Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett
- Emerita Professor of French Philology and Linguistics
- Principal Investigator Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies
- Principal Investigator Promoting Language Policy
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About
B.A. Modern and Medieval Languages (French and German), Girton College, Cambridge
D Phil University of Oxford under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Posner
1982-1983 Junior Research Fellow, St Hilda's College, Oxford
1983-1998 Assistant Lecturer, then Lecturer in French Linguistics, University of Cambridge
1998-2005 Reader in French Philology and Linguistics, University of Cambridge
2005-2022 Professor of French Philology and Linguistics
2022- Emerita Professor of French Philology and Linguistics and Emerita Fellow of Murray Edwards College
Vice-President of the Philological Society.
Research
I work on the history of the French language and the history of linguistic thought, particularly in seventeenth-century France. I am especially interested in considering what effect, if any, metalinguistic texts have on language change in France and the extent to which the seventeenth-century so-called prescriptive texts reflect or shape the evolution of the language. I have also published on socio-historical linguistics and have worked extensively on possible sources of non-standard usages in seventeenth-century France.
My current research interests include language policy, standardization, codification and ideologies. Between 2016 and 2021, I was Principal Investigator on the multi-disciplinary research project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies, funded by the AHRC (www.meits.org). The project worked closely with policymakers and practitioners to promote the value of languages for key issues of our time and the benefits of language learning for individuals and societies. A follow-on AHRC funded research project Promoting Language Policy explored the economic value to the UK of speaking other languages and created a repository of UK language policy documents (www.promotinglanguagepolicy.org).