Language in its social context

Languages do not exist in a vacuum.
Their use is always situated, indexed, and laden with intentions, norms, and powers. EFL explores how language use constructs identities, reflects social relations, and contributes to major transformations in the contemporary world, from inclusion to linguistic injustice.

Why study language in a social context?

Because speaking is never completely transparent. It is not simply a matter of applying a code. Speaking means addressing others, positioning oneself, and gaining recognition. Language is a vehicle for action, categorization, and differentiation. This EFL project theme examines language as a social practice rooted in specific historical, political, and cultural contexts.

The goal: to analyze the social, cultural, and political dimensions of language use, highlighting the links between language, power, inclusion, marginalization, and change.

Scientific questions on the theme

Language, power, and agency

• Issues of domination or resistance through language choices, collective mobilization, and minority languages.
• Inclusive language, invisibility, linguistic stigma.

Linguistic diversity and socialization

• Linguistic diversity and family socialization
• Family language policies and integration in the age of globalization

Linguistic justice, diversity, and public policy:

• Study of inequalities in access to information or rights related to languages.
• The place of minority languages in educational, administrative, and medical settings.

Language and public space:

• How are language practices evolving in the face of mobility, urbanization, and the Anthropocene?
• Conceptualization of language, ideologies, categorizations

Methodologies used

• Sociolinguistic approaches and linguistic anthropology: field surveys, participant observation, interviews.
• Conversational and interactional analysis: study of the micro-dynamics of language in context.
• Analysis of discourse and the voices of social actors.

• Mixed methods: cross-referencing qualitative data and quantitative processing.
• Indexicality: identification of linguistic markers referring to social positions.

Societal impact and implications

• Education: consideration of linguistic and social diversity.
• Justice and administration: identification of language-related discrimination or barriers.
• Public health: analysis of inequalities in access to medical information in a multilingual context.
• Language policies: formulation of recommendations for the inclusion of minority languages.
• Migration: study of support mechanisms for exiled persons or mechanisms that promote consideration of their agency.

Partners

• Cross-disciplinary contributions from teams such as ALTAE, SeDyL, LACITO, CLESTHIA, LLF, LLACAN, LPP, CEPED, HTL, PRISMES, and EDA, working closely with the social sciences and international fields.
• Synergies with other work packages of the EFL project: multilingualism, variation, cognition, and artificial intelligence.

In summary

Studying language without its social context means missing its primary function: connecting people, producing meaning, and establishing relationships. EFL places this dimension at the heart of its research in order to better understand languages as tools for action, emancipation or exclusion, transformation or social reproduction.