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This seminar series involves invited speakers, many from outside, and for a view of the range of issues falling within its horizons, see the

account of previous seminars.

The Centre for LDC holds two Research Days a year, involving a varied combination of discussions focused on particular articles and presentations by students and visiting speakers. The events run from mid-afternoon to early evening, and there is a meal afterwards. You can find programmes of the past Research Days here.

The Research Workshop in Language & Literacy (RWLL) is run by the Language and Literacy Group

(LLG). It is a weekly seminar series for new and advanced research students with a range of different interests in language and literacy. Our sessions involve a mixture of presentations, discussions and shared readings, and the series is organised collaboratively, with participants

• presenting and discussing their current research (initial ideas, research designs methodological problems, data, provisional findings etc)
• suggesting a collective discussion of (foundational or provocative) texts and authors of particular interest to them
• proposing outside researchers to invite to talk to the group

Since educational linguistics, sociolinguistics and applied language studies are large and varied research fields, and as individual participants have quite a wide range of different research foci, not every session can be directly and immediately relevant to everyone. But our discussions always seek to set specific seminar topics in the broader context of language and literacy research, to draw out more general issues and problems in the research process, and to build a community of understanding.

These hands-on data sessions are designed to help students sharpen their sensitivity to the fine details of interaction, and to improve their practical skills in micro-analysis. The sessions take place 3-5 times a term, and to participants normally bring recordings and transcripts of some talk that they are studying. If you would like to participate, contact ben.rampton@kcl.ac.uk

The Cross-London Seminar in Culture & Communication series (XLS) is intended to bring together the considerable expertise in language, literacy, culture and communication in the London area. It focuses on communicative processes, their embedding in social relations, and their role in the dynamics of cultural reproduction and change, and it derives its momentum from real-world issues. It is committed to rigorous, multi-levelled, empirical description, and to staying alert both to the history, limitations and non-innocence of our methods and frameworks, and to the potential for linking analysis and intervention/design. XLS is coordinated by Professors Brian Street, Ben Rampton and Celia Roberts at Kings, and Professors Gunther Kress and Carey Jewitt at the Institute of Education. Directions to the IoE can be found on their website.

The XLS was formerly known as the Cross-London Language & Literacy Seminar, and as before, and the aim is to combine work with sociability, with informal drinks and snacks afterwards. The series is open to faculty, researchers and graduate students, and visitors from other areas of the world are also very welcome.

The PCP seminar series is the main forum where researchers and research students present and discuss interdisciplinary research in topics related to the psychology and cognitive processes in teaching and learning. Research topics often include language acquisition, literacy and special needs, lay versus professional discourse and informal learning. The sessions are a combination of shared reading and presentations of core cutting-edge research in the field, structured to encourage collective discussions.