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Reposted by Ian Cushing

Warda Farah @wardasworld.bsky.social · 12h

This looks really brilliant 👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿

Julia Snell @snelljulia.bsky.social · 13h

Please join me on 12th November at my @universityofleeds.bsky.social professorial inaugural lecture on ‘Language Diversity and Social (In)justice’. More info here, including a link at the bottom to book a ticket (which is free but we need to track numbers): ahc.leeds.ac.uk/english/even...

Professor Julia Snell's Inaugural Lecture: 'Language diversity and social (in)justice'

Drawing on research conducted over 20 years, Prof. Julia Snell interrogates the assumption that modifying children's speech will lead to educational success and social mobility.

ahc.leeds.ac.uk

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Julia Snell @snelljulia.bsky.social · 13h

Please join me on 12th November at my @universityofleeds.bsky.social professorial inaugural lecture on ‘Language Diversity and Social (In)justice’. More info here, including a link at the bottom to book a ticket (which is free but we need to track numbers): ahc.leeds.ac.uk/english/even...

Professor Julia Snell's Inaugural Lecture: 'Language diversity and social (in)justice'

Drawing on research conducted over 20 years, Prof. Julia Snell interrogates the assumption that modifying children's speech will lead to educational success and social mobility.

ahc.leeds.ac.uk

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 1d

Shit

Dr Emma L Briant 🐸🎃 @emmalbriant.bsky.social · 1d

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com

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Christian Ilbury @christianilbury.bsky.social · 4d

Please share!

We have a number of fully funded PhD studentships in "Designing Responsible Natural Language Processing". I'm a possible supervisor & I'd be keen to support projects on sociolinguistics-AI, e.g., accent bias in AI, language+gender/sexuality+AI.

www.responsiblenlp.org

Our CDT is based in the Edinburgh Futures Institute – the University of Edinburgh’s brand new hub for research, innovation and teaching focused on socially just artificial intelligence and data.

www.responsiblenlp.org

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 4d

it takes a long time to socialise most undergraduate students out of the idea that there is an ‘academic language’ they must conform to, but once they unlearn this ideology then their writing becomes better and more powerful than it ever was before 🌸

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Accelerated Insights @disruptsel.bsky.social · 4d

The linked article below from @iancushing.bsky.social provides a linear explanation of the critique through an international lens.

The argument is that the WG is a red herring that distracts from the neoliberal education reforms ushered in during the 1990s.

e-space.mmu.ac.uk/641609/8/Rea...

"Neoliberal school, academisation, scripted curricula, standardized pedagogies, teacher surveillance, and the global industry of deficit thinking."

"The seed of the word gap lies in the mid-90s academic knowledge production, from where it was grown and cultivated..."

"it appealed to policy makers because of how it shifted blame onto marginalized individuals and absolved state responsibility..."

"it offered digestible headlines for journalists invested in moral panic narratives..."

"it seemingly offered school leaders a perennial solution for educational injustices on a plate."

"Many teachers...are doing what they can to reject a pervasive narrative that communities experiencing systemic inequality are simply in need of more words and better words."

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 7d

here it is! :) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 12d

thanks so much Arlette, i hope you are well :) I was teaching about your amazing work just yesterday!

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Christian Ilbury @christianilbury.bsky.social · 12d

We're hosting Lavender Languages from 2-4 September 2026. Save the date! Plenaries and a formal announcement to be follow shortly...

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 12d

thanks so much alberto, hope you enjoy it :)

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Alberto Bruzos @abruzos.bsky.social · 12d

Looks great! Adding it to my to-read list.

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

1 1 2

Reposted by Ian Cushing

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

5 16 50

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 15d

Alright, I want to make sure my team are booked and busy this autumn and so I’m offering a special discount for Bsky users only

Send us an enquiry via the web form or via email with the code ‘BSKYBELOVEDS’ for a tasty 15% discount off all interview, focus group, and workshop transcription services

Academic Audio Transcription Ltd @aat-transcribes.bsky.social · 17d

Hey there!

Did you know that we’re a disabled-led, disabled-majority social enterprise specialising in supporting research through human-only transcription services?

