UCFL are delighted to welcome Emerita Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett in the new honorary role of Policy Advisor. We look forward to working with Wendy to promote and strengthen our disciplines at national level.
Wendy Ayres-Bennett is Emerita Professor of French Philology and Linguistics, University of Cambridge and Associate Fellow of the Institute for Languages, Cultures and Societies. She has published widely on the history of French and the history of linguistic thought. Her current research interests include language policy, standardization, and linguistic ideologies. Between 2016 and 2021, she was Principal Investigator on the multi-disciplinary research project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies, funded by the AHRC (www.meits.org). The project worked closely with policymakers and practitioners to promote the value of languages for key issues of our time and the benefits of language learning for individuals and societies. A follow-on AHRC funded research project Promoting Language Policy explored the economic value to the UK of speaking other languages and created a repository of UK language policy documents (www.promotinglanguagepolicy.org).