Defining Lingua Franca
Lingua franca is probably one of the most widely circulating linguistic terms. Yet oddly, it lacks a commonly accepted, precise academic definition. It generally denotes a shared language used by…
Can we safeguard minority languages?
Aramaic heritage language classroom, Delmenhorst, Germany, 2026 Last month the Economist newspaper ran a briefing about the deglobalisation of culture. It presented statistics from various sectors and countries that suggest…
UK language policy: Promoters, reformers, counterforces
Kurdish supplementary school in Manchester, 2020 What current issues face UK language policy, who are the principal actors in UK language policy, and what drives policy making on language? These…
The ‘Genocide’ narrative and ritual vilification: South Africa’s discursive distortion, and Manchester’s complicity in anti-Jewish violence
On Yom Kippur, 2 October 2025, the United Kingdom was shocked by a murderous attack on worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester. Shocked, but not surprised – such was the…
A storm broke the tea cup: Perspectives on the Gaza conflict
Gaza conflict, July 2025: Israeli protestors in Tel Aviv carrying images of Palestinian child victims and Palestinian protestors in Gaza carrying images of Israeli child victims (images from @HenMazzig) I…
Antisemitism and the fight against racism. My thoughts on the Runnymede Trust report ‘Facing antisemitism: the struggle for safety and solidarity’
Left: Me in a playful mood exploring so-called ‘pride in heritage’; Right: Great-grandfather Rabbi Meir Matras who escaped pogroms in the Jewish Pale of Settlement in present-day Ukraine. In January…
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