We’ve masses of research experience, and about 1/4 in us have PhDs.

Click here for more info & to get a quote 👇🏻

Home - Academic Audio Transcription Ltd

Get high-quality, human-made transcripts and closed captions from our specialist disabled-led and disabled-majority team of expert transcribers.

academicaudiotranscription.com

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Flora Cornish @floracornish.bsky.social · 15d

Great bargain for all transcription needs! Spend your money wisely and ethically at the same time

Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 15d

Alright, I want to make sure my team are booked and busy this autumn and so I’m offering a special discount for Bsky users only

Send us an enquiry via the web form or via email with the code ‘BSKYBELOVEDS’ for a tasty 15% discount off all interview, focus group, and workshop transcription services

Academic Audio Transcription Ltd @aat-transcribes.bsky.social · 17d

Hey there!

Did you know that we’re a disabled-led, disabled-majority social enterprise specialising in supporting research through human-only transcription services?

We’ve masses of research experience, and about 1/4 in us have PhDs.

Click here for more info & to get a quote 👇🏻

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 18d

i hope this article gives hope to any teachers who are confronted with ideologies of the 'word gap' in their schools. despite the stubbornness of this deficit concept, there are always spaces for resistance 💕 ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

3 9

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 20d

I’ve written to Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper demanding urgent action to ensure the safety of the Global Sumud Flotilla. 52 boats carrying aid and peace activists to Gaza.

The UK must act to assure their safety.

Israel is committing a genocide. All eyes are on this flotilla.

Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP
Prime Minister

Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
Foreign Secretary

Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

24th September, 2025

Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary,

I am writing to you with urgency regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which is currently attempting to bring desperately needed aid to Gaza. The flotilla is made up of 52 boats, carrying humanitarian supplies and peace activists determined to support civilians facing unimaginable suffering.

Reports have already emerged of explosions, unidentified objects being dropped near the vessels, drones circling overhead, and communications being jammed. These are deeply concerning developments. We know from past experience that when Israel smears peace activists with unfounded claims of links to Hamas, it is often a precursor to violent attacks.

The UK Government must make it absolutely clear that these boats, carrying only aid and peaceful activists, must be treated safely and in line with inte

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 21d

follow the thing methodologies normally trace the global flows of food products. here i use that methodology to trace the global flow of an idea - the word gap - and how teachers get positioned as consumers who have the ability to both reproduce and resist dominant ideologies about language.

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

1 4

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 24d

ah thanks Clare :)

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clarefeeneyuk.bsky.social @clarefeeneyuk.bsky.social · 24d

A compelling article by @iancushing.bsky.social

Schools don't have to subscribe to language deficit views.

In one school a leader 'had run whole-school training on asset-based pedagogies, which included a sharp critique and rejection of dominant word gap narratives.'

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

1 4 7

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 24d

thanks so much Barbara :)

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Barbara Bleiman @barbarableiman.bsky.social · 24d

A brillliant, fascinating article by @iancushing.bsky.social about the word gap concept - but also about the whole ecology of our current education system, uncovered by tracing the experiences of one teacher and what these reveal about the system as a whole.

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

1 3 11

Reposted by Ian Cushing

DrAnnD @drannd.bsky.social · 25d

The Word Gap ™️ is something most teachers learn by osmosis. Given that what we think it means is not correct, we need to unlearn it, and dig at the biases that made it so attractive and idea in the first place.

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

3 5

Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

thanks :)

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Itsbetteronabike @timinwinchester.bsky.social · 25d

A really great read about the tyranny of the "word gap"; like a "zombie statistic", it refuses to die, despite its troubling & misleading origins. The article reminds me of www-tandfonline-com.soton.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.... which shows how such thinking plays out in practice.

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Ian Cushing @iancushing.bsky.social · 25d

new article published open access in Reading Research Quarterly 💫

Follow the word gap: the social life of a deficit concept
doi.org/10.1002/rrq....

i trace how deficit ideologies associated with the 'word gap' get reproduced - and rejected - in teacher education and schools.

5 16 50