Welcome to the second newsletter of the Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities Consortium. We hope that this newsletter will be a forum for members of the Consortium to share news and updates of their research activities regarding southern perspectives of multilingualisms and diversities.

ProjectsINTPART networking ProjectOslo University, Centre for Multilingualism across the Lifespan: and 4 universities in South Africa, University of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town and University of Witwatersrand have initiated a 3-year collaboration involving joint research around issues of multilingualism and mobility in the South and North. The partnership was initiated with a two-day workshop and a series of meetings with university executives in March 2016.

Linnaeus-Palme exchange programThe Linnaeus-Palme exchange program between the Centre for Bilingual Research at Stockholm University and the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research at the University of the Western Cape is entering into its second year of engagement around issues of multilingual epistemologies of the North and South.

As program partners, the Centre for Research on Bilingualism at Stockholm University and the Department of Linguistics at UWC share several focal themes in education and research. These include multilingualism, voice and agency globalization, marginality, health and education in developing countries. The long-term goal of the collaboration is to integrate perspectives, encourage reflexivity and ethical thinking, develop infrastructure and formalize cooperation. One goal is to draw upon and integrate different and shared perspectives on and experiences of globalization further developing such perspectives in the respective course frameworks. As North-South academic interaction is marked by various forms of Northern exploitation, the eventual success of such an attempt depends on how it handles this troubled history. Accordingly, the project’s second goal is to craft strategies for reworking the legacy of this historical relationship of domination and dependence. The project as a whole seeks to build a co-operation around a knowledge exchange informed by reflexive and transformational ambition. To enhance and further develop the long-term gains of the above points the project also strives towards the goals of developing joint infrastructures and a basis for prolonged cooperation.

Humanities and Social Sciences Catalytic Project on Concept Development in African Languages This project is led by Pamela Maseko and Russell Kaschula and is hosted by Rhodes University.

In keeping with the recommendations of the Charter for Humanities and Social Sciences regarding the Catalytic Project on Concept Formation in Indigenous African Languages, and the preliminary findings of the initial stage of the Catalytic Project, the research project seeks to entrench and

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galvanise the development and promotion of indigenous African languages in South African higher education in a manner that seeks to empower all, especially those from previously marginalised groups. This will be done by consolidating the present research activities of the project and implementing its findings in the South African higher education classroom.

Project submissionChristopher Stroud, Kathleen Heugh and Antjie Krog have submitted a project application to the Swedish Research Council for funding for a project engaging the Universities of Stockholm, Western Cape and South Australia entitled ‘Multilingual voices: tracing invisible voices in diversity encounters’.

ConferencesInternational conference on language policy in multicultural and multilingual settings - MandalayAs part of the UNICEF/University of Melbourne Language, Education and Social Cohesion (LESC) project, a major International conference on language policy in multicultural and multilingual settings was held at the University of Mandalay, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar on February 8-11, 2016. The focus of the LESC initiative has been a nation-wide process of language policy development. Since 2013 facilitated dialogues have taken place across The Republic of the Union of Myanmar to build a peace-promoting multilingual national policy which was a key focus of discussion at the Mandalay Conference. Joseph Lo Bianco was instrumental in the research and planning that led to the conference. Please see the link for the report under publications- reports below.

Andy Kirkpatrick gave a plenary session entitled ‘The Role of English in ASEAN: implications for language policy and pedagogy with specific reference to Myanmar’.

South-South dialogues: situated perspectives in decolonial epistemologies5-6 November 2015, University of Queensland Latin American Studies Forum and the Postcoloniality/Decoloniality Collective.According to Boaventura de Sousa Santos ‘a massive epistemicide has been under way for the past five centuries, whereby an immense wealth of cognitive experiences has been wasted’. One of the ubiquitous legacies of colonialism is that there now exists a dominant intellectual tradition that is based upon an ‘abstract universalism grounding Western-centric general theories’. This global cognitive injustice, contends Sousa Santos, must be addressed through ‘an intercultural dialogue and translation among different critical knowledges and practices: South-centric and North-centric, popular and scientific religious and secular, female and male, urban and rural…’ (Epistemologies of the South: Justice against epistemicide, 2014).

