Did you know that more than 300 languages are spoken in Australia? This means that in most classrooms, several students would speak a language other than English outside of school – and yet, in Australia, everyone studies in English, works in English for the most part, etc. Given the importance of language in all sorts of interactions, this has important consequences on the way people experience social life, and even life in general.

You may be familiar with what this implies yourself, and have already reflected upon it? Or, on the contrary, perhaps this hasn't been on your radar because linguistic difference, unlike racial difference, can often go unnoticed? Either way, we would like to invite all high school students to join us to discuss these matters with expert linguists who work through these questions in Western Australia.

During the event, students, teachers and experts will examine excerpts from broad audience movies and series, as well as media interviews, that raise questions about what it means to speak a different language. Students will be able to ask questions about these examples and share their views with a panel of six linguists, sociolinguists and sociologists.

Panellists:

- Professor Umberto Ansaldo, linguist, Curtin University

- Dr Sam Han, sociologist, UWA

- Assistant Professor Lisa Lim, linguist, Curtin University

- Dr Luisa Miceli, psycholinguist and historical linguist, UWA

- Dr Maïa Ponsonnet, anthropological linguist, UWA

- Dr Celeste Rodriguez Louro, sociolinguist, UWA