Wednesday Workshop
The Local in Language and Public Policy
Facilitators: Vaidehi Ramanathan (UC Davis) & Evan Bradley (Penn State University)
Date: June 26, 2019
Time: 9-12pm
Location: Olson Hall (See Orbund)
Abstract: This workshop addresses the relevance of language policies—a specific research domain in sociolinguistics—to public policy, an area the LSA is keen on growing. Language policy research has recently been paying considerable attention to ‘the local’: how small, grounded interconnections between humans, languages, institutions, and terrains shed light on the extent to which constellations of these are impacted by (sometimes several linked) policies. It debates several topics, including: What are policies? What is the language of policies? How do formal and informal policies relate to each other and to language realities on the ground? How does an understanding of language use in specific contexts open doors to addressing concerns of public policies? Seeking to connect varied contexts of language use, the workshop addresses topics including:
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Vaidehi RamanathanHow we got to this point in language and public policy |
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Evan BradleyPrescriptivist policies impacting the use of (un)gendered pronouns |
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Peter TorresThe language of state policies around opioids |
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Lisa GonzalvesPolicy implications of literacy development by adults learning to read and write in a second language without first language literacy |
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Emily MolineThe role of oracy and interactions with adults learning to read for the first time |
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Chloe BrothertonLanguage policy in Scotland after Brexit |