Language on the Move 2018

One of the team highlights of 2018: Laura Smith-Khan and Hanna Torsh submitted their PhD theses for examination on the same day in July

2018 draws to a close and the Language on the Move team is looking forward to our annual break. Before we go we have some highlights in the sociolinguistics of multilingualism, language learning and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalization and migration to share with you.

As usual, our research blog brought a range of diverse, stimulating and engaging posts to you and you might wish to (re)read some over the upcoming holidays:

1. Awatif Alshammri, Imagined communities in English language textbooks
2. Gerald Roche, Are debates over language rights erasing diversity?
3. Sabine Little, Creating a multilingual library
4. Qumrul Hasan Chowdhury and Elizabeth J. Erling, Can English skills help end migrant exploitation?
5. Hanna Torsh, Are bilinguals better language learners?
6. Yining Wang, Being Chinese in Australia
7. Ingrid Piller, Anneliese Maier Research Awards 2018
8. Ingrid Piller, Hoping to raise bub bilingually?
9. Hanna Torsh, What do migrant parents expect from schools?
10. 

    The wonderful students of the 2018 Literacies class in the Masters of Applied Linguistics program at Macquarie University

    Ingrid Piller, Bilingual children refusing to speak the home language

11. Antra Kalnins, ?4U: Is Twitter killing the English language?
12. Ingrid Piller, How can we change language habits?
13. Lectures in Linguistic Diversity
14. Pia Tenedero, Virtually multilingual
15. Ingrid Piller, How to end native speaker privilege
16. Ingrid Piller, In search of myself
17. Laura Smith-Khan, In search of a language and an identity
18. Gegentuul Baioud, One orientalism or many orientalisms?
19. Ingrid Piller, Why are you not citing any African female expert?
20. Alexandra Grey, The triumph of completing a PhD
21. Gegentuul Baioud, Is English stealing the home of Mongolian?
22. Alexandra Grey, Do you ever wear language?
23. Ingrid Piller, The Devil’s Handwriting
24. Ingrid Piller, Getting published while foreign
25. Brendan Kavanagh, Are Aboriginal languages really useless in the workplace?
26. Rahel Cramer, From oil spill to Brexit
27. Ingrid Piller, Why do female academics publish less than their male peers?
28. Ingrid Piller, Globalization between crime and piety
29. Laura Smith-Khan, Schooling challenges of multilingual children
30. Ingrid Piller, PhD Scholarship in Intercultural Communication
31. Alexandra Grey, Debating language standardization
32. Ingrid Piller receives Anneliese Maier Research Award
33. Ingrid Piller, Language on the Move Reading Challenge 2018

It’s been a busy year with four PhD submissions: most recently, Rahel Cramer submitted in November

And some more over at The Conversation:

• Ingrid Piller, Factcheck: do ‘over a million’ people in Australia not speak English ‘well or at all’?
• Ingrid Piller, The politicisation of English language proficiency, not poor English itself, creates barriers
• Ingrid Piller, The time it takes to learn a new language depends on what you want to do with it

Once our research blog posts have whetted your appetite for more substantial academic fare, you’ll be pleased to find that two of our 2018 publications are available open access:

• Piller, I., & Gerber, L. (2018). Family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

• Piller, I. & A. Grey. 2018. Language and globalization: mapping the field. In Piller, I. & A. Grey. Eds. Language and Globalization (Vol. 1). London: Routledge, 1-19.

Of another one, the preprint is available open access:

• Piller, I. Dubai: Language in the ethnocratic, corporate and mobile city. In Smakman, D. & P. Heinrich. Eds. Urban Sociolinguistics: The City as a Linguistic Process and Experience. London: Routledge, 77-94.

You are welcome to all the multilingual fun Language on the Move brings to you throughout the year. This multilingual sign was handcrafted by students in the Literacies unit.

For those who are more into audio and video, we’ve also got a nice 2018 selection to keep you thinking about linguistic diversity and social participation:

1. Minority languages in China. Beyond The Paper
2. Bilingualism: a shield against dementia. SBS German [in German]
3. With more than 300 languages spoken in Australia, it’s no wonder we’re speaking a little differently. ABC Radio
4. Philippine languages in multilingual Sydney. Beyond The Paper
5. Bilingualism in Australia. SBS German [in German]
6. Language: a hurdle for migration? SBS German [in German]
7. Family language policy between the bilingual advantage and the monolingual mindset. Beyond The Paper
8. Interview with Anneliese Maier Research Award recipient [in German]
9. Bilingualism can help strengthen communities, 2SER Macquarie Leading Lights
10. Language and migrant integration, ABC Focus
11. English proficiency testing for migrants, 2SER Daily
12. Challenges of language learning, 2SER Breakfast
13. How long does it take to learn another language? ABC Afternoons
14. International Mother Language Day, Talk the talk
15. Is there a language gap between native English speakers and migrants? SBS World News
16. German in Australia, SBS German [in German]
17. Macquarie Dictionary’s 2017 Word of the Year, SBS World News

All these good reads and shows will surely keep you occupied until we’ll get back to you in the New Year for another round of diverse, stimulating and engaging essays, events and interactions in the sociolinguistics of multilingualism, language learning and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalization and migration.

Make sure to keep in touch by subscribing to Language on the Move in the ‘Subscribe to Blog’ form in the footer of our site; or join our ever-growing Twitter audience of over 18,000 followers @lg_on_the_move or find us on Facebook @languageonthemove.

In the meantime, we’d like to wish all our readers peaceful holidays and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2019!