About

Linguists of all kinds (including applied, experimental, language teachers, theoretical) have made progress in understanding and raising awareness about variation as an inherent part of human language. Beliefs about how languages work in humans’ brains and societies (linguistic ideology) is often influenced by nonlinguistic factors and is often revealed indirectly, such as in small talk, classroom discussions, K-16 educational settings, places of work, and public policy. Linguistic awareness counters incomplete understanding and facilitates the acceptance of speakers of all varieties while providing a springboard to ongoing work to equitably distribute resources, particularly linguistic resources. Consequently, linguists and educators need to convert awareness into action.

Language Ideologies and Linguistic Discrimination (LILD) is a group of linguists who have been meeting for shared learning and discussion of possible new forms of outreach related to language ideologies and linguistic discrimination.

LILD’s mission is to raise awareness and to take action on combating harmful linguistic ideologies and discrimination in all its forms. We understand this as an ongoing, long-term process and we begin our work locally  — on our campuses with students, staff and faculty —  fully aware of the broader societal context of this work and how it is embedded in the range of social challenges we face. LILD acknowledges our shared knowledge about language, recognizes the implications of this knowledge, and presents our priorities for addressing the issues around linguistic discrimination and combating harmful ideologies.