WELCOME TO LOCALLING
LocalLing is an international and interdisciplinary research initiative that builds a global research network spanning Europe, Africa, Latin-America and Asia to promote the use, maintenance, teaching, and learning of local minority heritage languages (LHLs). The project connects expertise from linguistics, education, cultural studies, politics, and the social sciences and brings together 13 institutions – universities, a state archive, and an NGO
The project is structured around four main pillars:
use and maintenance of heritage languages,
teaching and learning of heritage languages,
methodological development, and research capacity building.
Through international staff exchanges, collaborative research, and joint publications, LocalLing will develop innovative approaches to understanding how heritage languages interact with official and global languages in multilingual societies.
By combining academic research with community-based perspectives, the project aims to strengthen heritage language education, support language revitalisation, and promote linguistic diversity as a key element of cultural heritage. The initiative also provides training and mobility opportunities for researchers and educators, fostering long-term collaboration and sustainable international partnerships in heritage language research.
Ultimately, LocalLing contributes to the protection of Europe’s and the world’s linguistic diversity by supporting equitable multilingual practices and ensuring that heritage languages remain a living part of cultural and social life.
Posts
Here you can find about what we are up and about
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Three LocalLing colleagues recently completed a secondment at the University of Thessaly in Volos, Greece: Prof. Gratien Atindogbé and Prof. Michael E. Apuge from the University of Buea, Cameroon, and Dr. Messan Tossa from the National Archives of Togo. During their stay, they took part in research meetings and collaborative working sessions with Dr. Achilleas…
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As part of LocalLing, Bénédicte Pivot from Université de Paul-Valéry Montpellier spent a month at Universidad de Caldas in Colombia, exploring language policy, identity and culture through critical and decolonial perspectives. Her secondment brought together teaching, research and community engagement. She exchanged knowledge with university staff and students on the transmission and revitalisation of indigenous,…
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On 16 September, our LocalLing fellow Dr Michael E. Apuge from the University of Buea, Cameroon, gave a guest lecture to English majors at Tallinn University. As part of the course Lexicology and Stylistics of the English Language, second-year students explored multilingualism, language policy and lexicon in Cameroon, gaining insights into the country’s rich linguistic…