This symposium brought together researchers, scholars and intellectuals who are actively engaged in developing critical thinking situated in the South. The focus therefore of this symposium was to open a space and a conversation with traditional and contemporary critical thinking in Australia and Latin America in order to find pathways toward developing decolonial epistemologies and practices from a Southern perspective. Kathleen Heugh and Angela Scarino gave a paper, ‘Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities’, on behalf of the Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities Consortium.

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Language, Education and Diversity4th International Conference on Language, Education and Diversity (LED 2015)The 4th International Conference on Language, Education and Diversity (LED2015), convened by Stephen May, was held between 23 and 26 November 2015, at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. LED conferences focus ‘specifically on the impact of increased cultural linguistic diversity, at both national and supranational levels, and its consequences for the theory, policy and practice of language education.’ (https://led.education.auckland.ac.nz/about-the-conference/).Several SMDC members presented papers at this conference. A panel, Approaching Southern Multilingualisms, included participation from Gillian Wigglesworth, Andy Kirkpatrick, Stephen May and Kathleen Heugh.

2015 RCLC Symposium - The nature of learning in languages educationThe Research Centre for Languages and Cultures at the University of South Australia held its 8 th Annual Symposium on 26 and 27 November 2015. The theme was The nature of learning in languages education. The concept of learning would appear to be central to any understanding of language learning, but it is a concept that has been given little serious attention in applied linguistics. In the context of globalisation and the increasingly complex, multilingual and multicultural character of the contemporary world, there is a pressing need to reconsider what ‘learning’ means in the context of language education. This context challenges the largely monolingual understanding of learning that has prevailed in traditional SLA. It also challenges the predominantly functional, communicative orientation that has not sufficiently foregrounded the diverse, situated meanings that learning a particular language holds for diverse learners, with distinctive affiliations with the language being learnt.

Although there has been substantial theoretical expansion in understanding language and culture, less attention has been devoted to the conceptualisation of learning itself – its substance, processes and meanings for diverse individuals. The purpose of this symposium was to consider the nature and characteristics of learning in languages education – in relation to both teaching and learning and to assessment – recognising that the way researchers and educators understand language learning is highly influential in shaping languages education.SMDC members presented the following papers at the symposium:‘Language as an interpretive process’ Angela Scarino and Tony Liddicoat‘Values and ideology in language learning and assessment: The case of the CEFR’, Tim McNamara‘The nature of language learning in Indigenous Australia’, Gillian Wigglesworth‘Multilingualism, translanguaging and learning English in an Australian University’ Kathleen Heugh, Li Xuan, Song Ying.

ALAA / ALANZ / ALTAANZ 2015 ConferenceThe Research Centre for Languages and Cultures hosted the fourth combined conference of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA), the Applied Linguistics Association of New Zealand (ALANZ) and Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand (ALTAANZ) in Adelaide on 30 November - 2 December 2015.Tim McNamara was an invited plenary speaker. He presented a paper entitled, ‘Performativity and the gendered subject: Social structures and local practices’.Additional members of the SMDC presented papers at the conference:‘Multilingualism and translanguaging: rethinking boundaries in an Australian University’, Kathleen Heugh ‘Assessing writing proficiency for healthcare purposes: what criteria matter to doctors?’ Ute Knoch, Elisabeth Manias, Tim McNamara

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‘An investigation of the impact of NAPLAN on children in indigenous communities’, Ute Knoch, Gillian Wigglesworth, Tim McNamara, Susy Macqueen Members of the SMDC were also involved in the following colloquium:‘Mediation in interculturally oriented language teaching and learning’, Angela Scarino, Tony Liddicoat, Michelle Kohler and Kathleen Heugh.

