The 22nd annual conference of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL) successfully concluded in Vienna, Austria, after two days of engaging discussions. The conference addressed the theme: “Language norms and linguistic justice in a multilingual world – historical, political and linguistic perspectives.”
Hosted by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities (ACDH) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the event brought together language experts, policymakers, and researchers from across Europe. The conference was a great success, featuring many engaging contributions and discussions. Jutta Ransmayr, an EFNIL Executive Committee member, served as the conference host, ensuring an engaging environment.
The event began with opening speeches that highlighted the importance of language in European integration and justice. Speakers included: Eva-Maria Holzleitner, Federal Minister for Women, Science and Research; Christoph Wiederkehr, Federal Minister of Education; Heinz Faßmann, President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences; Alexandra Lenz, Director of the ACDH; Josefine Hederström (Head of Unit) and Colin Scicluna (Deputy Director-General) from the European Commission; Ewa Sinclair, Head of the Spanish Translation Unit at the European Parliament; and Sabine Kirchmeier, President of EFNIL.
The program featured six sessions exploring topics such as the role of norms and language change and the relations between language services, lexicography, and language technology, alongside keynote speeches by Leigh Oakes, who proposed a normative language policy as a new framework for assessing linguistic justice in research and practice and Barbara Seidlhofer, who discussed enabling and disabling norms in lingua franca communication.
A highlight of the conference was the presentation of two winning theses from the EFNIL Master Thesis Award: Vasiliki Aliki Tzoutza presented her work on the possibilities of gender-neutral language, and Olve Godø Sæther discussed the current state of the parallel language situation in a maritime context.
Preceding the conference, the General Assembly elected Tamás Váradi as an Honorary Member of EFNIL in recognition of his exceptional commitment and extensive service as General Secretary over many years.
Der Standard published an extensive article in German about our conference, which can be accessed here.
The presentations of the conference are available on our website.