Upcoming Events

Can't seem to begin learning that language you keep saying you will? Too afraid of the Duolingo owl to start? We have your back! Team up with other LingSoc members, pick a language on Duolingo to tackle together, and return to chat and share the wonders and difficulties of your language with other groups! 

How to join:

The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

For this week's talk we are delighted to welcome Henriëtte Hendriks, Professor in Language Acquisition and Cognition.

How to join:
The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

Abstract: TBA

Have you ever translated a saying perfect for the situation in English only for it to make no sense? We feel you. So join us for a night of misinterpretation, where we all translate sayings from our languages word for word and watch people try to guess their actual meaning.

How to join:

The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

This week, Dr Sebba will talk to us about the impact of linguistic ideologies on census questions.

How to join:

The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

Abstract:
The 2021 census in England is only weeks away; in Scotland the next census will be in 2022. UK censuses have included language questions for well over a century, but only relating to indigenous minority languages. The 2011 UK-wide census was noteworthy because questions about respondents’ ‘main’ language (England) or ‘home’ language (Scotland) and English proficiency appeared for the first time. The questions asked, the communication of the results and their interpretation by government and media were all arguably problematic; in England, the same questions will appear again this year despite attempts by academic linguists to have them reworded.

 Though seemingly about ‘facts’, censuses are laden with – and help to reproduce - ideologies about language which many linguists would challenge. These ideologies impact on the census at every stage: the decision to count at all, how to ask the questions, the way the data is reported and how it is used. Using the 2011 census and its aftermath as a case study, I will discuss the way in which linguistic ideologies (and misunderstanding of multilingualism) have influenced the choice of census questions and the communication and interpretation of the results.

 Linguists – people whose work is the scientific study of language – are left with some difficult questions, including (1) how can the census questions be improved to collect better data; (2) how can linguists convince government to take linguists’ and their concerns seriously; (3) what can linguists do to improve the public understanding of census data about language?

Come unwind with us. We'll be watching the classic, vaguely-linguistics related Atlantis: The Lost Empire!

How to join:

The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

How to join:
The talk will take place on Microsoft Teams (“LingSoc 2020/21”). You will already have access to the team if you have purchased free membership to the Society for this semester through the EUSA website. If you are not a member but are interested in joining, drop us an email (eulingsoc@gmail.com) so we can send you a link.

Abstract: TBA