The University of Adelaide’s French Department will host a lecture about the contribution of French language to English and its repositioning for worldwide resurgence following years of decline.
The lecture on Thursday 18 October is part of a program of free public events themed, What have the French ever done for us?, celebrating 100 years of the University’s French Department in 2018.
"It is poignant that the first lecturer in French was appointed to the University of Adelaide in 1918, towards the end of a war in which so many Australians sacrificed their life on French soil," says Professor John West-Sooby of the University of Adelaide’s French Department.
"Back then, learning French was seen as part of a well-rounded education. And it remains just as relevant today, given the links that have developed between France and Australia over the last 100 years."
The lecture will be presented by language expert Roly Sussex, Emeritus Professor of Applied Language Studies at the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland.
Professor Sussex has appeared on talkback radio programs around the country providing specialist commentary on matters of language use and meaning, including the changes experienced by different languages.
The focus of discussion will be on the contribution of the French language to English, but also on what English has been doing to French.
"Much has been said about the decline of the French language, particularly in recent times, with the emergence of English as the more universal language," says Professor Sussex.
"The current French President Emmanuel Macron in his speech at the Académie Française in March had much to say about re-animating French nationally and internationally, so this lecture will also examine how French is repositioning itself for many years to come," he says.
WHAT: French and English: Deluge, reversed deluge, and what comes after us?
WHERE: North Terrace campus, Napier Theatre 102, University of Adelaide
WHEN: 6.00 to 7.00 pm Thursday 18 October 2018
COST: Free
