What happens to language when newcomers move in?
Language isn’t just for communication — it also signals membership in a group, and this is especially clear in a gentrifying community in Washington DC. Black residents are using African-American English to stake …
Listeners have sent us a bracket of great questions.
Will there ever be only one language on earth? When was the beginning of buzzwords? And why do some people say I have went?
We’ll give our best answers on …
We’re on our customary mid-year hiatus, but Daniel’s still having a great time in the studio, taking your questions, playing tracks, and talking about whatever’s happening in the world of language.
We’re thinking of putting together a best-of for the …
Standardised English is important, but how do we encourage students with diverse language backgrounds?
One answer is translanguaging, and it’s supposed to be a step above code-switching. But what does it look like in class?
Daniel, Ben, …
How do we keep mother languages alive?
Governments, organisations, and the public are starting to recognise the importance of maintaining home languages as a way of preserving language diversity. But how do we do this? Where are we falling short?…
We’re listening to West African Pidgin English.
Millions of people speak it, but now it’s getting a big boost from the BBC World Service. What’s this language like? And will it change, now that it’s hit the world stage?
Daniel…
Are some words off-limits?
Many of us are aware of cultural appropriation: using symbols and clothing that pertain to another culture without attribution. But how does this relate to language? Is it okay to use the slang that originates …
Do you, like, like LIKE?
LIKE is often used and often reviled these days, but not everyone realises that LIKE has a long history. And it follows regular patterns — patterns we seem to know instinctively, but which we have …
How can you make a difference to language?
Linguists are doing a lot of great work, but what if you’re not a linguist? Is there anything that you can do to make the world a better place for language and …
The biggest idea in linguistics is back on the table.
Is there such a thing as the Universal Grammar? Do you have to have a human brain to learn language, or is learning a language just like learning anything else? …
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