PLEJ: New Module! Language and Social Justice: ideologies, politics and participation

Have you ever thought about the ways in which language facilitates social or political inclusion and exclusion?

Do you find it unusual, and unnatural, that monolingualism is often presented as the norm? For instance, with President Trump in March 2025 designating English as the official language of the United States?

Have you previously encountered discussions about language in classes or essays? Would you be interested in providing critical analysis to that which often goes unexplained?

Are you interested in applying sociolinguistic concepts to realities which matter to you? Do you have a story to tell about linguistic marginalisation, discourses surrounding language or the ways in which embedded structures can be remodelled to support linguistic and epistemic justice?

If any of these questions spark a curiosity, consider taking this module! Here Dr Jelena Ćalić and Dr Eszter Tarsoly provide an overview of the course:

‘’The module explores European culture and society through the lens of attitudes towards, and beliefs about, language which characterise the European tradition. Discourses of ’national’ ’standard’ languages have permeated thinking about language in the West at least since the Enlightenment. When linguistic diversity is addressed by various non-specialist stakeholders such as policy makers, educators, and interested members of the public, it is generally understood against the backdrop of a conceptual framework which takes monolingualism for granted. In most parts of the world, however, multilingualism is still the norm today, and language is not associated with politically-mediated identities of groups and individuals. How did it happen that language came to be understood in this peculiar way in Europe? What are the pitfalls of framing language as a ’tool’ or ’container’ whose ’content’ can be uncoupled from its form? By exploring the history of ideas about language, this course pins down the processes through which beliefs about language are transmitted across languages and geographic areas of Europe, typically, from West to East.’’

Why should students consider taking this course, and what can they hope to gain from it?

‘’By the end of the course, students will gain a thorough understanding of the cross-linguistic diversity of attitudes towards language as well as patterns of convergence among them, including ways in which cultural, social, political, and language-internal factors influence ways of talking, and ways of talking about language. They will develop an understanding of the relevance of language ideology to colonialism, nationalism, and also current trends in critical sociolinguistics such as participatory ethnography which allow researchers and communities to jointly engage with the forms of injustice that result from ideas about language and the social structures they support. A critical treatment of values associated with language education and utilitarian arguments for a single lingua franca, which typify current debates, will complete the themes covered by the course’’

For any questions in relation to this course, please get in touch with j.calic@ucl.ac.uk and e.tarsoly@ucl.ac.uk for more information. You may also wish to refer to the course on UCL’s module catalogue through the following link:

Language and social justice: ideologies, politics, and participation (SEES0149) | UCL Module Catalogue - UCL – University College London