AFLS President’s Annual Report (September 2023-2024)
I had the honor of being elected President at the Lille conference in September 2023. During this first year, I did my best to address pressing issues (e.g. lack of a constitution), streamline and make the work of the executive committee more efficient (e.g. online forms to work on new documents and to vote on important issues), create more transparency (e.g. forms to apply for funds; post annual reports on the Association’s webpage), be more inclusive (e.g. create graduate student representative positions); ask not only the executive committee, but also the research committee to express their opinions and vote on new initiatives (e.g. ambassadors; conference proceedings), recruit new members and partner up with other associations in the UK, Europe and North America. My awoved ambition is to expand the Association to the entire Francophone community all over the world so that all those who teach French and/or do research in French linguistics feel at home, participate and strengthen it. Additional details will be presented at the Annual General Assembly in New Orleans.
Rapport annuel de la Présidente de l’AFLS (September 2023-2024)
J’ai eu l’honneur d’être élué Présidente lors du colloque de Lille en septembre 2023. Au cours de cette première année, j’ai fait de mieux pour parer au plus pressé (e.g. doter l’Association d’une constitution), simplifier le travail du comité exécutif et le rendre plus efficace (e.g. formulaire en ligne pour travailler sur de nouveaux documents et voter sur des questions importantes), créer davantage de transparence (e.g. formulaire pour demander des fonds; afficher les rapports annuels sur le site Internet de l’Association), que l’Association soit plus inclusive (e.g. création de postes de représentant.es des doctorant.es), demander non seulement au comité exécutif mais aussi au comité de recherche de s’exprimer et de voter sur de nouvelles initiatives (e.g. ambassadeurs/ambassadrices; compte-rendus des commuications de colloque), recruter de nouveaux membres et créer de nouveaux partenariats avec d’autres associations au Royaume Uni, en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Mon ambition est d’élargir l’Association à toute la communauté francophone dans le monde entier pour que tous ceux et toutes celles qui enseignent le français et/ou font des recherches en linguistique française s’y retrouvent, y participent et l’enrichissent. Des informations plus détaillées seront fournies lors de l’Assembliée générale annuelle à la Nouvelle Orléans.
Treasurer’s report
AFLS accounts, 1 January – 19 September 2024
| ITEM | Income | Expenditure |
| 1. Membership receipts (Standing order, PayPal) | 3,232.00 | |
| 2. Part-refunds of subscriptions | 348.00 | |
| 3. PayPal expenses
4. Miscellaneous * |
180.57
60.15 |
|
| TOTALS | 3,232.00 | 588.72 |
Balance of income over expenditure, I January – 19 September 2024: +£2,643.28
Bank accounts stand as follows at 19 September 2024:
Community Account (current): £827.63
Business Tracker (deposit): £14,378.46
PayPal: £6,027.26
* Website maintenance.
For clarity, the figures above refer to the new subscription regime operative from 1 January 2024, £30 standard and £15 student. This reflects the fact that membership no longer brings with it a hard copy of JFLS issues since JFLS is now fully on line. Our relationship with Cambridge University Press regarding electronic access to JFLS is at present unresolved. It entails no expenditure at the time of writing. Online access to JFLS (including the entire archive and any non-research content published after 2024) would be as follows:
- Full membership: GBP £16.00 (per year)
- Student membership: GBP £14.00 (per year)
AFLS members will have the opportunity to vote to approve the additional cost of online access to JFLS or not shortly after the end of the conference (September 24-27).
The other expenses incurred in the year to September 2024 were: £600 for postgraduate prizes; and £100 for membership of UCML.
Nigel Armstrong, 20 September 2024
Outgoing Treasurer
Note from the Incoming Treasurer
Over the past several months we have worked to introduce the new—and reduced—membership fees and update our membership list accordingly. We thank members for their patience in working through the teething problems that occurred during this period. Physical accounts are in the process of being transferred to the Incoming Treasurer. We thank the Outgoing Treasurer for his many years of dedicated service to the Association.