Multilingualism and Mobilities: Understanding Globalisation. Two projects – one workshopA World Universities (WUN) workshop was held on 15-16 October 2015, in Cape Town organized by Ana Deumert, University of Cape Town and Kristin Horner entitled ‘Multilingualism and Mobilities: Understanding Globalisation. Two projects – one workshop’. SMDC members presented the following papers:‘Whose voice? Positionality in the development of southern theory’, Ana Deumert‘What does superdiversity add to multilingualism?’, Stephen May‘Multilingualism as an utopian project’, Christopher Stroud‘Mainstreaming a marginal accent and gender identity: the case of 'Kimmie Kool', Quentin Williams

SMDC members were involved in the following roundtable sessions:Round table: ‘Chinese migrations, emerging research agendas’, Chen, Ana Deumert, Han, Vigouroux, Gu & Guo, Christopher Stroud.Round table: ‘Quo vadis? Language and the political economy’, Del Percio, Deumert, Cornips, Karlander, October, Storch, Christopher Stroud, Vigouroux.

Rhodes University Annual Multilingualism ColloquiumThe Rhodes University Annual Multilingualism Colloquium was held on 22 September 2015 in Grahamstown, South Africa. The Annual Multilingualism Colloquium celebrates linguistic diversity and multilingualism and also explores the challenges and opportunities it raises for higher education.South Africans have a rich linguistic heritage. Many are fluent in several languages and are able to communicate in several more. South Africans draw on these multilingual repertoires daily to communicate, to learn and to create our identities. This diversity is something to be celebrated but it also raises challenges and opportunities.

Both Kathleen Heugh and Ana Deumert, University of Cape Town, presented keynote papers at the Rhodes University Annual Multilingualism Colloquium. Kathleen presented a paper, ‘Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities - African and South African perspectives: connecting with Indigenous Knowledge Systems & Southern Theory’.Ana presented a keynote paper, ‘Everyday Multilingualism: Tales of the Unexpected’.

Multilingualism, identity and diversity in the early years, a Translatlantic Forum for Inclusive Early Years (TFIEY 6) Meeting in Washington DC, 8-10 July 2015The ‘Transatlantic Forum for Inclusive Early Years (TFIEY): Investing in the development of young children from migrant and low income families’ was established as a project of the King Baudouin Foundation in 2012. The purpose of the project, TFIEY, has been to co-ordinate a number of ‘high level meetings … for European and US policy makers on how to increase the accessibility of early years services for poor and migrant families’. TFIEY includes a number of US-based and European Foundations, with the Brussels-based European partner, Centre for Innovation in the Early Years / Centre d’Innovation de la Petite Enfance (VBJK); and the Washington-based US partner, Migration

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Policy Institute (MPI). Kathleen Heugh was invited to present the most recent research findings on multilingual education in Africa at TFIEY 6. More information on TFIEY and VBJK can be found at: http://www.vbjk.be/en/node/4495 or http://www.vbjk.be/en

Sociolinguistics of Globalization Conference, University of Hong Kong 3-6 June 2015Christopher Stroud gave a plenary presentation entitled, ‘Dignity and Diversity: Turbulent approaches to linguistic citizenship. The focus of the paper was the ‘dark side’ or underbelly of globalization.Tope Omoniyi (Roehampton) convened the panel, ‘Illusions and delusions of the centre within the framework of globalization’, at the conference. Panellists included Kathleen Heugh, Marco Santello, Sangeeta Bagga-Gupta, Mukul Saxena, Caroline Kerfoot and Marilida Cavalcanti (Universidade Estadual de Campinas). Christopher Stroud was the discussant.Other members of the SMDC presented papers, chaired sessions and acted as discussants. They were: Stephen May, Tommaso Milani, Ana Deumert, Isabelle Léglise, Valelia Muni Toke, Alastair Pennycook, Quentin Williams, Elana Shohamy, Lionel Wee, Elizabeth Lanza, Zane Goebel and Zannie Bock.

