Dr Tony Capstick

Tony teaches a third year module called Language and Migration. This gives students a vivid account of how languages are used in different parts of the world and how political decisions are made regarding the medium of instruction: for example in Jordan you need English to go to university, in Lebanon you need French or English to go to school, in Turkey you need Turkish, and in Iraq you'll probably need Kurdish or Arabic depending on the region.

Also, Tony is interested in how migrants use a mixture of languages. 

"Displaced people often tell me: 'We are learning English to get to Germany. Then we will learn German when we are there.' English is the global language." 

In the Language and Migration module, students also get to study what we mean by "power". Refugee camps are run by international agencies who often speak English, so speaking some English might give migrants access to more resources, i.e. jumping to the front of the queue simply because they can fill in an English form.
 
He also explores other grassroots type of power: a migrant might not speak English but he or she might have developed the ability to read English online. When people go online they are mixing registers and genres and grammar, very complex things are going on and this is very different to standard British English. Students get to explore these different forms of language expression through their studies. 

"It can be difficult to understand how we research power, but by looking at the language use of migrants and giving students the tools and the skills to analyse this rigorously, it gives them the skills to build evidence to show how access to certain languages is shaped by power relations.

"Studying at Reading, students develop a knowledge of the use of language mixing and how English fits in."

Tony's new book, Language and Migration, is out in September 2020.