Linguistic Justice: Intervention

LING 472: Intervention (Justice) Paper Draft

Due Tuesday, April 25, 11:59pm, Dropbox

“Each of use is here now because in one way or another we share a commitment to language and to the power of language, and to the reclaiming of that language which has been made to work against us. In the transformation of silence into language and action, it is vitally necessary for each of us to establish or examine her function in that transformation and to recognize her role as vital within that transformation” – Audre Lorde

“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” – Angela Davis

“The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something we make, and could just as easily made differently” – David Graeber

Now that you have developed an understanding on the injustice you researched about, this portion of the research paper asks you to exercise your own agency to enact linguistic justice. You will design, and possibly being to execute, an action project that intervenes in the linguistic injustice you wrote about in your earlier paper.

FORMAT:

· 5 pages; 1,250 words)

· Divided your Intervention Draft into subsections

· A list of cited sources should be placed at the end of your paper (APA)

OPTION 1: For each of the following 3 levels of social action, outline a single concrete intervention into your focal injustice (1-2 pages each);

1. Awareness-raising / educational projects

2. Policy change (organization policy and/or law)

3. Mutual aid and/or direct action

OPTION 2: Pick only one level of intervention (of the 3 types), and submit a much more detailed proposal.

The intervention(s) you describe should be as concrete and specific as possible. For example, “end audism” or “end racism” is neither concrete or specific, but something like “allocate state education funding to train future doctors/teachers about the harms of language deprivation and/or bias” is.

Whichever option you choose, your proposal should:

· Briefly summarize what the focal injustice is and why it is important to address it (1 paragraph max)

· Explain the goals and methodologies of your proposed intervention(s):

· What specific aspect of the injustice is this intervention designed to target?

· Why this intervention in particular? (Why do you believe it will be effective?)

· What kinds of resources would be needed for this intervention?

· Who is the target audience? Whose support will it be necessary to ensure?

· If relevant, you may also want to describe a specific group or organization you want to work with for one or all of your proposed interventions.

· Although these are individually-authored papers, justice is rarely accomplished alone. Most lasting social change is accomplished in community settings. If your proposal involves working with a community, make sure to do some research on existing linguistic interventions in that community before you start designing your own. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, thing about how you could best plug into or support existing projects – including selecting particular organizations or individuals with whom you might work – and make sure to include this information in your proposal.

NOTE: In your proposal, you may want to include “reach out” materials such as a design for a sticker, or poster campaign, and Instagram slide deck, Twitter thread, or a TikTok video. Additionally, you could also include a lesson plan (if working within education). This optional material may replace a full page of the proposal itself and you can send it to me as “mock-up draft” for me to give you feedback on. Please note that this mock-up should actually include a meaningful amount of content – i.e., it shouldn’t just be an illustration or logo without any words.

SOME IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED THINKING ABOUT INTERVENTIONS

On Thursday’s class on social action and activism, we discussed multiple levels of social change. You may find it helpful to review those slides. You are welcome to design an intervention (justice) project at any level of social changes. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Awareness-raising and education:

· Write a Twitter thread explaining a topic in language and social justice to the public (at least 10-15 tweets)

· Design a choose-your-own adventure simulation designed to educate the public about a topic related to language and social justice

· A YouTube video or series of TikToks explaining a language and social justice concept or article (if you make any video or audio content, please make sure to include captions!) Let me know if you need help doing this.

· An Instagram slide deck explaining a sociolinguistic issue to the public or correcting a common misconception about language

· A podcast episode

· Individual/Personal/familiar work: make a plan to research or reconnect with your family’s heritage language(s)

· A curriculum proposal or lesson plan designed for a particular audience regarding this linguistic issue

Policy change:

· A policy proposal to fix a specific problem of linguistic exclusion in your city or in an institution you’re a part of (a university, volunteer group, club or team, religious organization….)

· A proposal for a state or local law (e.g. Ethnic/Linguistics course requirement in California State schools)

· A proposal to change language-related licensing or training requirements for a specific group of professionals (teachers, speech pathologists, police, court reporters, interpreters/translators, medical professionals, legal professionals….).

Mutual aid and/or direct-action projects:

· A stickering, flyering or street art campaign to draw attention to local Indigenous languages and/or traditional place names

· Organize a peaceful demonstration or demonstration of some kind (e.g. Korrika in the Basque Country)

· A translation/interpreting project to increase language awareness for a community (e.g. translating materials about COVID, current events, voter suppression, guides for how to stay safe in a protest, know-your-rights materials for immigrants….)