You are cordially invited to attend the seminar on Superdiverse Translingualism and the Structuralist Dynamics of English as a Global Language, organised by the Graduate School (GS). Details are as follows:

Date	26 November 2024 (Tue)
Time	15:30-18:30
Venue	B4-LP-06
Speaker	Professor John P. O’Regan Professor, Critical Applied Linguistics Institute of Education, Faculty of Education and Society University College London, United Kingdom
Moderator	Professor GU Ming Yue Michelle Dean of Graduate School, EdUHK
Registration links:	For Students: https://bit.ly/4fhIfXk *Please register before 25 November, 2024 (Mon).
	For Staff: https://bit.ly/3YFyUBK *Please register before 25 November, 2024 (Mon).

Speaker

Professor John O’Regan is Professor of Critical Applied Linguistics in the Centre for Applied Linguistics at UCL Institute of Education, University College London. He is also Vice-Dean (International). His work encompasses world Englishes, English and its political economy, intercultural communication and critical discourse analysis. He is the author of articles covering a wide range of topics in applied linguistics and cultural studies. He is a past Chair of the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication, and was also for a number of years Editor of the international journal Language and Intercultural Communication. John was born in Hong Kong, and lived there for much of his early life.

Abstract

In a recent book, Professor O’Regan referred to the emergence over the last 30 years of perspectives on superdiversity, English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), translanguaging, world Englishes and translingualism etc. under the collective heading of superdiverse translingualism due to the shared emphasis they each place on the hybridity, diversity, multiplicity, pluricentricity and translingual fluidity of modern-day language practices involving English. A vast array of documentary evidence has been accumulated that shows how worldwide users of English both inside and outside of the traditional centres of English language use regularly innovate and transgress against so-called “native-speaker norms,” so demonstrating that any claim to the sole ownership of English by those styling themselves as native speakers departs from the empirical lingua-cultural reality of actual global English language use. In the midst of the immense linguistic fluidity and translingualism which this research reveals, the global ELT profession as well as the knowledge domains of EMI and English-medium research publication have found themselves heavily criticized for their seeming continued fidelity to inner circle models. In this talk, I locate these discussions within the framework of a critical realist understanding of English in the world in order to determine why it is that the linguistic diversity which exists is endlessly disfavoured.

We look forward to seeing you there!

All are welcome.