The Certification Officer has issued his decision in Blake & McGaughey v UCU. My initial response is here: vickyblakeucu.uk/2026/03/31/t... I urge members to read the full ruling rather than relying on the summary emailed to all members by HQ today. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69cbcb...

The Certification Officer’s ruling: Blake & McGaughey v UCU

The Certification Officer has now issued his decision in Blake and McGaughey v UCU. One complaint was upheld in part as a technical breach. The rest were dismissed, and no rerun or further remedy w…

vickyblakeucu.uk

Workers don’t vote for 5 consecutive bouts of industrial action with a 75% turnout unless something is seriously wrong. Solidarity with all in Unite UCU ✊🔥

Unite UCU@uniteucu.bsky.social · 7mo ago

🚨 FIFTH consecutive vote for industrial action 🚨 🔥 Two week ballot window 🔥 75% turnout 🔥 73% YES to strike action 🔥 81% YES to ASOS Our members will not tolerate victimisation and won’t be intimidated. UCU staff are not the enemy. It’s beyond time for the GS to talk to us. #HandsOffMarie

Two thirds of UCU staff walk out. I worked for UCU two decades ago. In fact I ran for General Secretary and just lost. There is no way two thirds of the staff would walk out if the story of victimisation isnt true. My sources say its been coming for years. feweek.co.uk/ucu-staff-to...

UCU staff walk out over alleged ‘trade union victimisation’

Leaders of the union call the claims ‘categorically untrue’

feweek.co.uk

📣 Hands off Marie! Tell @drjogrady.bsky.social and @ucu.org.uk to stop victimising Unite UCU's safety rep. ✍️ jgrady@ucu.org.uk #HandsOffMarie #UniteTheUnion @unitetheunion.bsky.social

Solidarity with all @uniteucu.bsky.social workers standing up against trade union victimisation. This is appalling and has crossed a very serious line. @ucu.org.uk must put a stop to this immediately. It brings the whole TU movement into disrepute and makes our jobs as reps a whole lot harder.

Unite UCU@uniteucu.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Regrettably our members will be commencing strike action from 9 February over the victimisation of our Health and Safety Officer. uniteucu.wordpress.com/2026/01/28/u...

New publication on @ipragmatics.bsky.social, out now and available open access: My work on the digital language ideologies of generative AI, in particular the "AI is here to stay" construction and its connections to presentism, techno-optimism, and tech bro culture

One for the linguists.

fesshole 🧻@fesshole.bsky.social · 10mo ago

My dad was a working class lad done good, he spoke in a middle-class accent but when telling us off as kids he'd turn Cockney, like his dad. To my horror I've realised I now do the exact same. Normally I sound like Tom Hollander but when telling my kids off I go full Winstone

the DfE have responded enthusiastically to the curriculum and assessment review, stating that oracy is an 'important vehicle for social justice'. so more reproduction of this flawed theory of change which isolates 'better oracy' as a solution to injustice. doi.org/10.1080/0305...

After squandering millions on Castle Meadows purchase, University of Nottingham is now axing modern languages & music It also plans to cut its nursing programme Leaders of the bungleocracy continue to draw handsome salaries www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham

In a statement the institution also says it is

bbc.co.uk

I’m quoted in Laura Brown’s excellent article on youth language. I can’t post a link but here’s a screenshot…

Hmm... beyond the headline, this is a bit more complex than kids sounding more American. archive.ph/2025.11.02-2...

Language not only describes the world. It transforms us alongside the world We demand and we demand

the spelling bee is... 'a public ritual of linguistic discipline. It doesn't just reward memorisation; it performs a particular vision of language as precise, codified, and rule-bound, and positions that vision as natural, inevitable, and good' compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

On language structures under genocidal violence There are no new words but new combinations

Just in case anyone is listening, please note that UK universities cannot operate successfully on the basis of continuous reduction of academic staff and academic staff pay. No amount of staff wellness sessions will change this.

We've been away for a while but episode 75 is finally here. We talk about accent discrimination, attitudes to teachers' accents and about what accent prejudice tells us about wider social attitudes. #Linguistics open.spotify.com/episode/5wnC...

In my latest blog post I delve into the implication of Trump's Compact on the field of educational linguistics--and it is not pretty. Why Trump’s Compact Poses an Existential Threat to Educational Linguistics educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/10/27/w...

Why Trump’s Compact Poses an Existential Threat to Educational Linguistics

Donald Trump’s so-called Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is his latest attempt to impose a partisan political vision on the nation’s universities. Framed as a push for rigor and…

educationallinguist.wordpress.com

Join us for our next LIP talk We are delighted to welcome Teun A. van Dijk (Centre of Discourse Studies, Barcelona) for the third talk of the term. Title: Discourse and Ideologies of the Radical Right Date & Time: Tuesday 28th October, 1-2pm (UK time) Location: MS Teams Online link: lnkd.in/eyvGGc7G

Another example of cultural and linguistic imperialism? BBC News - Welsh-speaking inmates 'told to speak English' in prison www.bbc.com/news/article...

HMP Berwyn: Welsh-speaking prisoners 'told to speak English' in prison

Ex-inmates say Welsh speakers were made to use English at Wales' biggest prison.

bbc.com

A sensible point in Guardian letters about the long tradition of using daft catchphrases like 6-7...

Interested in literacy in multilingual contexts? Consider joining this new international research network under the auspices of the World Education Research Association www.languageonthemove.com/literacy-in-...

Literacy in Multilingual Contexts

The World Education Research Association (WERA) recently announced the launch of seven new International Research Networks (IRNs) and we are pleased to share that “Literacy in Multilingual Co…

languageonthemove.com

Italian blasphemy and German ingenuity: how swear words differ around the world www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Italian blasphemy and German ingenuity: how swear words differ around the world

Once dismissed as a sign of low intelligence, researchers now argue the ‘power’ of taboo words has been overlooked

theguardian.com

🧵 The last month or so in UCU world has left me feeling very concerned. I’m not a member or fan of any faction, but the recent NEC elections have given the hard-right of the union a majority on our highest council. Meanwhile, our senior leadership appear to be half heartedly launching our (cont…)

The best piece I have read on the topic of AI use and writing pedagogy. Just brilliant!

Ross Young@writingrocks.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Our viewpoint: The use of AI in the teaching of writing writing4pleasure.com/2025/10/15/o...

Really interesting discussion of the Teacher Tapp findings - How teachers feel about their accent.

EngLangBlog@englangblog.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Have done this with @heymrshallahan.bsky.social and @teachertapp.bsky.social - there will be some more on the way soon in various forms - articles and podcasts - about what we've discovered from this survey. teachertapp.com/articles/how...

Today in the US is #IndigenousPeoplesDay. Held in opposition to the federal govt holiday Columbus Day and celebrates Native American culture and resistance to colonialism as opposed to the genocide, murder, slavery and torture brought by Columbus shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/...

This looks really brilliant 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿

Julia Snell@snelljulia.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Please join me on 12th November at my @universityofleeds.bsky.social professorial inaugural lecture on ‘Language Diversity and Social (In)justice’. More info here, including a link at the bottom to book a ticket (which is free but we need to track numbers): ahc.leeds.ac.uk/english/even...

#OtD 13 Oct 1909 radical educator, Francesc Ferrer, was executed in Barcelona. Sentenced to death by a military tribunal despite no solid evidence being brought against him, his murder caused protests across the world. This is a collection of his work: shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/ana...