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What's on in Applied Linguistics ...
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Newsletter
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Welcome to the third edition of the AILA Newsletter in 2026. We invite all members, affiliates, Research Networks (ReNs), and partner organizations to read, share, subscribe, and contribute to this vehicle for communication across our global community. The newsletter reaches approximately 10,000 readers worldwide and serves as a platform for sharing news, opportunities, and reflections relevant to the international applied linguistics community.
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As always, we encourage affiliates and members to disseminate the newsletter through their own networks and to submit news, announcements, publications, and calls for future issues. Contributions for the December issue should be sent to kyria.finardi@gmail.com by November 15, 2026.
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UN & UNESCO Updates
UN Secretary-General Calls for Global AI Governance
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At the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent international cooperation to ensure that AI serves humanity rather than deepening existing inequalities. He warned that AI governance cannot be left to a handful of countries or technology companies and emphasized that every nation should have a voice in shaping the future of AI.
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The Secretary-General highlighted four urgent priorities for global action:
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- Environmental sustainability: AI infrastructure is placing unprecedented demands on energy, water, and land. Guterres proposed an AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, urging companies to publicly disclose the environmental footprint of their AI systems and commit to powering data centres with renewable energy by 2030.
- Child safety: He called for an AI Child Safety Pledge, requiring child-specific safety testing, zero tolerance for AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and mandatory human intervention when AI detects children in crisis.
- Human control over weapons: Describing autonomous lethal weapons as "morally repugnant," Guterres reiterated that decisions over human life must always remain under meaningful human control and called for an international legal ban on fully autonomous lethal weapons.
- Inclusive global governance: Stressing that "we may be the last generation able to set the terms on which humanity and machines coexist," he argued that future AI governance must prioritize transparency, safety, human rights, and broad international participation.
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Concluding his remarks, Guterres emphasized that if AI is to contribute to a better future, society must first be honest about its present social and environmental costs.
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FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
This year marks thirty years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (UDLR) in Barcelona in 1996. Looking back, the Declaration was remarkably visionary in recognizing that language rights are inseparable from human rights, cultural diversity, democratic participation, and social justice. Thirty years later, however, the world has changed in ways that could scarcely have been imagined in 1996.
Artificial intelligence now mediates communication, education, information access, and knowledge production on a global scale. While these technologies offer unprecedented opportunities for connection and learning, they also raise profound questions about linguistic diversity and equity. Which languages are represented in AI systems? Which varieties of language are considered legitimate? Whose knowledge becomes visible and searchable? Which communities remain marginalized or invisible?
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Language Rights, AI and Linguistic Justice in a Multipolar World
Language is more than a means of communication. It is a vehicle for participation, belonging, identity, knowledge creation, and social inclusion.
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Today, however, linguistic diversity faces unprecedented challenges. Globalization, migration, educational inequalities, technological transformation, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence are reshaping the linguistic landscape worldwide.
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While AI offers enormous opportunities for communication, translation, and access to information, it also risks reinforcing existing linguistic hierarchies. Most digital infrastructures remain concentrated around a relatively small number of dominant languages. As a result, many languages continue to be underrepresented in digital environments, educational technologies, and AI systems.
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For applied linguists, this moment raises important questions:
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• How can linguistic diversity be promoted in increasingly digital societies?
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• What responsibilities do researchers, educators, and policymakers have in ensuring linguistic inclusion?
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• How can AI support rather than undermine multilingualism?
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• What forms of knowledge remain invisible when languages disappear from public and digital spaces?
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These questions are closely connected to broader concerns about social justice, educational equity, and democratic participation. Language rights are therefore not only linguistic concerns—they are also concerns about whose voices are heard, whose knowledge is valued, and whose futures are imagined.
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UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF LINGUISTIC RIGHTS AT 30
A New Opportunity for Collective Action
Thirty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights (UDLR) in Barcelona in 1996, a broad international consultation process has begun to revisit and update this landmark document.
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The initiative is coordinated by the Grup d'Estudi de Llengües Amenaçades (GELA) and the Grup de Lingüistes per la Diversitat (GLiDi) at the University of Barcelona and seeks contributions from scholars, institutions, language communities, and civil society organizations worldwide.
