British Academy Fellow Professor Paul Kerswill Visits Xiangtan University for Academic Exchanges

Written byTang Fei, Xiao Liang, Lei Liyu

Edited byLi Wenwen

Translated by Li Wenqiang, Huang Can

Source: International ExchangesCenter

On the afternoon of April 23, Paul Kerswill, Fellow of the British Academy and professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York, visited Xiangtan University for a three-day exchange program. Yu Zuguo, Vice President of the university, attended the exchange symposium, together with representatives from the International ExchangeSchool, the School of ForeignStudies, and the African Legal and Economic Research Center.

Professor Kerswill is a leading scholar in global variationist sociolinguistics since the 1990s. His main research areas include sociolinguistics, dialect contact and language change, African languages and development, language and population mobility, new dialects, multicultural youth language, and the interaction between language and social structure.

Yu Zuguobriefly introduced the university and said that Professor Kerswill enjoys a high international academic reputation. He expressed the hope that the two sides would reach consensus on cooperation in such areas as student exchanges, faculty visits, and joint research, so as to further advance collaboration.

Professor Kerswill spoke highly of Xiangtan University’s teaching environment, research strength and academic atmosphere. He briefly introduced his research fields and directions, reviewed the history and achievements of cooperation with the School of ForeignStudies of Xiangtan University, and expressed his commitment to further promoting cooperation between the two universities in the fields of linguistics research and African studies.

During the symposium, participants held extensive discussions with Kerswill on major directions and priorities for future cooperation. They expressed the hope of further deepening collaboration and expanding it into more fields.

On the morning of April 24, Professor Kerswill wasinvited asa guest speaker at the Shaofeng Distinguished Scholars Forum hosted by the School of Foreign Languages and delivered an academic lecture titled “ResearchingNew Contact Dialectsin Metropolitan Cities:The exampleof London”.Professor Kerswill introduced in detail two major projects he had led—“Linguistic Innovators: The English of Adolescents in London” and “Multicultural London English: The Emergence, Acquisition and Diffusion of a New Variety”—as well as his team’s newly funded project, “Intergenerational Change in London English: Language and Social Change in Real Time.” Together, the three projects constitute a large-scale 22-year research program, making it possible to observe real-time linguistic change in a metropolis shaped by long-term, large-scale immigration.The concept of Multicultural London English (MLE)first proposed by Professor Kerswill has become a widely recognized urban English dialect variant in the UK. The investigation and research on multi-ethnic contact variants emerging in European cities, represented by MLE,has becomea major innovation of variationist sociolinguistics in the 21st century. Professor Kerswill also answered questions from faculty and students in detail, covering topics such as the impact of internet language on adolescents’ language use and language policies in ethnic minorityregions.

On the afternoon of April 24, Professor Kerswill attended the Seminar on Language and Linguistics hosted by the School of ForeignStudies. Professor Wen Weiping, head of the Linguistics and Language Strategy Research Team, introduced the development of the discipline and academic research achievements, while young faculty and postgraduate representatives presented their respective research. Professor Kerswill provided academic guidance on the presentations, and interacted with faculty and students to answer their questions. He expressed his willingness to maintain and further strengthen long-term cooperative exchanges with the university’s academic teams in linguistics and other related disciplines.

On the morning of April 25, Professor Kerswilldelivered another lecture at the Law School’s Shaofeng Distinguished Scholars Forum, titled“Participatory Theatre and Gold Mining in Ghana: Raising Community Awareness of Social and Environmental Harms”. Starting from the environmental harm caused by the mining industry in Ghana, he introduced "participatory theatre" as one of the solutions to the problem. The forum was packed to full capacity, and students actively spoke up and asked questions during the Q&A session, creating a warm and lively atmosphere.