Language, Discourse and Society Research Group: Colin Reilly Research Talk and Collaboration Masterclass

The Language, Discourse, and Society Research Group is delighted to welcome Dr Colin Reilly (University of Stirling) to give an invited talk and run a masterclass for PGRs/ECRs. This is as part of the LDS Research Group's summer celebration

Tickets are free and will not be checked at the events. They are helpful for planning the event. Dr Reilly's talk will be followed with a drinks/snacks reception. 

Talk: Multilingual markets: language and the informal economy in Malawi (3.30 - 5pm, School of English Alumni Room and Online).

🧑‍💻 You can access the online meeting through Microsoft Teams (link). The link will also be mailed to ticket-holders.

📍 To find the Alumni Room, enter the School of English through the main doors at 10 Cavendish Road, go up the stairs, and enter the room to the right.

Abstract

The links between language and the economy are not widely understood and even less is known about the role which language plays in the informal economy. Djité (2021) notes that a key gap in linguistic research in African contexts relates to investigating language practices within the labour market, particularly in the informal sector – the largest section of the labour market in Africa (International Labour Organization 2022). In this talk I report on findings from a mixed-methods study of market traders in Malawi, which deploys in-depth ethnographic observation alongside a survey of background, economic activity, and language use.

I discuss data from an ongoing project - Multilingual Markets: Investigating language skills for informal employment in Malawi. This project is a collaboration between the Universities of Malawi, Stirling, and Glasgow, which seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the linguistic reality of informal markets in Malawi – how do people use language in their work?
2. How do market traders conceptualise their own language skills – what language resources do they view as valuable?
3. How do language use and language attitudes differ depending on the degree of multilingualism in an area?
4. What language-in-education policy approach is required to match skills-formation with the language needs of the informal labour market?

The project investigates the language practices and attitudes of traders in 6 marketplaces across the country and collected data between May 2025 – February 2026. In the talk, I’ll discuss emerging findings from the research focusing on how traders conceptualise the value of different languages, and how traders draw on their fluid linguistic repertoires in their day-to-day practices of buying and selling. I’ll also provide some reflections from our research experience of collecting data in the markets, and working as part of a large, international, interdisciplinary team.

Masterclass on Collaboration (2-3pm, School of English Seminar Room 5 - in-person only)

📍 To find Seminar Room 5, enter the School of English through the main doors at 10 Cavendish Road, go up the stairs, and enter the room to the left.

This session will focus on research collaborations. We’ll think about what makes a good collaborator and what equitable collaboration looks like in practice. I’ll present principles for researching collaboratively and discuss the rewards and challenges of collaborative working.

The session will cover:

• Tips on how to establish and sustain collaborations
• How collaborations can support your own long-term research goals
• Interdisciplinary collaborations
• International collaborations
• Practicalities of co-authoring publications

The session will be interactive. We’ll look at case studies from my own collaborative working, including examples of when things go wrong, and how to deal with them. I would invite attendees to bring their own examples from any collaborative experiences they have had in their research careers.