As part of my PhD journey, conferences are always a part of my research as they open up new paths to networking, meeting new academics and exchanging valuable ideas and insights about research.
As part of my development, I attended the 56th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL). This year’s conference theme was “Opening up Applied Linguistics”. With this in mind, this conference aimed to celebrate existing open research initiatives, which have led the way in transforming applied linguistics research by making it more accessible, transparent, reproducible and collaborative, to further realise principles of openness and inclusivity by representing a broader range of areas within applied linguistics, including but not limited to decolonizing language learning and teaching, language use in the digital age, and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), and to create an accessible and inclusive conference environment.
I had the pleasure and opportunity to attend this international conference which allowed me once again to explore different research and topics and meet new colleagues and academics from all around the world. For this purpose, I would like to give special thanks to the Doctoral Services team who made this dream come true and funded me to be able to attend this conference.
I would like to invite all doctoral researchers to apply for this funding opportunity as it allows you to build a great network of other academics and brilliant colleagues.
It was truly a valuable opportunity for presenting, networking, meeting fellow academics and researchers and sharing innovative ideas. It was a wonderful and enriching experience that delved into applied linguistics. Additionally, it represented a gateway which opened new avenues for reflection, research, and understanding both our own experiences within the world and the collective memory we are creating for future academic inquiry.
BAAL, I shall be back!
