Two members of the Language and Society Research Cluster, Prof Bernie O’Rourke and Dr Erin McNulty, attended the International Symposium on Language Ideologies and Attitudes (IDEOLING) at the Universitat de les Illes Balears (University of the Balearic Islands) in Palma de Mallorca from October 17th to 19th.

The event, which included multiple parallel sessions over the course of three days, invited papers on a wide range of topics within the field of language attitudes and ideologies, including the role they play in language policy and planning, and how they reflect power relations in society. Many minoritized languages were represented at the symposium, including Catalan, Basque, and Picard. Attendees also enjoyed papers from plenary speakers Ruth Kircher (European Centre for Minority Issues) and Laura Villa (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

Bernie delivered one of the opening papers, focusing on reframing assumptions about language, territoriality, and nativeness, and the challenges these assumptions can create for speakers of minoritized languages and language advocates in these communities. Then, on the second day of the symposium, Bernie and Erin delivered a paper where they compared how language ideologies manifest in various New Speaker communities, including that of Galician, Irish, and Manx, and explored the role of language ideologies in supporting language revitalization and developing the field of New Speaker studies.

The event was a huge success and the team made connections with many sociolinguists working on language attitudes and ideologies throughout Europe. Here’s to the next IDEOLING Symposium!

First published: 29 January 2025

<< News