This summer sees the relaunch of Cambridge-based Languages, Society and Policy (LSP) journal, supported by a new consortium after five successful years of promoting engagement with policy makers, journalists and stakeholders in education, health and business.
Previously part of the AHRC-funded project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies (MEITS), LSP is now proudly supported by the Institute of Modern Languages Research, the Linguistics Association of Great Britain, the Philological Society, and the University Council of Modern Languages.
The relaunch event took place in July 2022 and included an unveiling of the new LSP website, where two new policy papers have been added to the existing collection. Wendy Ayres-Bennett and Marco Hafner explore the economic value to the UK of speaking other languages, while Karen Forbes argues that empowering all students in education to identify as multilingual will improve outcomes in language learning and beyond. Further, Joseph Ford and Emanuelle Santos contribute an opinion article that gives an account of work being done to decolonise languages in UK Higher Education, posing questions that are still largely absent from mainstream discussions on the topic.
Central to LSP’s mission is the belief that language underpins every aspect of human activity, social, economic and cultural. Insights from the integrated study of languages, cultures, and societies can thus improve policy making and have the potential to impact on a wide range of areas of public life. The online journal aims to draw research insights from the widest possible spectrum of the field aiming for broad, feasible and impactful policy recommendations. Contributors connect research concerning language and its role in culture and communication with wider societal questions, including those related to law, migration, equality, and inclusiveness, as well as the vital role of intercultural understanding for international collaboration on these and other big issues of our times.
The journal was first launched in 2017 as part of the MEITS project led by Professor Ayres-Bennett at the University of Cambridge. MEITS succeeded in bringing together researchers from literary and cultural studies, the history of ideas, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, education and cognitive science. That project sought to show how research within the disciplinary field can address and enrich our understanding of key issues of our time, and LSP was an important part of this process. This spirit of openness and interdisciplinarity continues to be fundamental to LSP, as it was from the journal’s conception. Contributors are actively encouraged to work beyond their usual disciplinary boundaries.
LSP is open access and publishes high-quality peer-reviewed language research that addresses issues concerning languages, cultures, and societies in accessible and non-technical language. The journal publishes policy papers, opinion articles and dialogues.
For information on how to submit a paper to LSP, full details can be found at lspjournal.com/submit.
Article by James Algie, PhD candidate, Theoretical and Applied Linguistics & LSP Communications Assistant