Recent PublicationsPlease see the reading list (under development) on the SMDC website http://southernmultilingualisms.org/publications/

New booksTwo publications regarding the history of oral and written literature (particularly isiXhosa) have appeared in 2015 by UKZN Press: William Wellington Gqoba. Isizwe Esinembali. Xhosa histories and poetry (1873-1888). Edited and translated by Jeff Opland, Wandile Kuse and Pamela Maseko and D.L.P. Yali-Manisi. Iimbali Zamanyange. Historical poems.See the SMDC Website for further information http://southernmultilingualisms.org/publications/

See the SMDC Website for further information http://southernmultilingualisms.org/publications/

Re-imagining Linguistics from the margins: A southern African textbook projectBock, Zannie & Mheta, Gift (Eds). 2014. Language, society and communication: an introduction. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.

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The teaching of Linguistics globally has been dominated by texts written in the global north. For students in southern Africa, the languages and contexts that these profile are often remote and disconnected from their lived experiences and knowledge. In response to this gap, the Linguistics Department at the University of the Western Cape initiated a textbook project which integrates northern and southern knowledge in new ways. It reimagines linguistics and communication from a southern African perspective by drawing on the rich diversity of languages in the region (e.g. Bantu, Khoisan, Indo-European) and the multilingual practices which shape these contexts.

See the SMDC Website for further information http://southernmultilingualisms.org/publications/

Diversities, Affinities and DiasporaA film of the proceedings of the 2014 Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Public Forum, Diversities, Affinities and Diaspora has been produced and will be uploaded to the SMDC website in due course. It features contributions from members Joseph Lo Bianco, Elana Shohamy, Sinfree Makoni and Marilyn Martin Jones

ReportsAn evaluative report by Carol Benson of an innovative first language-based multilingual education program in Nepal can be found on the SMDC website www.southernmultilingualisms.org/resources

The report: Building a national language policy for Myanmar by Joseph Lo Bianco can be found on the SMDC website www.southernmultilingualisms.org/resources

Forthcoming publications Edited VolumeKerfoot, C., Hyltenstam, K. (Eds.), (ftc, 2016). Entangled Discourses: South-North Orders of Visibility. Routledge, New York.

This book uniquely explores the shifting structures of power and unexpected points of intersection – entanglements – at the nexus of North and South as a lens through which to examine the impact of global and local circuits of people, practices and ideas on linguistic, cultural and knowledge systems. The volume considers the entanglement of North and South on multiple levels in the contemporary and continuing effects of capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism, in the form of silenced or marginalized populations, such as refugees, immigrants, and other minoritised groups, and in the different orders of visibility that make some types of practices and knowledge more legitimate and therefore more visible. It uses a range of methodological and analytical frames to shed light on less visible histories, practices, identities, repertoires, and literacies, and offer new understandings for research and for language, health care, education, and other policies and practices. The book brings

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together an exciting mix of voices of both established and new scholars in multilingualism and diversity from a range of social, political, and historical contexts and provides coverage of areas previously underrepresented in current research on multilingualism, globalization, and mobility, including Brazil, South Africa, Australia, East Timor, Wallis, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. This volume is key reading for scholars, researchers, and graduate students in multilingualism, globalisation, sociolinguistics, mobility and development studies, applied linguistics, and language and education policy.

Edited volumeA volume to be published by Multilingual Matters, ‘The Multilingual Citizen’ (eds. Lisa Lim, Christopher Stroud and Lionel Wee is planned to appear this year. The majority of the chapters deal with situations in the geopolitical South, and explore the notion of ‘linguistic citizenship’ as a language and political tool for understanding complex multilingual situations and its application to alternative social and educational policies. SMDC members will contribute the following chapters and commentaries:

‘Linguistic citizenship and language rights’, Christopher Stroud‘Essentialism and language rights’, Lionel Wee‘Reshaping participatory processes: Resemiotisation and linguistic citizenship in South Africa’, Caroline Kerfoot‘Paths to multilingualism? Reflections on developments in language-in-education policy and practice in East Timor’, Estévão Cabral and Marilyn Martin-Jones‘Linguistic citizenship in Sweden: Resistance in a context of linguistic human rights’, Tommaso M. Milani and Rickard JonssonCommentary 1: On rights, Stephen MayCommentary 2: On Africa, and policy and education, Ana DeumertCommentary 3: On Asia, Kathleen Heugh

