I really enjoyed attending Prof. Camilla Vásquez’s workshop. It was truly a motivating and refreshing experience. The atmosphere for me didn’t feel like a formal lecture or class session, but more like an open, relaxed conversation that invited curiosity. There was an energy in the room that made it easy to engage and actually enjoy learning, and I left feeling inspired rather than overwhelmed.

One moment that really stuck with me was...

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...how she introduced the concept of narrativity using something as seemingly trivial as an airplane menu. It was such an unexpected but clever example, and it instantly showed how narrativity and identity construction can be found in the most everyday contexts. Her approach to discourse and narrativity made me think differently about how we construct meaning through language, especially online. The workshop helped me connect with what we’ve been learning in class with the real world in a way that felt both accessible and thoughtprovoking. Another moment that really resonated with me was how we realized that even the most basic things online, like a short TikTok video or a simple restaurant review can be rich with narrative structure and stance taking. It changed the way I think of the things we encounter every day online and how much they can mean.

Having an international guest like Prof. Vásquez added another layer of value to the experience. Hearing directly from a researcher whose work we’ve discussed made the theories feel more tangible, and her passion for the subject was contagious. It was especially motivating to see how her work combines serious analysis with real, relatable material, showing that academic research can be both demanding and fun.

In my opinion workshops like this are such a valuable addition to our studies. They offer fresh perspectives, connect us with global voices in our field, and remind us why the study of linguistics is so important in the first place. I’m really grateful I had the chance to take part in it.

This report describes the two-day workshop that took place from June 4th to June 6th, 2025. Prof. Camilla Vásquez from the University of South Florida visited our university and led a workshop. The main topics of the workshop were online reviews, multimodality and narrative analysis.

On the first day, we worked on analyzing online reviews, especially restaurant reviews, and learned how to apply Labov’s model of narrative structure (including the elements of the model). We discussed how stories are constructed in reviews and how these narratives function to engage with readers.

On the second day, we got a short insight of Prof. Vasquez’ own research on online reviews. We focused on how texts, images and videos can be understood as narratives and how diWerent modes contribute to storytelling in digital media. We also watched diWerent food-related stories, which we shared and discussed in detail. Additionally, we also watched TikTok mukbang videos by Keith Lee paying attention to video eWects, facial expressions, and other multimodal features.

I really enjoyed the workshop and found it very...

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...interesting and also inspiring. I particularly liked the small group setting, which made the sessions more personal and engaging. Prof. Vásquez was very open, friendly, and approachable, and she interacted with us as if we were her own students (which I really enjoyed!). The content of the workshop was highly relevant to our core seminar by Dr. Schneider, as we also deal with multimodality and the analysis of images, videos, memes, Instagram posts and similar content. Although, there are diWerent theoretical approaches to such analyses, the workshop gave me new perspectives on these topics.

Having the opportunity to work with an international guest at our university was exciting and enriching! It allowed me to make use of and even strengthen my English skills (Yes, you never stop learning ;-)) To be honest, I had no particular expectations and thought the content might be intense, overwhelming or too challenging. However, I was positively surprised and am very grateful for the experience and glad I took part! I believe that the university should definitely invite international guest lecturers more often.

For my studies, this workshop was very beneficial, especially in terms of language practice. It gave me the chance to attend a workshop held by a lecturer from abroad without having to travel.

To sum up, many thanks to Prof. Bös and Dr. Schneider for this great opportunity, and also to Prof. Vásquez for the interesting workshop! It was a great experience which I can highly recommend to future students!

In the workshop, we were shown sequences of the recordings in an audio-visual format as well as their respective transcripts which we discussed together as a group and applied our previously acquired linguistic knowledge from Dr. Schneider’s seminars. Along with the opportunity to apply our knowledge on naturally occurring interactions, we also gained a lot of cultural insights that were tied to certain linguistic phenomena represented in the examples, for instance, the use of sajiao (self-infantilisation in speech and intonation), and the structure of family hierarchy in Taiwanese homes. The conversation around the cultural norms that were reflected in the recorded examples, guided our understanding of the interactions between the care staff and the people living with dementia toward more concrete interpretations of these conversations. It was particularly interesting to see our perspectives on the given conversations change as we were given more historical and cultural information which further highlighted the crucial element in all our pragmatics and discourse seminars, the importance of context.

As an extension to her workshop, Prof. Lin held an open lecture on “Creating Meaningful Interactions in Dementia Care” where she presented various examples of social interactions between care staff and people living with dementia at the previously mentioned adult day centres. In the lecture, Prof. Lin argued that the diverse ways in which language can be used to construct meaningful exchanges are pivotal in building successful interactions with people living with dementia, especially in care centres. Both the workshop and the lecture emphasised the essential role that language plays in relationship-building and fruitful communication.

Prof. Lin’s visit to our university presented us with the chance to experience linguistics through the lens of a different culture while remaining in Germany. Many students do not have the option to travel and study abroad, thus, being visited by international scholars makes it possible to have that experience to a certain extent in the classroom.  For many students, the contents that are discussed in the classroom oftentimes simply remain in the context of their seminars, and students seldom have the opportunity to apply their knowledge in real-life environments during their studies. By inviting international lecturers, researchers, and professors to our university in Germany and attending workshops as well as open lectures, we can further develop our studies in meaningful ways. Not only do we gain experience that will prepare us for our own future research projects, but we also obtain intellectual benefits through exposure to different cultures and new ways of thinking.