EngLangBlog
@englangblog.bsky.social
English Language & Linguistics for A-Level students and teachers. One of the Lexis podcast team https://tinyurl.com/yckh3vy5 EngLangBlog: https://englishlangsfx.blogspot.com/ English & Media Centre: https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/ He/him
This is a disturbing article for all sorts of reasons, but the language dimensions to it raise questions about accent attitudes that we can address in the A-level. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
NHS radiographers report rise in overt racist abuse by patients
Survey reveals medics were called ‘monkeys’ and ‘dirty foreigners’, and patients refused to be seen by black or Asian staff
theguardian.com
I've got a new book coming out soon - Manchester Voices: Accents, Dialects and Identities - published by @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org. And right now @waterstones.bsky.social are offering 25% off if you pre-order it! Use the code SUMMER26 today or tomorrow. #WPreorder #ManchesterVoices
‘the fall in teenagers opting for literature is linked to an unimaginative GCSE (surely something that a new prime minister with an English degree could fix)’ Easy win here, Mr Burnham! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on humanities cuts in universities: academic departments are more than cost centres | Editorial
Editorial: Literature, the arts and social sciences must not be sacrificed as higher education funding is squeezed
theguardian.com
That well known 'British accent'. bsky.app/profile/paul...
Paul Cornish@paulgcornish.bsky.social · 2w agoInteresting bit in this Variety article about The Odyssey where the American writer takes issue with the characters' American accents, dismisses Greek accents as "a bit much", & argues that British (I assume he really means English) accents would have been fine. variety.com/2026/film/ne...
There's more here, if you want to see what was debated and discussed in the UK parliament: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-bri...
Regional accents and social mobility
A Westminster Hall debate on Regional accents and social mobility will take place on Wednesday 15 July 2026 . The debate will be led by Jo Platt MP.
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
EngLangBlog@englangblog.bsky.social · 3w ago
ChatGPT is used by people all over the world. But new research shows it still tends to see the world through a Western lens. theconversation.com/large-langua...
Headlines like this and reports of 'police-involved shootings' are well worth analysing as an introduction to critical discourse studies.
Marisa Kabas@marisakabas.bsky.social · 3w agoICE killed another person.
There's an idea for a good language investigation in this report. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Most UK media reports on June heatwave failed to mention climate crisis
Exclusive: Analysis of nearly 2,500 articles finds almost three-quarters made no reference to global heating
theguardian.com
I enjoyed speaking with Zach Hefland at the New Yorker about the collective plural! www.newyorker.com/sports/world...
British Grammar Invades the American World Cup
The World Cup has brought Britishisms to U.S. soccer coverage. “Linguistically, as on the pitch, the Americans can often be found ball-chasing,” Zach Helfand writes.
newyorker.com
How did I know that Humphrys would be wanging on about language (amongst other things) in this tedious farago of peeving. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The hill I will die on: Radio 4’s Today programme has become really annoying since I left | John Humphrys
With its gushing interviewees and weird (y’know) ways of talking, the BBC news flagship show I used to present now has me harrumphing at the radio, says former presenter John Humphrys
theguardian.com
At #LitDrive with other members of our crack @natelanguage.bsky.social team presenting on language study in secondary English.
Plenty of productive (and silly) morphology here: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
From hobbitmaxxing to Catholicmaxxing: how well do you know your maxxes?
Maxxing trends – going all in on a particular trait, habit, quality or pastime – tend to burn brightly and briefly. But how many of the following are real?
theguardian.com
Today the Nottingham Stylistics Toolkit is in that Manchester at the @natecommunity.bsky.social conference. Andy Burnham has an English degree, just sayin
Going to be at the @natecommunity.bsky.social conference in Manchester today presenting with Caroline Godfrey & Chris Walker on why it's important to have language study at the heart of the new English Language GCSE and what that could look like. Say hi if you're there!
Editorial notes on the more than 900 new words, phrases, and senses added in OED's June update, including not only "enshittification" but also "Lovecraftian", "fearmongering", and "au contraire", can be found here: www.oed.com/discover/new...
Oxford English Dictionary
The OED is the definitive record of the English language, featuring 600,000 words, 3 million quotations, and over 1,000 years of English.
oed.com
Interesting reading. www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
How AI is changing language
As allegations of LLM use rock the literary and media worlds, linguists explain what really distinguishes human and machine writing, while novelists including Jennifer Egan and Jeanette Winterson refl...
theguardian.com
Feels like the kind of A-Level language investigation proposal that might give you pause for thought... followed by a firm 'NO!'. www.newsweek.com/music-has-go...
Music has got nastier since the 60s, study says
Researchers analyzed more than 380,000 English-language songs released between 1960 and 2023.
newsweek.com
Must be ok if @lynneguist.bsky.social is quoted. www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...
'Separate in name and power': How America reinvented English
America's linguistic independence has transformed the English language with a wealth of new words and phrases – shaping its own cultural identity in the process.
bbc.co.uk
Helped write this about language in the secondary curriculum with Caroline Godfrey of the @natelanguage.bsky.social working group. www.teachingtimes.com/placing-engl...
Placing English Language Centre Stage - TeachingTimes
The English curriculum's vanishing focus on language and linguistics is leaving a gap in your students' knowledge – but Caroline Godfrey and Dan Clayton know how to bridge it.
teachingtimes.com
We’ll be there with the Nottingham Stylistics Toolkit
National Association for the Teaching of English@natecommunity.bsky.social · last mo.One week to go until the sold-out NATE Conference. We're looking forward to welcoming English teachers from across the country for a day of inspiring talks, workshops, conversations and the NATE Awards. Thank you to everyone who'll be joining us — we can't wait to see you. #NATE
This is the sort of research that makes A-level Eng Lang teachers happeh/happy. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
‘Happy vowel’ is a key indicator of social class in Manchester accents, study finds
Final vowel in words such as happy, baby and chilly varies clearly by social class across the city
theguardian.com
Just so long as Marschball doesn't get added. Elbows up, cashspiel, kokum: new Canadian terms enter the Oxford English Dictionary | CBC News share.google/b8EpLcZnUj3Q...
Elbows up, other Canadian terms added to Oxford English Dictionary | CBC News
The Oxford English Dictionary is adding seven new terms from Canadian English, helping the rest of the world see Canadians more like we see ourselves.
share.google
EMC Associate Teacher Aaishah Rauf inspires her students by bringing Stormzy + his lyrics into her English classroom. You can watch her students being blinded by her grace in this episode of BBC Morning Live. Starts about 55:00 www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
This could be of interest for A-Level Eng Lang teachers looking for interesting and varied texts to use for language change, meanings & representations and language investigation ideas. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/19th-centu...
19th-century non-fiction by writers of colour: livestreamed teacher CPD
A special event held by the British Library in collaboration with Lit in Colour, with insights & new resources to support English at KS3–5.
eventbrite.co.uk
If you missed it yesterday, here is the new episode. Lots of new MLE research and more. bsky.app/profile/lexi...
Lexis Podcast@lexispodcast.bsky.social · last mo.It's the new episode and it features our annual preview of the @yorktoolkit.bsky.social day in July at University of York. Devyani Sharma and Sam Hellmuth tell us more about what's happening, including some great new work on MLE and an old case study revisited. open.spotify.com/episode/5Flf...
