I have funding for a 2027 PhD position at Hong Kong Polytechnic University to examine HK newspaper discourse. You will have experience of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis and be able to work with written Chinese. The closing date for applications is August 31. Contact me if interested.

The good people ABS have compiled the options for getting help with #Census2026au in language. Check it out and tell your friends. www.abs.gov.au/media-centre...

Abstracts due in two weeks - we look forward to seeing you at the conference in November 2026!

ALANZ: Applied Linguistics in Aotearoa New Zealand@alanzofficial.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Abstracts for the 50th Anniversary Applied Linguistics conference now due 10 June, 2026. alaa.net.au/Events/Confe... Note: ALANZ will be offering travel grants again this year for a limited number of those who have had their abstracts accepted - details will be circulated soon.

@lang-assess-policy.bsky.social 'Weeks after a Tibetan-speaking five-year-old started preschool, she had “completely stopped speaking Tibetan” ... Nine months later, although the child could still understand Tibetan, she only answered in Mandarin...' www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

‘They have built a machine that pulls out their mother tongue’: why Tibet’s children think they are Chinese

Parents say the insistence on Mandarin in schools is eroding the country’s language and culture right from early childhood

theguardian.com

Can't help but feel slightly annoyed every time I waste 3 seconds of my human life verifying my non-malicious humanity.

"The IELTS partners concluded that the Home Office’s approach to contracting a new English test for immigration does not sufficiently align with our standards on security, quality and integrity in high-stakes assessment." ielts.org/news-and-ins...

News and Insights - IELTS withdraws from UK Home Office English…

The IELTS partnership has withdrawn from the UK Home Office English Language Test tender, citing concerns fully remote testing cannot meet standards.

ielts.org

Because of the way generative AI works, there is no real way to prevent false information being presented as truth – or to correct it permanently.

Using your AI chatbot as a search engine? Be careful what you believe

theconversation.com

China's new 'ethnic unity' law requires minorities to be taught Mandarin before kindergarten until the end of high school. www.bbc.com/news/article...

China approves 'ethnic unity' law requiring minorities to learn Mandarin

The law states that children should be taught Mandarin before kindergarten, until the end of high school.

bbc.com

This is an interesting discussion by Hilary Smith about the proposal to legislate "official language" status to English in New Zealand. She draws attention to debates about English language test scores, calling for a "proper national language policy". theconversation.com/the-debate-n...

The debate NZ should really be having about language policy

The recently introduced English Language Bill will change little, but highlights a deeper issue. NZ still lacks a coherent framework for language policy.

theconversation.com

The recently introduced English Language Bill will change little, but highlights a deeper issue. NZ still lacks a coherent framework for language policy.

The debate NZ should really be having about language policy

theconversation.com

New Zealand conservatives copying the US move to designate English as an "official language". Totally unnecessary, but suggesting that that status of English might be vulnerable is an effective populist move that rouses fear and linguicism. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...

Why there's a push to make English an official language in New Zealand

New Zealand might be full of English speakers, but some politicians are pushing for laws to protect the language.

abc.net.au

ILTA Guidelines for Practice: "basic information about best practice in language assessment to promote fair, valid and transparent uses of language assessments". Includes standardized tests and learning-oriented assessment practices. www.iltaonline.com/page/ILTAGui...

Concordance studies link scores on one test to scores on another. They provide an empirical basis for score equivalence tables, but they do have limitations🚧, e.g., similarity of test constructs, population used, number of test takers at each score level, length of scales. Image: Mediamodifier

The timeline for the projects discussed in this book roughly maps onto my time with @corpussocialsci.bsky.social and will stand proudly on my bookshelf. Was fun to write, too. www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...

Elena Semino@elenasemino.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Our book 'Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare' is out open access! We wrote it to share what we learnt in many years of research in @corpussocialsci.bsky.social, on topics such as communication about anxiety, dementia, cancer, obesity and vaccines. cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/appl...

Colourless green vegetative electron microscopy ideas sleep furiously.

The Conversation AUNZ@aunz.theconversation.com · last yr.

Once errors creep into the AI knowledge base, they can be very hard to get out.

Once errors creep into the AI knowledge base, they can be very hard to get out.

A weird phrase is plaguing scientific papers – and we traced it back to a glitch in AI training data

theconversation.com

Submit your proposal for ALTAANZ 2025: Balancing innovation and tradition in language assessment Online Conference, 11-13 November 2025 Submission deadline: 30 April Submission portal: www.altaanz.org/call-for-pro...

Call for Proposals 2025

Call for Proposals ​ Theme: Balancing innovation and tradition in language assessment    Proposals are encouraged from practitioners and researchers (both established and emerging) who are...

altaanz.org

Funded PhD opportunity at Lancaster: 'The sharing of personal lived experience by peer support workers working in mental health services in NHS, social care and third sector organisations.' Open to applicants with a background in Linguistics as well as Psychology www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

The sharing of personal lived experience by peer support workers working in mental health services in NHS, social care and third sector organisations. at Lancaster University on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - The sharing of personal lived experience by peer support workers working in mental health services in NHS, social care and third sector organisations. at Lancaster University, listed on ...

findaphd.com

A great post-doc opportunity in GP education and healthcare communication: jobs.unimelb.edu.au/caw/en/job/9...

Details : Research Fellow Language and Communication for Trainee GP Doctors : The University of Melbourne

Careers at The University of Melbourne

jobs.unimelb.edu.au

A-Irony: AI developer gets upset when other AI developer steals their IP

#LanguageTesting’s Jan 2025 issue is now out. Read what has been happening behind the schemes in my Editorial w/Xun Yan. A highlight of the issue: a tribute to Tim McNamara & reflections on his work by John Pill, @kelliefrost.bsky.social & @susymacqueen.bsky.social journals.sagepub.com/toc/ltja/42/1

Language Testing - Volume 42, Number 1, Jan 01, 2025

Table of contents for Language Testing, 42, 1, Jan 01, 2025

journals.sagepub.com