In a testament to the popularity of the research blog established by Professor Ingrid Piller from the Department of Linguistics, Language on the Move was recently named one of the Top 25 Language Professionals Blogs 2016. It was the only academic blog in the Top 20.

“We entered the competition as a light-hearted way to showcase our multilingual talents – with a pitch that was available in 17 languages and seven scripts. We wouldn’t have succeeded without our dedicated followers, whose number across all our social media platforms runs into the tens of thousands, an amazing recognition of the impact that applied sociolinguistics research at Macquarie is having outside academia,” says Professor Piller.

Language on the Move is a peer-reviewed sociolinguistics site devoted to multilingualism, language learning and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalisation and migration.

Originally set up as a research blog, it now also hosts a range of additional sociolinguistic resources and is flanked by a lively social media presence on Twitter and Facebook where participants can discuss issues such as language barriers in multicultural Australia, the social inclusion of international students, or the challenges of bilingual parenting.

For Professor Piller’s PhD students, the blog offers an alternative academic environment for them to engage in linguistic discussions with a wider global audience.

“Contributing to Language on the Move has been immensely rewarding in multiple ways. It encourages us to keep a regular writing practice and to formulate our ideas in a way that makes them accessible to a broad global audience,” says Livia Gerber.

“As PhD students with the desire to share our research with the world, we are excited to have this forum to be able to interact with established scholars and our peers, and to add our voices to the global discussion on linguistic issues,” says Laura Smith-Khan.

To join the conversation, visit Language on the Move or the blog’s Twitter and Facebook pages.