The Language in The Gambia Reading Group is a community of students, scholars and members of the general public interested in finding out more about how languages are used to communicate in The Gambia (e.g. the characteristics of diglossia, translanguaging practices and language contact in the country) and the working of these languages (e.g. their grammatical features, sentence prosody, and orthography development). The Gambia is well known for its linguistic diversity. English, the official language, co-exists with around a dozen other languages. Seven of these are indigenous to, or widely spoken in, The Gambia, and are often called ‘national languages’: Pulaar, Jola, Mandinka, Manjaku, Sarahule, Seerrer and Olof. We meet regularly for an hour to discuss research articles related to these topics.

The Language in the Gambia Forum shines the spotlight on speakers with expertise in using language in The Gambia, e.g. policy makers, educators, translators, members of the general public. Each speaker shares their personal experience of using language in The Gambia. Format of the forum meetings:

1. we release a video of the speaker’s talk in advance of the online meeting (if you would like to be added to our mailing list or WhatsApp group to be notified please use the Get in Touch form on the right-hand side of this page.
2. we organise an online discussion where the speaker will address questions from the live audience

We are open to discussing articles ready for submission to relevant academic/professional journals. If you would like us to include your article as part of our reading list or would like to present during a Forum meeting please use our Get in Touch form. Please note that if necessary, we can assist you with the recording of your talk and Internet access (in The Gambia) on the day of your live session if you’re presenting for a Forum session.

Reading group or Forum meetings last ONE HOUR. We usually start discussions on WhatsApp to allow people who can’t attend the meetings online to participate.

Who can participate in the Groups and Forum meetings we organise?

In keeping with the ethos of the Multilingual Education in The Gambia HUB, our Language in The Gambia Reading Group and Forum meetings are open to everyone: students, members of the general public, scholars and others interested in finding out more about how languages are used to communicate in The Gambia. In other words, ANYONE with an interest in how language is (or has been) used in The Gambia is welcome to attend and attendance is FREE. The Language in The Gambia Writing Group is aimed at merging scholars/writers.

Organisers 

The Language in The Gambia Virtual Reading Group & Forum is an initiative which was originally developed by Dr Clyde Ancarno (King’s College London), Lamin Demba (Lecturer in Literature and English at the University of The Gambia) and Lamin O. Ceesay (former school teacher with a BA in Development Studies from the University of The Gambia).

Past meetings