Invited presentation to the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle

I was honoured to be invited to speak to the staff and students at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/ and the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle. Thank you to Bethan Collins who organised the event and to the engaged students and staff who attended.

Here is the title of my presentation: Communication professionals need to advocate for communication rights and the Sustainable Development Goals

Here is the abstract:

Communication is a human right for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression… regardless of frontiers” (Article 19, United Nations, 1948). As communication professionals, we have the power to enhance everyone’s participation in day-to-day life, families, communities, and society. When we support everyone’s ability to communicate, we contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships.

McLeod, S. (2018). Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1428687

McLeod, S., & Marshall, J. (2023). Communication for all and the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494

Thank you Bethan Collins (PhD student) who organised the event

Some of the audience in Bangor and online

 

During my conversations I learned about Bangor University's commitment to sustainability and Prof Thora Tenbrink's work. She is Professor of Linguistics and Dean of Research at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Bangor University:

• Director of the Places of Climate Change Research Centre at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/plocc and Co-leading the PATCCh WISERD research network (Place-based Approaches To Climate Change)  https://wiserd.ac.uk/project/patcch-network/
  
• Involved in the Public Map Platform project, which gives children on the island of Anglesey a voice regarding their local place, expressed through various arts methods in addition to language (https://publicmap.org/en)
  
• Part of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership which aims at co-creating solutions to local challenges through communication with rural communities https://www.arsyllfa.cymru/cymru-wledig-lpip-rural-wales-phase-two/
  

 

Finally, I love this message on emails from the university as it encourages multilingualism: 

"Mae croeso i chi gysylltu gyda'r Brifysgol yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. You are welcome to contact the University in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay."

2015 Gerhadt Laves Scholarship winner

Congratulations Suzanne Hopf on winning the 2015 Gerhadt Laves Scholarship.
The annual Gerhardt Laves Scholarship was established by the Australian Linguistic Society to encourage postgraduate researchers into the field of indigenous languages, by helping cover linguistic fieldwork expenses. The scholarship consists of an amount, approximately $2,000, to cover costs (e.g. travel, accommodation, subsistence, consultant's payments, etc.) that the recipient will encounter in undertaking fieldwork. A year's membership of the Australian Linguistic Society is also provided. Suzanne will use this money to cover some of her fieldwork expenses in Fiji. Congratulations Suzanne!
The CSU news release is here
 

The Jamaican Language Unit (Di Jamiekan Langwij Yuunit)

Dr Karla Washington, Professor Hubert Devonish,
and Sharynne holding the Jamaican New Testament and How to Write Jamaican

Today Dr Karla Washington (University of Cincinnati) and I visited Di Jamiekan Langwij Yuunit (The Jamaican Language Unit). The Unit was established in 2002 by the Jamaican government to recognize and support the use of the Jamaican language.

Professor Hubert Devonish is the head of the Unit, and is a distinguished linguist and scholar in the area of Caribbean languages. His most recent project has been to provide advice for the translation of the New Testament (Bible) into Jamaican. He also has written "Writing Jamaican the Jamaican Way/Ou fi Rait Jamiekan". The book uses the Cassidy-JLU writing system that is based on a phonetic realisation of spoken Jamiekan. The Jamiekan alphabet contains the following letters and letter combinations: a, aa, ai, b, ch, d, e, f, g, hn, I, ie, ii, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ou, p, r, s, sh, t, u, uo, uu, v, w, y, z, zh.

Professor Devonish provided us with valuable advice about the various phonetic and phonemic transcriptions of words pronounced by Jamaican adults. We will use these as the range of possible adult targets for our research with the Jamaican children next week.