Linguistic Landscapes: from old road signs to e-travelogues“Linguistic landscapes” is a sociolinguist’s term for the study of public signs and writings you find along country roads, in urban…Sep 26, 2023Sep 26, 2023
The Challenge of Localizing Science-WritingThere is a constantly growing issue in the global science education and research community: the problem experienced by non-native speakers…Sep 5, 2023Sep 5, 2023
In Plain Language: a new ISO standard for a generative age?After many years of promoting “plain language” (PL), mainly in the English-speaking world, the organizations behind “official” PL…Aug 13, 2023Aug 13, 2023
Language value vs. language dataAs we constantly re-evaluate the way languages are used over time, especially on the internet in this generative-AI moment, we encounter…Aug 8, 2023Aug 8, 2023
Breaking the Word Lines: Bill Burroughs vs. AI textualityBack in the hip 1960s, the renegade US writer William Burroughs came out with some sharp commentary on language as a virus and writing as a…Apr 28, 2023Apr 28, 2023
In Search of the Language SingularityThere’s talk in the air about the Language Singularity (LS), no doubt prompted by recent big-tech advances with LLM-based generative AI…Mar 25, 2023Mar 25, 2023
Something, somewhere, bit by bit: the language numbers gameThe Oscar-winning “Everything, etc.” film title tries to cover the whole works. This little commentary aims lower. As we constantly map how…Mar 21, 2023Mar 21, 2023
Languaging the Future: A provisional check-list of obstaclesWe are currently bewitched by the belief that “natural” language — a grammatical flow of intentional meaningfulness — can be extracted via…Feb 10, 2023Feb 10, 2023
L-o-nguageI want to speculate about the future of language in all its aspects — the tech, the sociology, the politics, and the chat.Jun 17, 20221Jun 17, 20221
Rising voices and the eclipse of writingTwenty years ago, the French cognitive anthropologist Dan Sperber predicted in L’avenir de la lecture et de l’écriture” that we will…May 8, 2022May 8, 2022
