News

Today, our team member Elena Seoane was interviewed by Jonathan Scott on 'Gibraltar Today'. She talked about Gibraltar English, Llanito, language variation and World Englishes in general. The full interview is available online.

YourGibraltarTV has just published Charles Durante's review of our latest book, Gibraltarians and their Language. 22 Linguistic Biographies. Here follows a summary of such review:

"Anyone interested in our languages and in fostering our own culture should read this book. It is full of insightful aperçus into the nature of Llanito and the role it plays in our social interactions and in defining us as a people. We can only be grateful to all those who poured their thoughts and feelings into fascinating and informative articles. We must also thank the academic team for providing us with this wonderful opportunity to express our deepest preoccupations about our languages and culture."

Thank you, Charles! We feel honoured.

The launch of our latest book, Gibraltarians and Their Language, edited by ViEW members Elena Seoane, MG Sanchez, Lucía Loureiro-Porto and Cristina Suárez-Gómez, has made it to the Gibraltar Chronicle. The piece highlights the "personal and nuanced understanding of language use in Gibraltar".

The book, on sale on Unebook, includes the linguistic biographies of John Cortes, Charles Durante, Humbert Hernandez, Jackie Villa, Giordano Durante, John Manuel Enriles, Dale Buttigieg, Jonathan Pizarro, Rebecca Calderon, Jamie Trinidad, Gabriel Moreno, Julian Felice, Jonathan Pizarro, Jonathan Teuma, Davina Barbara, Michelle Rugeroni, M. G. Sanchez, and others.

It's been a pleasure and honour to have all of them involved!

Gibraltarians for a Multilingual Society has published a report on GIC2 (the Second Gibraltar International Conference, held at the University of Vigo) at YGTV. They emphasize how important it is to celebrate events that higlight Gibraltar's linguistic diversity and that feature international researchers and local writers. GFAMS aims to host a future edition in Gibraltar. We feel honoured to collaborate with all of you, and we thank you for your continued support!

We are honoured to learn that Your Gibraltar TV has published a report on the Second Gibraltar International Conference (GIC2), held at the University of Vigo on 8-9 July 2024, and organized by ViEW. The report highlights the quality of the papers presented and includes remarks made by Prof. Elena Seoane at the welcoming reception at Pazo Quiñones de León: "As academics, writers, teachers, and admirers of Gibraltarian culture, it is our duty to promote [Gibraltar's socio-cultural identity] and unveil its richness to a global audience." We hope GIC2 has served this purpose and that there will be more GIC events to come!

On 8-9 July 2024, the ViEW team successfully organized the 2nd Gibraltar International Conference (GIC2), a follow-up of GIC1 (Cambridge, 2023). The quality of the papers, the feedback from the audience and everybody’s level of enthusiasm have made this an unforgettable event. The DUVI (‘Diario da Universidade de Vigo’) published this report and the Vigo City Council offered a welcoming reception at Pazo Quiñones de León. Many thanks to all of them!

We thank the University of Vigo Social Council for their support in the organization of the 2nd Gibraltar International Conference (GIC2), which brought together ca. 40 researchers from eight European countries. Details can be found here.

The book Gibraltarians and their languages - 22 linguistic biographies has just been released. Edited by members of this group Elena Seoane, MG Sanchez, Lucía Loureiro-Porto and Cristina Suárez-Gómez, the volume provides for the first time a platform to Gibraltarians to share their thoughts on Llanito, Spanish and English, the languages that shape their identity. Available ay unebook.es and Amazon. A summary of the book follows here:

Over the past four decades, scholars worldwide have delved into Gibraltar’s linguistic landscape. Gibraltarians have featured in their articles and studies, but they have done so almost as specimens under the microscope, rarely if ever being allowed to voice their thoughts about what language means to them. Gibraltarians and their Language: 22 Linguistic Biographies provides Gibraltarians with a platform to share their thoughts on Llanito, Spanish, and English—the three languages that shape their daily lives. In this way, the book addresses the historical imbalance that has relegated Gibraltarians to a peripheral position in the narrative of Llanito, their own language.

Although it is a unique form of linguistic communication in its own right, Llanito is losing its appeal among the Gibraltarian youth, who prefer to speak English or avoid using Llanito altogether. Why do so many young people in Gibraltar see Llanito as something alien to them? Why do parents lament this gradual erosion of Llanito, but nonetheless continue to speak to their children in English? And why – despite the widespread concern about Llanito’s decline – does the Establishment not take more proactive measures to preserve and promote Llanito? The biographies in this volume provide answers to these challenging questions and throw up ideas that might halt and reverse this linguistic decline. Also, by challenging the negative attitudes and stereotypes associated with Llanito, the book proves that Llanito is a valuable and distinctive resource that deserves respect and recognition.

On 14 April, our colleague Lucía Loureiro Porto passed the accreditation exam qualifying her for promotion to a position as Full Professor of English Language and Linguistics.

Congratulations, Lucía!