Jonathan Kasstan, 23 September 2024
JFLS Research Notes Report Sept 2024
Members and delegates will recall that in 2020-21 the Association’s long-running working papers Cahiers merged with the Association’s journal JFLS, at which point Cahiers was renamed Research Notes (RNs). The Cahiers back-catalogue remains with AFLS. The scope of RNs can be found below:
Manuscripts accepted as Research Notes are shorter (4000-6000 words, not including references) than articles and are not required to propose a solution to issues they raise as long as their linguistic relevance to the French language is made clear. These shorter pieces provide an introduction to a topic of empirical and theoretical importance related to the French language and include brief reports on research results or methodologies.
Prospective authors can submit to RNs directly through ScholeOne. In some cases, the JFLS Editorial Board will consider whether or not a manuscript submitted to the journal that does not meet the bar of an original research article could be considered for RNs.
JFLS has published a steady flow of RNs since the merger with Cahiers in 2020-21. Since September 2023, all articles accepted to JFLS are published Open Access (i.e. published with a Creative Commons license and freely available to read online). The costs of open-access publication will be covered through agreements between CUP and the author’s institution, payment of APCs by funding bodies, or else waived entirely.
Prospective authors are encouraged to contact the RNs Editor with any queries.
Recently published RNs include:
- Marten et al. 2024. Testing speakers’ use of the social meaning potential of variable liaison in spoken French
- Pozniak et al. 2023. Contextual dilution in French gender inclusive writing: An experimental investigation.
Jonathan Kasstan, 24/09/2024
Annual report – Vice President UK Affairs
Emmanuelle Labeau (Aston University / Universiteit Antwerpen)
This is my last report as VP UK Affairs, as I have taken up a new position of Professor in French Synchronic Linguistics at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). My personal trajectory is a reflection of the state of language studies in the UK, as my former institution (Aston University) made the choice – as many other universities – to suspend the delivery not only of language programmes but of all university-wide language provision, leading me to apply for a post abroad.
An increasing number of UK universities are in deficit due to the combined influence of capped home fees and visa restrictions for international students who had been financing the UK Higher Education sector in the last decade. After languages, the whole arts and humanities sector is under increasing pressure.
Languages are now pretty much confined to Oxbridge and the red bricks universities (founded in the 19th century), which excludes swathes of the population (albeit multilingual) to embark on language degrees because of high entry grades and / or of the lack of regional providers. Languages are thus more than ever an elitist subject… As there are not enough languages graduates to fill the position of language teachers in schools, the problem can only worsen.
In this inauspicious context, there has been an unprecedented – but maybe late – mobilisation of the languages sector under the auspices of the University Council for Languages (formerly University Council of Modern Languages) and the Institute for the Study of Culture and Society at the University of London. I have been involved in national discussions within French Studies (as committee member for the Society of French Studies and the Association of University Professors and Heads of French (AUPHF+) and across languages as National French Studies Representative at UCfL, and represented AFLS at AMLUK (Association for modern languages and humanities) and at University Council for General and Applied Linguistics (UCGAL).
The overwhelmingly bleak situation has nonetheless a silver lining with some positive consequences such as an unprecedented cooperation between learned associations and institutions, and positive initiatives in support of scholars in precarious posts in most societies. A new mentorship programme is currently being developed by the Routes into Languages working group at UCfL in partnership with the National Centre for Language Education that won the tender for updating the language provision in school.
Despite those glimpses of hope, the position of French Language Studies in the UK is worrying with a diminishing and ageing pool of French linguists. AFLS was created in the UK, and inspired French linguists around the globe. Nowadays, UK-based members need all the support they can get from colleagues world-wide so my concluding words would be to encourage AFLS members to look for partnerships and joint research projects with UK-based colleagues as a way of support tinghem in challenging times, but also to benefit from the UK’s tradition of excellent research support. Only together are we strong!
As I have left the UK, I am stepping down as VP UK affairs. As I am back in a French Linguistics post, I am free again to get involved in AFLS and I will look for other ways to serve the association, for instance in co-organizing AFLS 2025 with Anne Dister (St Louis, Université Catholique de Louvain) in Belgium. We look forward to welcoming you in Brussels on 1-3 July 2025!