Open World Research Initiative - December 2019 update
Welcome to this edition of the Open World Research Initiative monthly update. Read highlights from our interdisciplinary modern language research projects, media articles and policy/political references impacting languages as well as events. Please feel to share among new subscribers. For feedback on content please email Ciaran Higgins ciaran.higgins@qub.ac.uk
Learn about our innovative modern languages research
Act Yourself in Swindon and Birmingham
'Act Yourself! Uncover your Hidden Language Story' creative workshops held in Swindon and Birmingham open to all ages and designed to help people explore their lives through the languages they know (and to an extent those they don’t!).
'Pop-Up' World of Languages continues its tour
The MEITS 'Pop-Up' World of Languages continues its tour, running in Nottingham until December 7th. Listen to reaction to the opening day on BBC Radio Nottingham here and a discussion with Professor Nicola McLelland (1:06:40 in)
Mapping the diversity of Manchester's Languages
The Multilingual Manchester project will be working with Manchester City Council and other partners to support citizens’ engagement with language diversity in an exciting new project mapping Manchester's Languages.
Barrio (II): a Celebration for the People
Santiago Godoy Giraldo reports on the Barrio (II) event in South London, involving the Translation Acts research strand and their work with the Latin American Community.
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Languages in the Media
Some recent articles referencing modern languages in the media
Research Spotlight
A closer look at some OWRI research strands
Using Iberia as a case study the Language Acts and Worldmaking project examines language as a material and historical force which acts as the means by which individuals construct their personal, local, transnational and spiritual identities.

Travelling Concepts researches the stories and vocabularies that construct Iberia as a cultural crossroads, through multiple languages. Find out about their involvement in the December Symposium on Ladino, an endangered language also called Judeo-Spanish

Diasporic Identities and the Politics of Language Teaching analyses the life stories of native teachers of Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan to identify the vocabularies and narrative patterns that help them make sense of and interrogate their professional and personal identities as transnational cultural agents in the UK. A new book Negotiating Identity in Modern Language Teaching stemming from this strand is launched in December.
Funding and Professional Development
AHRC Engaging with Government 2020 programme closes 6th January.

Policy and Political Issues
References and reports impacting modern languages at policy and political level 
The greatest drop in target performance was for modern foreign languages which fell from 88% to 62% but this was due to a large increase in the target from 1,600 in 2018/19 to 2,241 in 2019/20 as recruitment numbers were largely maintained.

Party manifestos. The Labour party reference ‘The narrowing curriculum is denying many children access to modern languages, arts and music,…'. Say they will introduce an Arts Pupil Premium to fund arts education for every primary school child.

Liberal Democrats indicate they will 'Protect the availability of arts and creative subjects in the curriculum and act to remove barriers to pupils studying these subjects, including by abolishing the English Baccalaureate as a performance measure.

Conservative manifesto, references to supporting the Welsh language and boosting English language teaching.

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