In this latest installment of Chats in Linguistic Diversity, I talk to Professor Aneta Pavlenko about multilingualism through the ages. We start from the question whether the world today is…
Ingrid PillerOctober 4, 2021
English, China, and the Olympic Games
![]()
The rise of China has been one of the defining characteristics of the early 21st century. The increase in China’s economic, geopolitical, and military clout has been accompanied by a…
We, heirs of the multilingual Sumerians
![]()
The Sumerian Empire under King Shulgi (2094 to 2046 BCE) (Image Credit: Wikipedia) Do you know in which language the Sumerians started the written chronicle of humanity? It is a…
Ingrid PillerJuly 18, 2021
The interpreting profession in Ancient Egypt
![]()
Remember Joseph speaking to his brothers through an interpreter? Joseph is sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers Academic interpreting often labors under the assumption that the profession…
Ingrid PillerJune 29, 2021
What can churches teach us about migrant inclusion?
![]()
Chinese signage on churches is increasingly prominent in Sydney’s linguistic landscape. These signs are surprising because they are bilingual in a predominantly English monolingual linguistic landscape. They are also surprising…
Ingrid PillerJune 21, 2021
There’s linguistics in the science of immunisation
![]()
You can order free hard copies of the booklet Have you received your COVID-19 jab yet? Are you thinking about getting vaccinated? Are you confused by all the conflicting information…
Ingrid PillerMay 20, 2021
Thinking language with chocolate
![]()
Easter chocolates in the supermarket (Image credit: Wikimedia) I’ve been thinking a lot about chocolate lately. Maybe because it is Easter and supermarkets in my part of the world…
Ingrid PillerApril 5, 2021
Remembering cancelled women
![]()
There is a lot of talk about “cancel culture” these days. For instance, we are told that Dr Seuss recently got cancelled because his name was not mentioned during some…
Ingrid PillerMarch 8, 2021
Language and social justice
![]()
Language on the Move is back from our summer break! And we start the year with a quick intro to language and social justice. How and why are language and…
Ingrid PillerJanuary 29, 2021
How to teach TESOL ethically in an English-dominant world
![]()
Carla Chamberlin, Ingrid Piller, and Mak Khan in conversation TESOL and social justice One of the thrusts of my research has been a critical examination of the social consequences of…
Ingrid PillerNovember 19, 2020
Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis
![]()
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed language barriers in societies around the world. It has become obvious that the fact of linguistic diversity had not been incorporated systematically into emergency…
Ingrid PillerSeptember 4, 2020
Does every Australian have an equal chance to know about Covid-19 restrictions?
![]()
Readability scores of the two selected public service information texts by the NSW Government This morning I googled “nsw corona/covid restrictions”. The top hits all refer to NSW Government websites,…
Ingrid PillerSeptember 1, 2020
What can Australian Message Sticks teach us about literacy?
![]()
Few people have ever heard about a fascinating form of visual communication used by Indigenous Australians: message sticks. When I teach about the invention of writing, I usually mention them…
Ingrid PillerAugust 18, 2020
Is English spelling an insult to human intelligence?
![]()
One of countless internet memes about crazy English spelling (Source: angmohdan.com) During a dreary German winter in the 1980s, I would get up early each Friday morning, wrap myself up…
Ingrid PillerAugust 10, 2020
Who invented writing?
![]()
The Phoenician abjad - the ancestor of almost all scripts in use today (Image credit: Wikipedia) Today, literacy has become near universal with the global literacy rate around 85 percent.…
Ingrid PillerAugust 4, 2020
Why are academic lectures so weird?
![]()
My "audience" as I was recording the first online lecture for the new term Yesterday, I spent six hours pre-recording a puny little lecture of 15 minutes for the postgraduate…
Ingrid PillerJuly 27, 2020
This work is licensed under a