The Linguist

My 13-year-old was lacklustre about choosing his GCSE options until he realised he could do German from scratch, alongside Spanish. I can't imagine him studying for two years for the exam only to be told that he won't be able to qualify – or, for that matter, going to university and realising, as he approaches one of the most significant years of his life, that he will have to spend his third year at home. Yet this has been the impact of the pandemic on many young linguists. To counter that, teachers and leaders in education are making huge efforts to mitigate the impact, and our focus section in this issue considers this important work (p.12-17). Many of the teens who are studying for exams in 'other' languages have been raised in bilingual homes. Yet children continue to miss out on the benefits of growing up with two or more languages due to parental fears that this could affect their communicative development – perhaps because they worry that learning three languages will be confusing (p.30) or because they have been encouraged to stick to the dominant language with their autistic child (p.18). We look at emerging research that should provide reassurance. With Covid-19 continuing to dominate our lives, the climate crisis can feel far removed. Michael Cronin brings the issue to our desktops by considering the impact of the work we do on the natural environment (p.26). As with the health crisis, it is only through global governmental policies that real change can happen, but we all have our part to play, and Michael recommends simple changes that could make a big difference. Miranda Moore 4 The Linguist Vol/60 No/2 2021 thelinguist.uberflip.com NEWS & EDITORIAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S NOTES CIOL will not be alone in facing very significant practical, operational and delivery challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, despite it all, the resilience the whole CIOL team has shown and the progress we have made with online delivery are among the silver linings. Crucially for CIOL Qualifications, in November we successfully delivered both the oral and the written elements of the Diploma in Police Interpreting and Diploma in Public Service Interpreting professional qualifications wholly online using our digital platforms. In January – in multiple time-zones over 48 hours – we delivered our first large international online Diploma in Translation session too. On the Membership side, CIOL members are renewing and signing up to our CPD webinars and online events in record numbers. Our divisions and societies continue to play a key role in driving remote networking and are engaging with a larger, more global CIOL community all the time. Hosting our own CIOL Conference online is another exciting development. We have also been looking at what we say about ourselves and our purpose in the Royal Charter, notably the first three 'objects and purposes' which frame the 'About CIOL' section of the CIOL website; these are: • To contribute towards international goodwill by encouraging the effective study and practice of languages. • To promote the exchange and dissemination of information on matters of interest to linguists and persons interested in the study of languages. • To provide means of recognising persons who are qualified as linguists in the professions, the arts, the sciences, industry, trade and commerce. I think these are inspiring and give us a genuinely 'noble' purpose. Judith Gabler, as Chair of Council, has written an excellent summary and outlook (also available at ciol.org.uk/about), which I p recis here: "Our vision and objectives remain founded on the belief that knowledge of languages and intercultural competence benefit society economically, culturally and politically. Our five core values remain at the heart of everything: international understanding, professionalism and integrity, openness and transparency, responsibility and responsiveness, innovation and continuous improvement. A key learning from the past 12 months has been the additional strength of purpose we can achieve by working more closely together as one organisation with one vision, one mission and one constituency." As we look forward to the prospect of vaccines and some return to normality (albeit no doubt a 'new normal'), it feels more important than ever that we remind ourselves of what we aspire to and what others might expect of us. John Worne EDITOR'S LETTER Share your views: linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk

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