In bilingual environments, "minimally speaking autistic children flexibly adapt to their caregiver's language" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... "findings highlight that there is no compelling reason to advise against dual language exposure in minimally speaking autistic children"

Language Adaptation of Young Bilingual Autistic Children During Semi‐Naturalistic Interactions With Their Caregivers

Although bilingualism is now recognized as having no adverse effects on language outcomes in autistic children, little is known about how it manifests in early development, particularly in minimally ....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

It's time for my annual rant to ECRs to highlight that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BASE YOURSELF AT AN 'ELITE' UNIVERSITY TO SUCCESSFULLY GET A POSTDOC, be it BA or Leverhulme. I speak as someone who was awarded a Leverhulme initially at Edge Hill, and transferred it half way through to Staffordshire for...

Young people are keen to learn languages. Maybe not all of them academic study of the language. Just learning a language.

Prof Becky Muradás-Taylor@drbeckymt.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So brilliant to meet all the young people at Leeds University Open Day today who want to study a language as part of their degree. A reminder that people love studying and talking about languages! And the only language I was asked about that we don't currently offer is Romanian.

So brilliant to meet all the young people at Leeds University Open Day today who want to study a language as part of their degree. A reminder that people love studying and talking about languages! And the only language I was asked about that we don't currently offer is Romanian.

Changed my mind about my title. Now: "A cold spot analysis of German and other languages in the East Midlands and rest of England". Wanted it to reflect the fact that the content is tailored to the event.

Prof Becky Muradás-Taylor@drbeckymt.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I'll present at Nottingham Uni on Language degrees in England: A cold spot analysis by language Part of a roundtable on Language education in the East Midlands and beyond: Cold spots, challenges, opportunities and School-HE collaboration An important event given lang degree closures in the region

I'll present at Nottingham Uni on Language degrees in England: A cold spot analysis by language Part of a roundtable on Language education in the East Midlands and beyond: Cold spots, challenges, opportunities and School-HE collaboration An important event given lang degree closures in the region

At 10:40 am today I am giving an online talk on "Sustainable design and inclusive assessment in institutional-wide languages provision" as part of a forum on "Innovations in Inclusive Language Pedagogies". Looks like you can still register if interested: research.kent.ac.uk/languages-te...

Forum 8 - April 2026: Innovations in Inclusive Language Pedagogies - Modern Languages Research and Teaching Forum - Research at Kent

research.kent.ac.uk

Can clever people on the internet tell me why Spanish "armonía/melodía" and English "harmony/melody" have the stress so far apart? I want to say "arMOnia/meLOdia", I guess because of English "harMOnious/meLOdious". I don't mean "because there's an accent on the í" I mean in terms of etymology.

I enjoyed reading this thread. Unfortunately I'll probably forget the mnemonic "rhythm helps you to hear music" but I hope I never forget "dia-run run help exploding ass" 😂😂😂

Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 4mo ago

What word is your spelling nemesis? This is a safe space.

At #BAAP2026 with Mian Feng presenting her PhD project on "L2 listeners' perception of vowels in an unfamiliar accent: Lexical decision and transcription of West Yorkshire English". Co-authored with Gisela Tomé Lourido and pictured with Leendert Plug (co-supervisors).

This is super interesting

Dr Danny Bate@dannybate.com · 4mo ago

If you'd welcome a windfall of historical language and etymology, all connected to the humble English word 'apple', then boy, do I have a new article for you. The star word leads us into the murkiest prehistory of English and the debate over an absent consonant. dannybate.com/2026/04/08/t...

Few lower tariff unis offer languages, excluding people from under-represented backgrounds who can't travel far to uni. The Uni of Essex is a shining star, offering French, German, Italian, Portuguese & Spanish. This is under threat! Read and sign 👇 docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Save Languages and Linguistics at Essex

To add your signature to this letter, please complete this form: Save Languages and Linguistics at Essex (Google Form) Dear Prof Bowen and members of the Executive Committee, We, the undersigned, ...

docs.google.com

We have a few places left at our free Primary Languages Conference on 26 March - do join us to find out answers to some important questions! #MFLBluesky Sign up at shorturl.at/HBQ6b

Nice thread. Didn't go where I was expecting 😊

Heddwen Newton - English & Dutch@heddwen.bsky.social · 5mo ago

In English, the word “wife” means “woman you are married to”. In Dutch, the word “wijf” (more or less the same pronunciation, despite the weird spelling) means something like “hag”, “broad” or an even less pleasant word for a woman that I am not going to type here. Let me tell you how come.

