As a language learner, how often do you reflect critically on your psycho-social purposes for learning? As a language user, how often do you consider the impact of your expression and its role in promoting harmony and justice? As a language teacher, how often do you teach with the intention of building peace? As a language researcher, how often do you carefully examine teaching, learning, and use from a peace perspective? If rarely, what has prevented you from doing so? Perhaps you feel quite busy with and possibly burdened by your normal workload and daily routine? Or maybe you have simply never heard of the field of (applied) peace linguistics (PL)?
If the former case resonates with you, first and foremost, I want to empathize with you. Language learning requires continuous effort, using languages necessitates confidence and competence, teaching is a worthwhile but demanding profession, and research comes with its own set of challenges. If you have never heard of PL, you are not alone. I myself only came across the field recently, although it has academic roots as far back as the 1987 Linguapax Conference at least.
So, are you curious, as I have been, to learn more about this interdisciplinary field? While I am not yet an expert in this area, having done some poking around, I have learned a thing or two and identified and contacted several key individuals after productivity profiling. (There are many others I sadly could not include here.) By introducing these inspirational and dedicated human beings and their work, I hope to give you an idea of the diversity of experiences and orientations of each, as well as a sense of how the field is slowly developing in interesting and promising directions. Ready for a brief chronological presentation?
Francisco
First of all, you may be interested to learn that many people consider the founding father of PL to be a Brazilian scholar named Francisco Gomes de Matos. This visionary peace linguist, whose colorful career spans over 60 years and who was recently recognized as a Teacher of Peace by Pax Christi USA, became an English teacher in 1956 and a linguist in 1960 after graduating with a master’s in linguistics from the University of Michigan. He completed his PhD in applied linguistics at Pontifícia Universidade Católica in São Paulo in 1973. In his dissertation on linguistic principles and in his early work, he argued for the humanization of language teaching and learning. Though he sometimes claims his commitment to PL started in the 1990s when he coined the concept-term communicative peace, essentially referring to constructive and dignifying communication, he had previously begun advocating for human and linguistic rights and responsibilities as well as peace as a universal priority in language education.
David
While he declined to take credit for pioneering the field, world-renowned British linguist David Crystal supported the movement toward peace by publishing the first formal definition of PL in A Dictionary of Language (1999) and A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (2003). In case you are interested, his definition is: “A climate of opinion which emerged during the 1990s among many linguists and language teachers, in which linguistic principles, methods, findings, and applications were seen as a means of promoting peace and human rights at a global level. The approach emphasizes the value of linguistic diversity and multilingualism, both internationally and intranationally, and asserts the need to foster language attitudes which respect the dignity of individual speakers and speech communities” (Crystal, 1999, pp. 254–255).
Patricia
The next pioneer is another Brazilian scholar, Patricia Friedrich, senior associate dean of academic enterprise and a professor of sociolinguistics at the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. Patricia received her PhD in English linguistics from Purdue University in 2001, but her educational background includes the study of both languages and literatures. In her writing, she has covered a wide range of critical topics, publishing over 40 articles and book chapters in periodicals such as Harvard Business Review and World Englishes. A couple of recent book titles bearing her name include The Sociolinguistics of Digital Englishes (2016) and Applied Linguistics in the Real World (2019). Those interested in learning especially about peace sociolinguistics may be pleased to know that she has published a book called Language, Negotiation and Peace: The Use of English in Conflict Resolution (2007) and edited volumes, notably Nonkilling Linguistics: Toward Practical Applications (2012) for the Center for Global Nonkilling and English for Diplomatic Purposes (2016). She is currently editing a book on anti-racism and linguistics and Englishes online. Very much in line with her mission of peacebuilding, she is drawn to projects that further understandings of justice and inclusiveness, peaceful communication, and cultural awareness. Quite suitably, she teaches courses in sociolinguistics, forensic linguistics, and the history of English. Among other notable achievements, Patricia has facilitated the creation of such degrees as disability studies and conflict resolution at New College and chairs the New College Anti-Racism Council in her unit. In her free time, she is also a novelist with more books in the works.
Rebecca
While the American professor emerita and distinguished scholar-teacher Rebecca L. Oxford, famous for her award-winning work on language-learning strategies, has not used the exact term PL much in her work, she has contributed in noteworthy ways with her interdisciplinary and multimethod “language of peace approach.” Rebecca’s educational background (with degrees in Russian language and educational psychology from prestigious universities), distinguished career, and life experiences have enabled her to publish 15 volumes, of which seven are on peacebuilding, transformative education, and spirituality. Three that particularly stand out are The Language of Peace: Communicating to Create Harmony (2013), an edited volume, Understanding Peace Cultures (2014), and a volume she co-edited this year, Peacebuilding in Language Education: Innovations in
Theory and Practice.
