GFAMS Celebrates 1st Anniversary
GFAMS will be holding its AGM on Wednesday 24th January at 6pm in the Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall. This association will be holding a free event with Professor Laura Wright from the University of Cambridge where she will deliver a short talk on Gibraltar's linguistic heritage. She is a historical sociolinguist who has published widely on historical codeswitching, on the development of Standard English and on London English.
A statement from GFAMS folows below:
Last January Gibraltarians for a Multilingual Society held its first General Meeting. Ever since then, it has been very busy addressing the very worrying problem of language loss in our community. In this time, it has managed to raise the profile of Gibraltar’s multilingual identity and emphasise the importance of preserving it. The association has achieved this by engaging with different players both from within Gibraltarian society as well as from outside. These include politicians, academics, educationalists, authors, local media, representatives from the heritage and cultural establishments and, most importantly, the public at large. GFAMS has had much support from all sectors and encountered a widespread genuine desire to preserve and promote our intangible heritage, our unique identity and the many life skills and benefits afforded to many generations of Llanitos by virtue of our multilingualism. Consequently, membership has grown at a very fast pace, and continues to do so as its message spreads. The association is delighted to see how, within different circles, small steps are being taken to counter the monolinguistic culture that seems to permeate all aspects of modern life in Gibraltar, and which is threatening our multicultural way of life. At the same time, it stresses that we still have a very long road ahead of us to assure a multilingual future for coming generations of Gibraltarians.
GFAMS will be holding its AGM on Wednesday 24th January at 6pm in the Charles Hunt Room, John Mackintosh Hall. This year the association is very honoured to count on the presence of Professor Laura Wright from the University of Cambridge. She is a historical sociolinguist who has published widely on historical codeswitching, on the development of Standard English and on London English. Professor Wright will deliver a short talk on Gibraltar's linguistic heritage. This event is free and open to the public.
