Modern Languages: Recent Episodes
University of Southampton
Modern Languages at Southampton is one of the leading centres for the study of foreign languages and cultures in the UK. This series introduces some of the activities, research themes and events connected with the languages programmes. Thinking about studying Languages? Watch our student experience video for insight into the diversity of the subject area and the benefits of studying a languages programme at Southampton.
Leading Catalan writer and diplomat Carles Casajuana spoke about his work and his experience of bilingualism at the annual Perez de Ayala lecture at the University of Southampton. His latest book The Last Man Who Spoke Catalan won the 2009 Ramon Llull award. The novelist was Spanish Ambassador to the UK from 2008-2012. Students and staff heard Senor Casajuana describe the development of bilingual education, which results in children gaining a good command of both languages by the age of 16. However, increasing levels of immigration has reduced the proportion of people who use Catalan; concerns have been raised for the survival of the language.
For more information on Modern Languages at the University of Southampton please visit www.southampton.ac.uk/ml
Internationalisation has become the dominant trend in many areas of life, not least in higher education, where there is much talk of ‘internationalising the curriculum', ‘internationalisation at home', and the like. Universities have had little to say, by contrast, about the de facto lingua franca of internationalisation, English, and instead, continue to project their internationalness through a national version of English, usually British or American. In this lecture I will discuss the phenomenon of English language change and the tendency among English language experts and non-experts alike to regard it as error. I will go on to consider how the massive increase in the number of non-native English speakers around the world has become the main driver of change in English, and the implications for the international university in the UK.
To find out more about Professor Jennifer Jenkins work at the University of Southampton please visit http://www.southampton.ac.uk/cge/
Find out more about the multidisciplinary research opportunities, and world renowned archive resources of the Parkes Institute and the learning culture at Humanities. Bettina Codrai gives insight into her research project, combining the subject areas of Jewish Studies, Languages and History that explores the wider question of contemporary German Jewish literature as a counter discourse and the link between identity and social change amongst the minority, and how this has impacted on German Jewish identity in the 21st Century.
Sociolinguistics is about the relationship between language and society. Recorded in 2010, the conference explored the ways social structure is affected by verbal practices and the relationship between language and migration, and the role of cities to this relationship.
Student Ozge Ozogul talks about her experience of participating in the Erasmus exchange programme.
Student Alice Greenfield talks about her experience of studying a languages programme with a year abroad.
Professor Michael Kelly discusses the challenges of modern languages in English state schools.
Organised by the Routes into Languages initiative for secondary schools, find out what the University of Southampton offers in Modern Languages study.
Score in French is a languages programme devised by Dr Ian McCall as part of the Routes into Languages initiative, and in collaboration with Southampton football club, to motivate secondary school pupils to get involved with languages.
Listen to sound-clips from the Humanities winter graduation ceremony, recorded in 2009.
Southampton Languages graduate and the BBC's defence correspondent, Caroline Wyatt, accepts an honorary degree.