Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed language barriers in societies around the world. It has become obvious that the fact of linguistic diversity had not been incorporated systematically into emergency preparation and crisis planning. As a result, the effectiveness of the pandemic response has suffered, and linguistic minorities everywhere have been struggling to access timely high-quality information. The consequences of widespread language and communication failures have been felt most heavily by the most marginalized groups.

Multilingua special issue devoted to language challenges of Covid-19 out now

Against this background, international sociolinguistics journal Multilingua presents the first concerted academic exploration of the language challenges of Covid-19 in a special issue released this week.

The special issue “Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis” is edited by Ingrid Piller (Macquarie University, Sydney), Zhang Jie (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan) and Li Jia (Yunnan University, Kunming).

It brings together research articles engaging with the sociolinguistics of multilingual crisis communication, particularly in the Chinese world. Papers examine language barriers affecting global supply chains, the communication experiences of migrant populations and indigenous minorities, and the demands the crisis has placed on language services and language workers.

The publisher of Multilingua, deGruyter Mouton, has agreed to make all papers in the special issue devoted to “Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis” available free of charge. So head over to the journal website and download the papers.

Doing research in a time of crisis

When we started this project with a call for papers on March 16, 2020, Covid-19 had just been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). China, where the virus originally emerged, was still very much at the center of the crisis.

Sociolinguists from around the world responded and were keen to participate in the special issue. We thank them all! Although eventually only 12 papers out of more than 200 proposals made it into the special issue, these interactions have helped to kick start important sociolinguistic research projects related to the pandemic that are yet to be published.

By the time the special issue went to print in the last week of August 2020, the disease still rages on globally but Wuhan, the first epicenter and site of a drastic lock-down, has been free of local transmission for long enough to bring back mass gatherings. Not only the epicenters of the disease have moved but the nature of the crisis itself has shifted and called into question established social orders globally.

We are cognizant of the fact that the research brought together in the special issue has been conducted as we have lived through the crisis we have been researching. However, three themes run through the special issue that go beyond the present moment: first, the problems in global crisis communication that have become so obvious for all to see result from the dominance of English-centric global mass communication. Second, the longstanding devaluation of minoritized languages has left scars in the communication ecology, and they cannot be easily activated for effective crisis communication. Finally, multilingual repertoires are vital not only for information dissemination but also for building trust and resilient communities.

The conversation continues with an online symposium

The Multilingua special issue “Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis” is one step in the research effort to explore the sociolinguistics of the pandemic. You are invited to continue the conversation by attending a free online symposium where the editors and authors will discuss their research.

The symposium will be hosted by Fudan University and Yunnan University over two days on November 05 and November 07 as part of the trilateral cooperation between Hamburg, Macquarie and Fudan universities.

Save the dates!

• Thursday, November 05, 2-4pm, Beijing time (in Chinese)
• Saturday, November 07, 3:30-6pm, Beijing time (in English)

Watch this space for further details!

危机时期的语言多样性

新冠疫情充分暴露了全球各个国家社会内部的语言障碍问题。可见，语言多样性这一客观事实还未被系统地纳入应急准备和危机规划中。对这一问题的忽视导致全世界少数族裔难以获取及时、有效的信息，从而损害疫情的应急响应效力。研究发现，语言与沟通障碍往往对边缘化的群体产生最为严重的负面影响。

《危机时期的语言多样性：新冠疫情下的语言挑战》专刊正式发行

国际社会语言学期刊Multilingua 首次集结学术力量共同探讨疫情时期出现的各种语言挑战，并于本周正式发行专刊《危机时期的语言多样性：新冠疫情下的语言挑战》。

《危机时期的语言多样性》专刊由麦考瑞大学（澳大利亚，悉尼）Ingrid Piller教授，中南财经政法大学（中国，武汉）的张洁副教授和云南大学（中国，昆明）的李佳副教授共同组稿。

专刊特别关注与中国相关的研究视角，汇集了多篇有关多语危机沟通的社会语言学研究论文，主要探讨了防疫物资全球供应链中的语言障碍、危机中移民和土著等少数族裔的交流经历，以及危机时期的应急语言服务需求。

Multilingua期刊的出版方，德古意特出版社将为本专刊的所有文章提供免费下载服务，敬请关注专刊网页，下载论文。

危机时期的研究故事

2020年3月16日，本刊发起全球征稿。当时，世界卫生组织刚刚宣布新冠肺炎为全球性流行病，而中国既是病毒最初的爆发地，也是疫情的中心。

专刊征稿受到了全球社会语言学者的积极回应。在此，我们表示衷心的感谢！虽然由于篇幅限制，专刊最后从200多份研究计划中只收录了12篇论文，但是这些来自世界各地的研究计划推动了与疫情相关的重大社会语言学研究项目的开展。

2020年8月底，专刊正式付印。此时，病毒仍在全球肆虐。然而，武汉，这个疫情曾经的震中和最先封锁的城市，已经很长一段时间没有确诊病例了，当地人民又逐渐恢复了各种社会交往。不仅疾病传播的中心发生了变化，危机的本质也发生了变化，这迫使我们重新审视现已建立的全球社会秩序。

我们意识到专刊组稿时，我们研究的危机也正发生着变化。然而，专刊有三大主题贯穿始终：第一，全球危机沟通的问题凸显，主要源自于以英语为主导的全球大众传播模式。第二，长期弱化少数族裔语言损害信息传播生态，导致少数族裔语言资源难以激活以进行有效的危机沟通。第三，多语资源不仅对信息传播至关重要，而且对构建信任和恢复社区活力也十分重要。

请关注后续的网络研讨会

国际语言学期刊Multilingua 第39卷第5期《危机时期的语言多样性》专刊是有关新冠疫情的社会语言学研究成果之一。后续，我们将举办免费的网络研讨会，邀请您参与讨论。届时，专刊主编和论文作者将分享各自的研究成果。

研讨会定于2020年11月5日和11月7日举办，为期两天。会议由复旦大学和云南大学联合举办，由德国汉堡大学、澳洲麦考瑞大学和中国复旦大学三校联合资助。

请关注以下会议日期：

• 中文研讨会，11月5日下午2点-4点（北京时间）
• 英文研讨会，11月7日下午3点半-6点半（北京时间）

请关注以下具体信息！