society for French Studies (ASFS) Conference 'French Connections: Traduction, Didactique et Analyse du Discours', Canberra, November 2011.

2011 Debunking stereotypes: French and Australian English Interactional styles. Paris to Provence Melbourne French Festival, Melbourne, November 2011.

2011 (with Chaves Solis, S., Li, L., and White, B.) Language mentoring programs at RMIT University. Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities Colloquium, Melbourne, September 2011.

2011 Parlez-vous français? Peer academic mentoring program for students of French. Association of French Teachers in Victoria Conference ‘Le français dans tous ses états!’, Melbourne.

2011 (with Béal, C. and Traverso, V.) "Humour and Impoliteness during social visits in France and Australia". Linguistic Impoliteness and Rudeness in Communication and Society Conference, Lyon, France May 2011.

2011 (with Béal, C). French storm in an Australian tea-cup: deconstructing linguistic cultural differences. Melbourne Salon and LC Salon, Sydney, April 2011.

2010 (with de Saint Léger, D.). De la tache à l’action – mise en œuvre de la pédagogie du projet dans un cadre institutionnel traditionnel : problèmes et possibilités. CAP-FIPF (Commission Asie Pacifique - Fédération internationale des professeurs de français), Sydney, December 2010.

2010 (in absentia, with Béal, C. et Traverso, V.). Self-oriented humour during social visits in France and Australia. 4th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics and Communication, Madrid, November 2010.

2010 Une entente glaciale? French and Australian conversational styles. Invited speaker ISFAR Annual Dinner October 2010.

2010 / 2009 Co-operation and Conflict: A comparison of French and Australian English interactional styles. Lycée Condorcet (French International School), Sydney. Co-operation and conflict 2009; Co-operation and conflict 2010

2009 Une entente glaciale? A comparison of French and English Interactional Styles. LC Salon, Sydney (cf. Explorations 47 December 2009).

2009 (with Susanna Karlsson): Subjectivity in Contrast: a cross-linguistic comparison of “I think” and its equivalents across Germanic and Romance languages. 11th International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) Conference: Diversity, context, and structure, Melbourne

2009 (with Christine Béal): Conversational joking during social visits in France and Australia. "Cross-culturally speaking, speaking cross-culturally". International Conference, Macquarie University, Sydney

2009 / 2008: Co-operation and Conflict: a comparison of French and Australian English interactional styles. AFTV (Association of French Teachers in Victoria) Professional learning 2009; Le français pour tous! AFTV Conference, Melbourne 2008.

2007: “An eclectic approach to the analysis of discourse”. Discourse analysis down under: new foundations in professional discourse. Third Symposium on Discourse Analysis, Monash University

2007: “I couldn't agree more, but ... restons sur nos positions respectives": les désaccords en français et anglais australien. Conference ‘Les enjeux de la communication interculturelle: compétence linguistique, compétence pragmatique, valeurs culturelles’. Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France

2005: A Contrastive Study of the Expression of Opinions in Australian English and French. Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference. Monash University, Melbourne

2005: Étude contrastive de l’expression des opinions en français et anglais australien. Département de Sciences du Langage, Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, France

2004: Engaging with the Enemy: French conversational style in the classroom. Australian Defence Force School of Languages Staff Professional Development Day