Edited VolumeAn edited volume arising from the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures 2014 symposium is under development. It is entitled Diversities, Affinities and Diasporas (eds. Kathleen Heugh, Angela Scarino and Christopher Stroud. In the contemporary world of complex diversity and mobility, we see the emergence of new configurations of identities, affiliations, communities and diasporas. Over the past decade, an interest in diversity studies has grown in tandem with what many believe to be an unprecedented increase in human displacement and mobility, arising particularly from large-scale human conflict. This has been picked up as an interest in multilingualism in both applied linguistics and sociolinguistics (e.g. May 2013; Singleton et al. 2013).

A number of SMDC members are contributing to the volume.

Edited volumeA book edited by Russell Kaschula and Ekkhard Wolff entitled ‘Multilingual Education for Africa: Additional Language Teaching Concepts and Practices’ (title still to be finalised) has been accepted for publication by the University of South Africa Press.

JournalA third issue of ‘Multilingual Margins - a Journal of multilingualism from the periphery’ is scheduled to appear in May 2016

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Upcoming ConferencesEpistemologies of the South: Mapping new directions in Australian social sciences14 April 2016 Convened by Raewyn Connell and Fran CollyerUniversity of SydneyCalls to decolonize the social sciences have raised questions about the global and national politics of knowledge, the shifting structures of knowledge production, and the capacity of existing social theory to explain the world. At present, the place of Australian social science in the global postcolonial knowledge project is unclear. This workshop will bring together scholars developing postcolonial and Southern perspectives in the social and political sciences. The event will be an important moment in the development of Australian social science agendas that challenge Eurocentricism and carve out new directions for theory and research. Across the day, there will be focused discussion about current and future possibilities for research and collaboration.

Workshop: The Linguistic Landscapes of the Global South The Department of Linguistics at University of the Western Cape together with the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research will hold a workshop on 14-15 April, 2016 entitled ‘The Linguistic Landscapes of the Global South’. The organizers are Professor Felix Banda and Dr Amiena Peck and the workshop has been generously funded by the South African National Research Foundation.

Sociolinguistics Symposium 2115th - 18th June 2016Murica, Spain

The Sociolinguistics Symposia were begun in the 1970s by a group of sociolinguists who saw the need for a forum to discuss research findings and to debate theoretical and methodological issues concerning language in society. The symposium has since grown into a large, international conference, now attracting more than 600 participants regularly.In 2016, SS21 will be held at the University of Murcia, located in the touristic Region of Murcia on the south-eastern coast of Spain. The general theme of the 2016 conference will be Attitudes and Prestige, and contributions to any of the directions under the umbrella of the Language and Society paradigm are welcome.

LSSA/SAALA/SAALT Joint Annual Conference4-7 July 2016University of the Western Cape

The Department of Linguistics and the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research at the University of the Western Cape will be hosting the 2016 LSSA/SAALA/SAALT Conference The Conference theme is: Language and Linguistics in the Global South: Posing the challenge. Within the current context of demands for radical changes to academic content and access at our universities, it seems particularly pertinent to encourage delegates to respond in their abstract submissions to issues of decoloniality and southern theory in linguistic research and teaching.SAALA will host a special symposium on Southern Multilingualism at its annual meeting to be held at UWC in June 2016. Kathleen Heugh will be one of the invited plenary speakers.

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5th International Conference on Language and Education: Sustainable development through multilingual education19-21 October 2016Bangkok, Thailand

The 5th International Conference on Language and Education will take stock of recent developments in MLE policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region, with a special focus on multilingual education in early childhood and primary education. It will likewise look at innovative pedagogies in the training of MLE teachers. Finally, it will examine challenges and lesson learned from the EFA experience and give opportunities for forward-looking discussions on both the role of language in achieving the new SDGs and preserving a harmonious relationship between the global and local contexts

Summit: Multilingualism, Diversity and Decolonisation of South African UniversitiesThe Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research has been asked by the South African Human Sciences Research Council to organize a National Summit on the topic of ‘Multilingualism, Diversity and Decolonisation of South African Universities’.