At the moment, she also co-edits two book series—Spirituality, Religion, and Education (Palgrave) and Transforming Education for the Future (Information Age Publishing)—and she will soon publish another practical peace book for language teachers: Teaching Languages for Global Expertise: Peace and Positivity across Cultures. Rebecca has led graduate programs in both language-teacher education and psychology and has directed numerous dissertations.
Frans
Another academic, who has worked on the connection between peace education and teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) for almost a decade, is Frans Kruger. Frans is currently a senior lecturer in educational philosophy and theory at the University of the Free State in South Africa and serves on the editorial board of In Factis Pax, an online peer-reviewed journal of peace education and social justice, and as associate editor of Education as Change. In his research, Frans has explored the connection between critical peace education and TESOL by drawing on Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari’s immanent materialism and how this has been taken up in multiple literacies theory. The title of his 2015 doctoral dissertation, which he completed at the University of Pretoria, is “Mapping Peace and Violence in the TESOL Classroom.” Through this project, Frans explored how adult language learners transformed themselves corporeally and incorporeally through the process of becoming literate. Frans has also published research related to critical peace education, social and eco-justice education, and critical posthumanism.
Noriko
A pragmatician over in Japan, Noriko Ishihara, has been working on peace linguistics since about 2016. In an email, this professor of applied linguistics and (T)EFL at Hosei University described her work as follows: “I facilitate language teachers’ professional development courses in Japan, online, and elsewhere with a special focus on L2 pragmatics and intercultural communication. I am working to bridge peace linguistics and critical awareness of equity and diversity in language learning/teaching.” Noriko also let me know that the second edition of her book with Andrew Cohen, Teaching and Learning Pragmatics: Where Language and Culture Meet (2022), will include peace linguistics, with examples of how it could be applied in language learning/teaching.
Andy
Andy Curtis, an applied linguist living in Canada who served as the 50th president of TESOL International, is credited with designing and teaching the first credit-bearing PL course for undergraduates, at Brigham Young University–Hawaii in 2017. (This interdisciplinary course is still being offered.) He was also the guest editor for the landmark 2018 TESL Reporter special issue “From Peace Language to Peace Linguistics.” Since 2017, he has published around a dozen articles on PL, and he has recently been researching and writing about what he dubs the new peace linguistics (NPL). In an email, he stated that NPL “has a much more explicitly political focus, on those with the power to bring about peace or to start wars. For example, analyzing the language of leaders like Trump and their followers.” Andy will be publishing a book this fall called The New Peace Linguistics and the Role of Language in Conflict.
Usman
In Nigeria, Usman Muhammed Bello teaches in the Department of English at the University of Abuja. He has contributed to the development of PL through his application of pragmatic and grammatical frameworks. As he states regarding his 2020 publication: “My article ‘Minimising Conflicts and Confrontations in Language Use: Perspectives from peace linguistics’ blends these two frameworks in the theorization of a nonconfrontational approach to matters of disagreement.” We congratulate Usman on completing his PhD dissertation in PL, entitled “The Lexico-Syntactics of Peace Linguistics: A linguistic analysis of selected international land and maritime boundary agreements” (2021).
Jocelyn
And where do I fit into all this? A newcomer to the field based in South Korea, I first heard about PL in 2018 when I was studying and learning to practice nonviolent communication and happened upon some of Francisco’s work. I became fascinated with his life journey and wrote a biographical piece about him in 2019 entitled “Peace Linguistics: Contributions of peacelinguactivist Francisco Gomes de Matos.” More recently, I published a book review on Peacebuilding in Language Education by Oxford et al. (2021), in which I included a typology of PL and a poem on its evolution. I hope to publish more articles soon, particularly related to the history and evolution of PL, and hope my involvement in linguistics, reflective practice, social justice education, and other areas will guide me well.
I recently launched a Facebook group for scholars and practitioners around the world who are interested in discussing, researching, and reporting on peace linguistics and peace language education. If you are one of them, I welcome you to join our growing community by visiting this www.facebook.com/groups/peacelinguistics or contacting me. Together, we can work toward “the goal of promoting peace and peacebuilding through systematic study, deliberate teaching, and conscious use of languages spoken, written, and signed” (Wright, 2021) in our classes, schools, and communities.
Jocelyn Wright, associate professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at Mokpo National University, South Korea, has taught graduate courses including Applied Linguistics, Critical Pedagogy, Global Englishes, and Language and Intercultural Communication and undergraduate ones on nonviolent communication, intercultural leadership, and language, culture, and society. Jocelyn is a lifetime member of AsiaTEFL, KOTESOL, and KATE and the founder of an international PL group. Fostering positive peace is her mission.
