AUTUMN 2025 The Linguist 3
CONTENTS
News & editorial
LANGUAGES FUTURE . . . . . 5
Two new UK education reports spell change
IN THE MEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The stories in the British press this summer
INSIDE PARLIAMENT . . . . . . 7
The latest from the cross-party group
EQUALITY AT SEA . . . . . . . . 8
Norway proposes gender-neutral language
Features
TRANSVERSING TIME . . . . . . 9
How can the translators of medieval texts
get to grips with the source culture? An
immersive approach to Chaucerian English
22
The Linguist
Editorial Board
Chair K Trotman BA MA DipTrans MCIL
D Butler BA (Hons) (ex officio)
B Hart BA MA PGDip MCIL CL
A Lawson
K McLaughlin BA PhD FCIL CL FHEA
M Moore BA (ex officio)
L Rana BSBio MSC MD MCIL
BH Wang PhD FCIL
J Worne (ex officio)
A Zafar BA MA MCIL
The Linguist is the official
journal of the Chartered
Institute of Linguists
MAKING IT OFFICIAL . . . . . 12
Why has English just been made the official
language of the US and what will change?
WIKIPEDIA: EDITING
THE NARRATIVE . . . . . . . . . 14
How linguistic power dynamics affect the
platform's different language versions
BEYOND THE
CALL OF DUTY . . . . . . . . . . 16
The pressures on legal interpreters to work
unprofessionally, and why it's time to resist
TELLING TALES . . . . . . . . . . 18
From long, intricate sentences to idioms, the
challenges of translating Arabic short stories
STAGE SUPPORT . . . . . . . . 20
How LegalAliens Theatre company supports
language learners and migrant artists
CENTRING EMPATHY . . . . . 22
Why a detached, 'invisible' interpreting style
may not be appropriate for health settings
SUPPORTING INCLUSION . . 24
The new free resources for school teachers
A NAMING OF NOUNS . . . . 26
The joyful history of English's collective nouns
MEET OUR MEMBERS . . . . . 27
Q&A with an inclusive education entrepreneur
Reviews
TECHNOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Battle of the (language learning) apps: round 2
BOOKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Opinion & comment
A CULTURAL BRIDGE . . . . . 32
Do hybrid tongues cause language decline?
LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
FRONT COVER © SHUTTERSTOCK
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ISSN 0268-5965
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Editor M Moore linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk
Sales D Butler +44 (0) 20 7940 3100; deborah.butler@ciol.org.uk
Thanet House, 231-232 Strand, London WC2E 1DA;
info@ciol.org.uk; +44 (0) 20 7940 3100; www.ciol.org.uk
For a list of Council and committee members,
see www.ciol.org.uk/council
Chartered Institute of Linguists
20
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