This is excellent. Love the distinction about different types of stuck - "productive discomfort" and "unproductive stuckness" - and the different approaches they need.

Pat Thomson@patthomson.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Academic writers often feel uncomfortable but that’s often OK Here’s why patthomson.net/2026/03/08/g...

This made me laugh 😂

Ash@queerash.bsky.social · 6mo ago

okay, here it is, the five key takeaways from this by-election: 1. Denton Kebab House 2. The Crispy Cod, Denton 3. Reddish Tandoori, Gorton 4. Cottage Chippy, Gorton 5. The Continental Takeaway, Denton

This is brilliant. Entertaining and educational.

Colin Gorrie@colingorrie.bsky.social · 6mo ago

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle. It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

So proud of my two brilliant colleagues 🧡

Dr Penny Goodman@pjgoodman.bsky.social · 6mo ago

A great pleasure this evening to attend the inaugural lecture of two @lcsleeds.bsky.social colleagues, Clare Wright and Rasha Soliman. But I didn't expect to learn that one of Clare's earliest jobs had been as a copy typist for the "right on" Paddy Ashdown MP. I'll have to grill her about that! 😁

Good thread about French.

Lane Greene@lanegreene.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I'm the last person to discourage anyone from Spanish, my first love. But French is a multi-tool. People focus on France and forget that it's a major language in Europe, North America, MENA West Africa. No other language but English is so global. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ongoing post available in interpreting and translation studies! They're a really lovely team in a great school!

School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds@lcsleeds.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Job Alert‼️We are hiring in interpreting and translation @ctilsleeds.bsky.social @lcsleeds.bsky.social Looking for an experienced colleague at grade 8. Deadline is 25th February. Join our fabulous team! jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

This whole thread is brilliant - full of useful tips.

Susan Madigan@susanmadigan3.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I've always worked with neurodivergent peeps, but now that I am working in an ADHD specific setting, I wanted to reiterate some basic info helpful for ADHDers/AuDHERs! ADHD services are limited in Ireland - but if you're on a waiting list, or just wondering "Could I be...? Give one of these a go 1/?

And what about their writing skills? (I know this is a typo but it still made me laugh).

When autistics feel empathy, it generally doesn’t “look” like neurotypical empathy. Don’t expect autistics to “look” empathic. "Presuming autistics are competent to understand and feel deeply offers neurodignity, a great gift." www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-... #autism #neurodiversity

What’s the Truth About Empathy and Autism?

Recent research shows autistics may empathize a bit differently than neurotypicals, but they still feel all the feels. A psychiatric nurse practitioner and mother reveals how.

psychologytoday.com

Have you seen this @andrewgrantham.co.uk? (And anyone else.) It made me laugh so hard I cried.

Jason Sinclair@jsinclair.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.

Getting ready to present this poster at AULC 😊

Interesting question and super interesting replies.

Dr Danny Bate@dannybate.com · 8mo ago

Speakers of languages that have formal/informal ways of addressing others (e.g. French vous/tu) and a culture of progressing through familiarity from the former to the latter: Does it ever go backwards? Could someone revert to formal 'you' as a signal of an ended friendship?

Sunny and icy walk has made this November feel much more manageable 😊

Great piece - understands policy context and asks the right questions about what that means for the university and the city.

Wonkhe@wonkhe.bsky.social · 9mo ago

NEW on Wonkhe: Plymouth is once again entering an era of defence-driven growth. Richard Davies asks how the university fits in buff.ly/dDLRkUZ

These look fab 😊

Sofia Martinho@sofiamartinho.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Free language tasters for beginners this week! Look at the #LeedsCityofLanguages programme! We're spoilt for choice!

We all know the difficulty the HE sector is in. But let’s work together to come up with solutions. The nuclear option damages our students & the reputation of our institutions. @ucflangs.bsky.social & @artsandhums.bsky.social are supporting colleagues www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses

Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.

bbc.co.uk