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The original Declaration represented a major milestone in articulating linguistic rights as fundamental human rights. AILA was among the organizations involved in the original process and was represented by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas among the signatories.
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Recent discussions within the AILA Strategic Collaboration Committee highlighted the relevance of this initiative for the Association. Members expressed interest in exploring ways in which AILA might contribute to the consultation process, given our longstanding commitments to multilingualism, linguistic diversity, social justice, and equitable participation in knowledge production.
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The update offers an important opportunity to address contemporary challenges that have emerged since 1996, including digital communication, artificial intelligence, migration, Indigenous language revitalization, educational inequalities, and linguistic representation in online environments.
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INVITED CONTRIBUTION
Revisiting the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights:
Why the Next 30 Years Matter
By Kendall A. King
University of Minnesota
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Thirty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, we find ourselves confronting both familiar and new challenges in the protection and promotion of linguistic diversity.
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The original Declaration emerged from a recognition that linguistic rights are fundamental human rights and that language communities should have the opportunity to maintain, develop, and transmit their languages across generations. While important progress has been made in many contexts, significant inequalities remain. Across the world, speakers of Indigenous, minority, and minoritized languages continue to face barriers in education, public life, media, and access to resources.
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At the same time, new developments are reshaping the linguistic landscape. Digital communication technologies and artificial intelligence are transforming how languages are used, represented, and valued. These technologies have the potential to support multilingualism and increase access to information. Yet they may also reinforce existing inequalities when some languages are richly represented while others remain largely absent from digital infrastructures.
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The current initiative to update the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights provides an important opportunity to reflect on these developments. The process seeks broad participation from scholars, educators, activists, policymakers, and language communities around the world.
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Applied linguists have much to contribute to these conversations. Our research has demonstrated the importance of multilingualism, linguistic inclusion, educational equity, and language revitalization. We also understand that language rights are not abstract principles but lived realities that shape people's opportunities, identities, and futures.
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The coming years offer an opportunity to reaffirm a simple but powerful principle: linguistic diversity is not a problem to be managed but a resource to be valued.
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IMPORTANT DATES (JULY–SEPTEMBER)
July 30 – International Day of Friendship (UN)
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This observance highlights the importance of dialogue, cooperation, and mutual understanding across cultures and communities. Language remains central to building friendships and fostering global citizenship in an interconnected world.
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August 9 – International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples (UN)
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This day draws attention to Indigenous languages, knowledges, and cultural practices. It offers an opportunity to reflect on language revitalization, linguistic human rights, and Indigenous-led educational initiatives.
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September 8 – International Literacy Day (UNESCO)
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International Literacy Day highlights literacy as a fundamental human right and an essential condition for social participation and lifelong learning. In the digital age, literacy increasingly includes multilingual, digital, academic, and AI-related competencies.
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September 21 – International Day of Peace (UN)
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The International Day of Peace reminds us that language plays a crucial role in conflict transformation, intercultural dialogue, and peacebuilding. Applied linguistics contributes to these goals through research, education, and community engagement.
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AILA 2027 WORLD CONGRESS
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With less than one year remaining before the AILA 2027 World Congress in Vancouver, preparations continue to advance.
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The Congress will bring together scholars, educators, practitioners, and students from around the world to explore emerging challenges and opportunities in Applied Linguistics.
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Themes such as multilingualism, linguistic justice, migration, AI, sustainability, language policy, and knowledge circulation are expected to feature prominently across the programme.
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Further information can be found at:
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NEWS FROM AILA RESEARCH NETWORKS
AILA Research Networks continue to play a central role in fostering international collaboration, scholarly exchange, and innovation across the field.
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Throughout 2026, ReNs have organized webinars, conferences, collaborative publications, virtual exchanges, and interdisciplinary research initiatives addressing topics such as:
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• AI and language education
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• Language policy and planning
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• Multilingualism and superdiversity
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• Virtual exchange and internationalization
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• Language and social justice
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As preparations for AILA 2027 intensify, ReNs are encouraged to continue developing collaborative projects and highlighting the ways in which applied linguistics contributes to addressing real-world challenges.
