The Language Acts and Worldmaking Language Debates Series was originally conceived for the Language Transitions research strand of Language Acts and Worldmaking, an Arts and Humanities Research Council Open World Research Initiative (OWRI) project (www.languageacts.org).The first two-year programme of Debates culminated in a collective publication, Language Debates. Theory and Reality in Language Learning, Teaching and Research (Ana de Medeiros and Debra Kelly (eds), John Murray Learning/Hodder & Stoughton, 2021), which includes themes such as gender, activism, multilingualism, digital culture and linguistics.

The aim of the Language Debates Series is to foster a dialogue on the traditions and innovations and the synergies and fissures within Modern Languages, Language Education and allied disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The emphasis is on the benefits and challenges of exploring inter-disciplinary, cross-disciplinary and cross-sector educational perspectives to enrich learning, teaching and research in Modern, Community and World Languages at all levels and both inside and outside the academy. The Debates, therefore, seek to re-energise the field by examining current concerns and pedagogies to discuss and develop new directions and possibilities for the future.

Each Debate combines a panel of short papers, responses from invited speakers and open discussion with all participants.