Staff Profile
Dr Josep Cru
Senior Lecturer in Spanish and Sociolinguistics
- Telephone: +44 (0)191 208 7441
- Personal Website: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=RAxlXIQAAAAJ&hl=en
- Address: School of Modern Languages
Old Library Building 5.37
NE1 7RU
Newcastle upon Tyne
UK
Background
I studied a BA in Anglo-German Philology (1993) and a BA in Linguistics at the University of Barcelona (1996). I also hold an MA in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley (1999). With the support of the Institute Ramon Llull, I taught Catalan at Newcastle University and Durham University from 2007 to 2013 and in 2014 I became a Teaching Fellow in Spanish at Newcastle. In September 2013 I submitted a PhD thesis on language revitalisation and language ideologies in Yucatan, Mexico.
I am also a member of Linguapax, an international NGO based in Barcelona that promotes language diversity worldwide. Apart from coordinating the Linguapax network and organising congresses, I designed and developed pedagogical material to raise awareness about linguistic diversity and to revitalise minoritised languages, particularly of Mexico (see https://tlacuatzin.org/). I have also been part of the Linguapax scientific committee to advise on language policy and planning with missions to Mexico (drafting of the Law of Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2003), Paraguay (drafting of the Law of Languages, 2005) and Chile (Implementation of Intercultural Bilingual Education, 2007). More information at: www.linguapax.org.
In the academic year 2000-2001 I taught Spanish language and culture at Nanjing University (China) with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and was awarded a Merit Prize for Excellence in Teaching by the Department of Foreign Languages of that university.
Languages
Spanish and Catalan (native speaker), English. Also working knowledge of French, Portuguese and Italian, and basic knowledge of Chinese, Russian, German and Dutch.
Memberships
- Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS).
- Society for Latin American Studies,UK since 2008.
- Acervo digital lenguas indígenas de México, since 2003.
- Linguapax International Network, since 2001.
Undergraduate Teaching
Language Endangerment and Revitalisation in Latin America. LAS4005
Language Diversity in Spain. SPA2026
Advanced Spanish Writing. Level D. SPA4081
Module leader of Introduction to Catalan SPA2021 and Intermediate Catalan SPA4002
Research Interests
My research interests cover:
Sociolinguistics of the Hispanic World, language policy and planning, particularly in Mexico and Spain, and language revitalisation, discourse analysis and language ideologies, Indigenous languages of Latin America and education.
Recent presentation of papers:
Experiencias y desafíos de la revitalización lingüística en los medios digitales. Congreso 'Desafíos en la Diversidad'. Quito. 12-15 September 2023. https://desafiosenladiversidad.com/
Paradoxes of language revitalisation in the Yucatán. Seminar organised by the Intercultural University of Quintana Roo, Mexico 27 Nov 2020
Convenor of round table and speaker: Indigenous language revitalisation from the grassroots in Latin America. Exercising agency through the arts. International Congress of Indigenous and Minoritised Languages. University of Barcelona, Spain. 17-20 April 2017
Supervision of theses
- The linguistic debate in Chile: ideologies and representations of languages and multilingual practices in the national online news. (Hanna Sliashynskaya, PhD, completed, 2019)
- Representation and self-representation of Maya cultural tourism in Guatemala and the Yucatán Peninsula. (Carolyn Taylor, MLitt, completed, 2019)
- How does Environmental Change, through Land Invasion and Climate Change, affect Indigenous Peoples, Cultures, Knowledge Systems and Languages? A Case Study in The Alto Rio Negro Region of The Northwest Brazilian Amazon. (Georgina Hulston, MLitt., completed, 2023)
- The loss of biodiversity through a linguistic lens: Exploring the parallels between environmental concerns and Quechua language revitalisation initiatives in Bolivia (Joe Dean, PhD in progress)
- Quechua online: moving knowledge and language in time and space (Miriam Liggins, PhD, in progress)
- An ethnographic exploration of gender, sexuality and race representation in the Catalan as a foreign language classroom in the UK and its impact on the learner's learning experience (Laura Arbonès, PhD in progress)
- From 'bilingual education' to 'national education' in Xinjiang, China: A creeping linguicide. (Hanna Burdorf. PhD in progress)
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Articles
- Cru J. Activismo digital en lenguas indígenas: Posibilidades y retos para la revitalización lingüística en la península de Yucatán. Living Languages 2024, 3(1), 112-129.
- Flores J, Cru J. Reviewing experiences in language (re)vitalisation: recent undertakings in the media and the arts. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2021, 42(10), 941-954.
- Cru J. Micro-level language planning and YouTube comments: destigmatising indigenous languages through rap music. Current Issues in Language Planning 2018, 19(4), 434-452.
- Cru J. Bilingual rapping in Yucatan, Mexico: Strategic choices for language legitimation and revitalisation. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 2017, 20(5), 481-496.
- Cru J. Shifting Language Ideologies among Young Maya Professionals: Overcoming Purism in Yucatán. Critical Multilingualism Studies 2016, 4(2), 111-132.
- Cru J. Language revitalisation from the ground up: promoting Yucatec Maya on Facebook. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 2014.
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Book Chapters
- Cru J. Rap Originario and Language Revitalization in Mexico: The ADN Maya Collective. In: Melanie A., and Jennifer R. Guzmán, ed. Ethnographic Insights on Latin America and the Caribbean. University of Toronto Press, 2023, pp.189-199.
- Cru J. Ideologies of language purism in Yucatan. In: Léonard, J-L; Aviles Gonzalez, KJ, ed. Documentation et revitalisation des "langues en danger" : épistémologie et praxis. Paris: Michel Houdiard Editeur, 2015, pp.370-391.
- Cru J. Language Diversity in Mexico. In: T.L. McCarthy and S. Coronel-Molina, ed. Indigenous Language Revitalization in the Americas. New York/London: Routledge, 2013. In Press.
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Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
- Cru J. Discourses of language revalorisation in the Yucatecan press. In: Language and Sociopolitical Struggle in the Hispanic World. 2010, Newcastle upon Tyne: Americas Research Group and School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University.
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Edited Books
- Cru J, ed. The Management of Multilingualism in Urban Settings / La gestió del multilingüisme en context urbà. Barcelona: Linguapax, 2014.
- Cru Josep, Khubchandani Lachman, ed. Linguapax Review 2010. Barcelona, Spain: Centre Unesco de Catalunya-Linguapax, 2011.
- Cru J, Khubchandani L, ed. Linguapax Review 2010. Barcelona: Centre UNESCO de Catalunya, 2011.
- Andriamiseza N, Essomba MÀ, Cru J, ed. The Management of Linguistic Diversity and Peace Processes. Barcelona: Centre Unesco de Catalunya - Unescocat, 2010.
- Lluis A, Cru J, ed. Lenguas de América: IV Foro de las Lenguas Amerindias. Barcelona: Casa Amèrica Catalunya-Linguapax-ACCD-Linguamon, 2007.
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Report
- Seroo O, Cru J. Ex-post Evaluation of Activities in the Field of Regional and Minority Languages, 1998-2002. Brussels, Belgium: European Commission, 2004.