Lecture at John Mackintosh Hall, Gibraltar

On 20th April Cristina Suárez-Gómez and Elena Seoane gave an invited lecture at John Mackintosh Hall under the auspices of Gibraltar Cultural Services, Ministry of Education. We are grateful to Minister John Cortes, in the image, for his attendace, and to members of GFAMS, journalists, writers, teachers and individuals who care about their culture and heritage. Thanks for your entusiastic feedback and warm welcome. 

The title and summary of the talk folow here:

Language and identity ‘Speak, that I may see thee’

Each and every language in the world is different. Modern linguistics has shown that behind that apparently indomitable diversity of languages lie the same basic principles, the same  grammatical mechanisms, the same structural processes and the same communicative purposes.  Why then do we deem some languages more appropriate, beautiful and prestigious than others? This talk discusses linguistic prejudice, based on social and ideological power relations, and the need to understand that language is an essential part of our individual and collective identity, and as such it needs to be cherished, studied and preserved.