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NEWS FROM AILA AFFILIATES
The strength of AILA lies in the diversity of its affiliates.
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We warmly invite affiliates to share updates regarding conferences, publications, anniversaries, policy initiatives, outreach projects, and collaborative research activities.
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News from affiliates not only informs our international community but also helps build connections across regions, languages, and traditions of applied linguistic inquiry.
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Submissions for the December issue are welcome.
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Featured Affiliate Initiative
RELANZA - Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies
By Dra. Mercedes Querol-Julián (AESLA/BAAL)
How can language education contribute to building more sustainable, inclusive and socially responsible societies? RELANZA project (Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies) was created to explore this question. Funded by Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR, Spain) and coordinated by Mercedes Querol-Julián, the project has been developed by the PRODIGI (Personal and Professional Development through Digital Genres) research group in collaboration with the BAAL Language Curriculum SIG. Bringing together scholars from Spain and the United Kingdom, it involves researchers from UNIR, Universitat Jaume I, The University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde, with dissemination support from Instituto Cervantes and FAAPI (Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés).
Read More
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PUBLICATIONS
RELANZA - Redefining language education: SDGs and innovative teaching strategies
Language Rights, AI and the Future of Multilingualism
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Recent scholarship has increasingly examined the relationship between artificial intelligence, digital communication, language policy, and linguistic justice.
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Questions concerning algorithmic bias, machine translation, digital inclusion, representation of low-resource languages, and the future of multilingualism are becoming central topics within applied linguistics.
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AILA members are encouraged to share recent publications addressing these themes, particularly open-access work and scholarship emerging from historically underrepresented contexts.
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Legal Language, Legal Discourse: Variation and Beyond
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This book is the second volume of the publication on Legal Language, Legal Discourse: Variation and Beyond, edited by Panagiotis G. Krimpas and Lelija Sočanac. It contains ten chapters on legal language and/or discourse issues with particular focus on topics ranging from Eurolects and intrasystemic variation of legal terminology to specific geographical legal language varieties, plain legal language, neology, and emerging legal discourses with environmental relevance, discussed through the lens of contemporary approaches and research methods. The chapters are distributed in two parts, each comprising five contributions. The first part discusses issues of legal language that can be mostly attributed to intrasystemic chronological, sociolectal and/or institutional variation and intersystemic diatopic variation connected with pluricentricity, while the second deals with terminological and text-linguistic approaches. The book will be useful primarily for academics, linguists, legal translators and lawyers, and it can also provide additional reading for students of law, legal linguistics and/or legal translation.
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UPCOMING EVENTS AND CALLS FOR PAPERS
- AAAL 2027 Conference
Atlanta, USA and Online
- The American Association for Applied Linguistics continues preparations for AAAL 2027. Members are encouraged to consult the conference website for updated information and submission deadlines.
- AFLA – CISELA 2027
Circulation and Interaction of Knowledge in Applied Linguistics.
This conference will explore how applied linguistic knowledge circulates between academic, professional, and public contexts and how the field contributes to addressing contemporary societal challenges.
- ChinaCALL & ICELEAL 2026 - 13–15 November 2026.
Guangzhou, China
Under the theme "AI-Empowered Digital Language Education and Applied Linguistics: Bridging Theory and Practice," the conference will bring together researchers and practitioners interested in digital language learning, artificial intelligence, and applied linguistics.
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LOOKING AHEAD
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the challenges facing humanity are also increasingly language-related.
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Questions of inclusion, equity, sustainability, migration, technological transformation, and knowledge production all involve language in fundamental ways.
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Applied linguistics has much to contribute to these conversations. Whether through research, education, language policy, multilingual practices, or community engagement, our field helps create the conditions for more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable futures.
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The renewal of the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights reminds us that protecting linguistic diversity is not only about preserving languages. It is about protecting human dignity, ensuring participation, and creating space for multiple ways of knowing and being in the world.
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In an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and global interdependence, this commitment has never been more important.
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We look forward to continuing these conversations with you in the months ahead.
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Professor Kyria Finardi
President, AILA International Association of Applied Linguistics
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