Here's a timely evidence brief outlining the serious harms proposed in the UK government’s reforms to refugee and asylum support: increased poverty, instability and deepening division. I support the call to replace these proposals with humane, evidence-based policies: www.canva.com/design/DAHEY...
I'm thrilled to have contributed my research to this new report for the Scottish government on Multilingualism and New Scots Refugee Integration, calling for a renewed national commitment to supporting multilingualism for integration, education and community wellbeing: www.gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...
The bus pass scheme for people seeking asylum has been hard won by @maryhill-in.bsky.social and supporters in Holyrood (among others). It's unclear though why a four-month pilot is needed, given the ample evidence that already exists to support the scheme:
www.transport.gov.scot/concessionar...
In my research, community members in working-class neighbourhoods took part in storytelling and discussions in many languages, which they warmly embraced. That's the Glasgow I know, not the image projected by those wanting to stir up hate for their own ends.
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wes...
Feminist philosophers like Karen Barad and Jane Bennett have had a big influence on my research, so I was thrilled to meet @scotsuffragette.bsky.social, a trans-inclusive CIC of artists, activists and historians recovering herstories of women activists in Scotland: www.patreon.com/cw/protestsa...
If you're concerned about the UK government's new asylum policy announcements, consider adding your name to this joint statement prepared by practitioners, researchers and academics working in UK migration and asylum law:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I flocked with the Migrant Justice bloc at today's climate march. The UK could give sanctuary now to people who have been forced to leave their homes, knowing that climate refugees can contribute to building a sanctuary for everyone who lives here - every plant, human and animal. What's it to be?
If you're Glasgow based, you might want to join us on Thursday evening to plan and organise how we're going to counter racism in Scotland and build on our collective power.
Not to mention, Marzanna always puts on a nice spread of food! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I stand with my colleagues at the Coalition for Language Education - ESOL learning should be based on democratic participation, wellbeing and lived experience, not in an exclusionary and punitive logic of control.
coalitionforlanguageducationuk.com/wp-content/u...
Registration is open for the next Language and Society Scotland network meeting! The theme is "Language and AI" and we are hosting the event at the University of Edinburgh on Friday 28 November from 3pm. You can register for the event here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/language-a...
I recently appeared on the UNESCO Chair podcast series on refugee integration. We discussed how - in the midst of growing and unacceptable hostility - the UK continues to be a multilingual country, enriched by speakers of many languages. @uofgunescorila.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/0BHl...
The poster competition at #BAAL2025 includes an entry from LASS member @danielcalvert.bsky.social on Glasgow-based refugee community groups, looking at the role of translanguaging and decolonial struggle in the lives of people seeking refuge in Scotland.
LASS member @katyhighet.bsky.social co-hosted a symposium on scholar-activism in Applied Linguistics today at #BAAL2025. How are researchers received when they position themselves as activitists? And how can we work in strategic collaboration with others beyond academia? @baal2025.bsky.social
Asking, “What is your main language?” is like asking the parent of several children, “Which is your main child?”
On the untapped benefits of linguistic diversity in the UK:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
You can't talk about Western civilisation and it's rise in the industrial age without linking it to #colonialism. Not teaching it doesn't mean it didn't happen.
#DecolonisetheCurriculum
I really enjoyed presenting at the British Academy conference on #LinguisticInjustice and got to meet brilliant colleagues like @savithry.bsky.social. Savi's ROLE Collective have produced handy resources for researchers to reflect on unhelpful labels like "native speaker"
www.rolecollective.org/home
So much news is coming out the US, it's easy to miss that English has been designated the country's "official language". Not only does this appear to go against civil rights law, it will likely harm integration and social outcomes for minoritised groups #languagerights
www.tesol.org/news/tesol-s...
Maybe no hope, but at least we've got resistance!
The excuses that Google give for why they're doing it speaks volumes about the cultural shift they're caving into, doesn't it?
@urbaneprofessor.bsky.social
Another month, another creative exhibition launch from the team at Migrant Voice Glasgow: "Ye Awright Pal?" - an immersive gallery of drawings made by people (including me!) who have moved to Scotland. @migrantvoice.bsky.social
https://buff.ly/3WC34FU
As I go through my data, I see how people from different walks of life find a way through everyday interactions, often humorously:
"How many clients are you seeing today?"
"Only three clients. I think the rain's put people off."
"Sorry, did you say Lorraine's put them off?"
"No, the rain."
😅
Here's an exciting new online course on research methods for creative arts and migration studies from @uofgunescorila.bsky.social: https://buff.ly/3E1P55E
There's also a week left to submit a proposal for the UNESCO RIELA Spring School in May, always a highlight of my year: https://buff.ly/4h2cNNM
Delighted to have played a small part in supporting the amazing project that is tapeletters.com/scotland/. Charting the oral histories of 🇵🇰 migrant communities to 🏴 post partition in 1947. The teaching resource I've developed will launch next week but u can read abt it 👇🏽
www.tes.com/magazine/tea...
Just in for the hols: @brynnquick.bsky.social chats with @lauraskh.bsky.social about accents in the media, race, nation, migration, securitization, belonging, and more, in this new episode of the Language-on-the-Move Podcast @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
www.languageonthemove.com/whiteness-ac...
Yes, it's addictive stuff! I'm starting to question the unconscious bias of some of the contestants, but that makes it even more of a discussable topic 😆
I'm looking forward to sharing some of my ethnographic findings at the Citizenship and Migration Research Network on 6th February. The keynote talk of the conference is open to all: buff.ly/403YGAi
@teresap.bsky.social
Join MPS Migrant LEx Panel!
Me too!
