In this workshop, we will discuss the concepts of appliable linguistics (Halliday, 2006) and positive discourse analysis (PDA) (Martin, 2004) in order to examine ways to allow our linguistics work to help solve the problems that our communities face today. Participants to the workshop will be asked to identify problems that their communities face and brainstorm on how linguists can be called upon to intervene in those problems. Furthermore, we will discuss various linguistic approaches to problem-solving. This workshop will be of interest to those who are interested in expanding their knowledge of discourse analysis and connecting it to community work and introducing a strong service element into their research.

The languages we speak shape how we understand the world around us, including our connections to land and nature. But as fast as we’re losing species from our planet, so we’re losing languages that offer different ways of seeing. What connections, ideas and wisdom are we losing as those languages are lost? What powerful strategies for sustainable living might they offer, to help look afresh at our environmental crisis? living-language-land is a journey through endangered and minority languages that reveal different ways of relating to land and nature. Through 26 words shared in the run-up to COP26 the project is giving a global audience fresh inspiration for tackling our environmental crisis.  This presentation by Living-Language-Land’s creative co-producers Neville Gabie and Philippa Bayley will also feature the ff. presentations: 1. “Napuro: An Island Within An Island” —a featured contribution from the Cuyonon language by Prof. Aldrin P. Lee (Department of Linguistics, UP Diliman) a contributor to the project. 2. “Walking the Land, Remembering the Self”— a commentary by Prof. Tuting C. Hernandez (UP Department of Linguistics & the UP CSSP Folklore Studies Program) One significant goal of the talk is to explore potential ways that Living-Language-Land could engage with the ethnolinguistic diversity of the Philippines.