Yaron Matras

From celebration to public policy: International Mother Language Day as a civic identity badge

By Yaron Matras, Daniele Viktor Leggio and Rebecca Tipton Filed Under: Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion Posted: February 16, 2021

On 21 February 2021, Manchester will again be celebrating UNESCO International Mother Language Day (IMLD). This year’s activities will be held online to accommodate to the pandemic conditions. For the second time, they are being coordinated by the City of Literature initiative based in Manchester’s local authority. In this blog, Professor Yaron Matras, Dr Daniele […]

A tale of cities: Local diasporas hold a key to strengthening international outreach

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: Cities and Environment, Growth and Inclusion Posted: May 5, 2020

The publication of Government guidance on social distancing saw a delay between the release of the English language version and the guidance being provided in different languages. In this blog, Professor Yaron Matras examines this disparity and suggests a new policy to prevent a similar issue arising in the future. The release of social distancing […]

Improving the census question on ‘language’ could help repair community relations and Britain’s international image post-Brexit

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: Growth and Inclusion Posted: April 1, 2019

Yaron Matras, Professor of Linguistics, discusses the importance of changing the census question “What is your main language?” and the impact this change could have. The census question on language lacks a clear definition of what it means by ‘main language’ and forces multilingual households to select just one language. The Brexit debate includes conversations […]

Why embracing language diversity is a key to community cohesion

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: All posts, Cities and Environment, Digital Futures, OnCohesion Posted: August 2, 2018

As part of our new publication ‘OnCohesion’ read Professor Yaron Matras’ blog which focuses on language diversity and why he believes it is key to social cohesion Language is an emblem of who we are. It is the carrier of our heritage and one of the ways of identifying what we mean by ‘communities’. Community […]

Why language statistics might be misleading

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: All posts, British Politics, Growth and Inclusion Posted: July 27, 2017

This month’s issue of The Economist included an article entitled ‘Why central and eastern European children lag behind in British schools’. Here, Professor Yaron Matras responds to the article and discusses the difficulties of using official statistic to record languages. The article looks mainly to languages as being a factor in differential educational achievement, but […]

Multilingual Manchester: Planning for language diversity

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: Urban Posted: March 10, 2017

To celebrate the launch of the Manchester Urban Institute, and to highlight the expertise of its academics in terms of urban research, MUI have joined up with Policy@Manchester to deliver a series of blogs focused on the Manchester urban area. Greater Manchester needs an integrated, evidence-based vision for dealing with its vast array of spoken […]

The case against Linguaphobia

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: All posts, Brexit Posted: September 29, 2016

In the wake of Brexit, universities have a duty to promote the benefits of linguistic diversity more than ever, says Yaron Matras. Brexit represents the triumph of insularity and isolationism – that is the view shared by most of those who promote the teaching and learning of modern languages in Britain. The anti-immigration rhetoric, which […]

Counting Roma: the ethical dilemma

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted: May 20, 2015

Roma are one of Europe’s most marginalised and deprived communities. Addressing their problems is made more difficult by lack of transparency in the methods used to collect data on them, argues Professor Yaron Matras, as a new project is launched to tackle the problem. Europe’s Roma population suffers extreme poverty and social marginalisation. European institutions have […]

As migration debate rages, look to Manchester for integration inspiration

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: All posts Posted: December 23, 2013

Unless the UK tackles anti-Roma perceptions and prejudice, the exclusion and marginalisation of Roma will continue to thwart any chance of their integration, writes Prof Yaron Matras. Those who follow the situation of Europe’s Roma know that there is never a “dull” week in which we don’t hear of accusations, abuse, or even violence against […]

Our politicians must stop scapegoating Roma community

By Yaron Matras Filed Under: Featured Posted: November 18, 2013

History is littered with riots against ethnic minorities, triggered by finger pointing at groups and warning of riots, writes Professor Yaron Matras. In the light of public comments on the Roma community by two Sheffield MPs, he argues that what is needed is tolerance and understanding, not scapegoating or scaremongering. When David Blunkett warns of […]