HAL Linguistics Symposium
The Linguistics Group of the School of Humanities and Languages invite you to our Linguistics Symposium to be held on 4 November 2024.With Keynote speaker, Associate Professor Finex Ndhlovu of the University of New England, Australia.
Critical Language Studies and the Imperative to Decolonise our Practice: Insights from Language and Decolonisation
This Symposium will address the theme of Multilingualism, Social Justice, and Inclusion and discuss recent theoretical and empirical work related to the following key questions:
- How can linguistics theory and practice contribute to social justice in multilingual communities?
- How can immigrant families support multilingual and bilingual development for their children?
- How can we de-colonise our research practices and make them more suitable for working with Indigenous communities?
- What challenges and opportunities do digital technologies bring for minoritised languages?
You will find more information, the program and speaker Abstracts here.
Finex Ndhlovu
Associate Professor of Language in Society, University of New EnglandFinex Ndhlovu is Associate Professor of Language in Society in the School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences at the University of New England, Australia. He has extensive research experience spanning over a period of 25 years with close to 100 research outputs. Finex’s research interests sit at the cutting edge of contemporary linguistic and socio-cultural theories around language, identity, and sociality in relation to Indigenous and transnational migrant and diaspora communities. He adopts an interdisciplinary approach that yokes together decolonising, Indigenising and Southern perspectives in seeking solutions to complex societal and educational problems faced by marginalised populations such as the youth, migrants, ethnic minorities and refugees.
Finex’s major publications include the following books: Becoming an African Diaspora in Australia: Language, Culture, Identity (2014, Palgrave); Language, Vernacular Discourse and Nationalisms: Uncovering the Myths of Transnational Worlds (2018, Palgrave); Decolonising Multilingualism in Africa: Recentering Silenced Voices from the Global South (2021, Multilingual Matters); Language and Decolonisation: An Interdisciplinary Approach (2024, Routledge); and Pan-African Integration from Below: Language, Publics, Culture (Mandela University Publishing, in press).
Finex is passionate about nurturing the next generation of research and academic leaders through mentoring HDR students and Early Career colleagues.