This year's Ned Maddrell Lecture will take place on Saturday, 7th November at St John's Mill starting at 2pm.

The annual lecture, which is free, is jointly is hosted by Culture Vannin and yn Cheshaght Ghailckagh and features a guest speaker discussing a minority language situation that has a relevance to Manx Gaelic.

Recent discussions have covered language issues in Nova Scotia, Norfolk Island and Aboriginal languages in Australia but this year's will focus on language revitalisation in Guernsey and Jersey and will draw comparisons with the process in the Isle of Man.

The lecture and discussion will be lead Julia Sallabank, who is a Senior Lecturer in Language Support and Revitalisation in the Department of Linguistics at SOAS, University of London, where she teaches and researches language revitalisation, policy and planning. She has been conducting language-related research in Guernsey since 2000, and in Jersey and the Isle of Man since 2008.

Although the Channel Islands have followed the example of the Isle of Man in some ways (e.g. by appointing Language Officers), there are significant differences in other aspects of language planning processes and outcomes. The talk will focus on practical examples, but also attempt to draw conclusions and lessons about aims and priorities. She will also describe her recent research into the learning and teaching of minority languages to adults: there are major differences between teaching and learning a large language and a small one, involving aims, resources, motivation and methods.

Adrian Cain, the Manx Language Development Officer, for Culture Vannin, commented that the lecture and discussion, 'should illustrate the leading role Manx has played in minority language revitalisation in these Islands.'

The lecture is free and places can be booked by contacting Adrian.

For more information about the Lecture and the language in general contact Adrian Cain on adrian@culturevannin.im.