Call for abstractsAILA 2017Members are advised to look out for a call for abstracts for an invited LPReN symposium at AILA 2017. Details will be posted to the Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities website when they become available

Summer schoolA summer school at the University of the Western Cape is planned for December 2016 within the INTPART consortium on Southern Multilingualisms. Participants from various southern and northern contexts are expected to participate.

Research exchangesKathleen Heugh spent five weeks at Rhodes University (19 August – 23 September) as a Distinguished Visiting Professor with the Institute for the Study of English in Africa and the Department of African Languages in the School of Languages. During this time she was invited to offer a number of plenary and keynote presentations at Rhodes University and the University of the Free State and at the International Association of Literacy and Reading Association of South Africa Conference in Cape Town. During her visit, she was involved in curriculum development and evaluation of a Master’s Degree in Language Education, Early Career Researcher mentoring, and school visits with classroom observation. She also gave a number of newspaper and radio interviews on language education policy and research in Africa. She also made use of the opportunity to continue to strengthen the collaboration among researchers and research centres concerned with the Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities Consortium.

Finex Ndhlovu spent six months at the University of South Africa as a Visiting Scholar at the Archie Mafeje Research Institute, College of Graduate Studies. During this time he worked on the manuscript of his most recent book titled Hegemony and Language Policies in Southern Africa:

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Identity, Integration, Development (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015, ISBN 978443877077). He gave a number of presentations that have Southern Multilingualisms and Diversities themes. They were:-‘Vernacular Discourse and Emergent Political Languages in Conversations on Nation-building and Social Cohesion’, a keynote paper at the Sixth Social Cohesion and Nation Building Roundtable that was organised by the Archie Mafeje Research Institute, University of South Africa on 12 August 2015 in Pretoria. The event was covered by the South African media and the summary of his keynote speech appeared in the Mail & Guardian Newspaper issue of 15 August 2015.-‘How Southern Theory can be a Panacea for Southern Africa’s Development Challenges’, at the biennial conference of the Society of Southern African Studies, Zambia, 7 - 10 August 2015. -‘The Language Nesting Model: Prospects for Heritage Language Transmission in Regional Australia’, a seminar paper at the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR), University of Western Cape on 9 September 2015.

AppointmentsMulticultural Education and Languages CommitteeAngela Scarino has been appointed by the South Australian Minister for Education and Child Development to Chair the new Multicultural Education and Languages Committee for a 3-year period. The purpose of the committee is to provide the Minister 'with key advice on languages and multicultural education in a contemporary context and shaping an agenda for an internationally focussed and recognised education system in South Australia'.

Teaching and learning- International collaboration The Language Issues in Multilingual Settings module is a course for students at Roehampton designed by Tope Omoniyi. The issues covered in the module are not only contemporary but also provide a platform for critical engagement and development among students. Multilingualism and multiculturalism are features of the contemporary world in which mobility in real and abstract terms define society. There is a clear departure from the old monolithic societies in which ethnicity, language and political space were clearly defined and exclusive, in other words largely homogeneous. The spring 2016 term was enriched by the engagement of scholars from several locations (Christina Higgins, Hawaii, Phyllis Chew, Singapore, Ana Deumert, UCT-South Africa, Nana Aba Amfo, UG-Ghana, Kathleen Heugh, Adelaide-Australia, Marta Dabrowska, Krakow-Poland) via one hourly Skype sessions who explored the issues around multilingualism in their contexts with Roehampton students.

Links Members are reminded to check the SMDC website regularly for updates. www.southernmultilingualisms.org

Southern perspectives is another useful website that promotes a south-south dialogue of ideas. It profiles individuals and organisations that explore a southern perspective on a broad range of disciplines, including creative arts, humanities, professions, social and physical sciences. http://www.southernperspectives.net/

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