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

Yaron Matras By Filed Under: Growth and Inclusion Posted:

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 […]

Is it time to address accent as part of the Teachers’ Standards?

By Filed Under: Digital Futures, Education, Growth and Inclusion Posted:

Dr Alex Baratta, Lecturer in Language, Linguistics and Communications at the Manchester Institute of Education, discusses the ambiguity of ‘articulacy’ in the Teachers’ Standards and its effects on teachers and their accents. The Teachers’ Standards state that teachers in England and Wales must use standard English and demonstrate ‘articulacy’. There is no mention of accent […]

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Why language statistics might be misleading

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

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 […]

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Putting an accent on things: The need to clarify speech expectations for British teachers

By Filed Under: British Politics Posted:

Dr Alex Baratta writes on the complexities of language, accents, and pronunciation in the classroom. Dr Baratta argues for the standardisation of some elements of pronunciation in teacher training as the best way to balance educational outcomes in learned ‘phonics’ with the protection and celebration of diversity through experience of a variety of accents.  Currently, language […]

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Multilingual Manchester: Planning for language diversity

Yaron Matras By Filed Under: Urban Posted:

 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 […]

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British Sociology and politics: an important rhetorical shift?

By Filed Under: All posts, Westminster Watch Posted:

Theresa May and her colleagues will soon be returning to Parliament following the summer recess, when the real test of her premiership begins.  Her use of sociological research in her maiden speech was noteworthy, says Gibson Burrell. What was remarkable about Theresa May’s rhetoric outside Number 10 as she returned from kissing the Queen’s hand […]

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Politicians need to grasp that there are many ways of being British

Bridget Byrne By Filed Under: Ethnicity, Featured Posted:

There are many ways of being British. This is a reality that politicians and others need to understand, explains Dr Bridget Byrne. In response to the ‘Trojan horse’ controversy in Birmingham, David Cameron, Conservative Party leader has again stressed his belief in the need to emphasise ‘British values’. This is not a new approach. In […]

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