Female Sociolinguists

[Emma Moore]

Dear All,

I’m currently reviewing a new sociolinguistic dictionary. The dictionary
includes named entries of key academics (these include Labov, Hymes,
Bourdieu, for instance). The authors quite sensibly note that there is a
preponderance of white, Anglophone, male academics in their entries and
explain this as a consequence of the way in which academic disciplines
have developed. They go on to state that this situation is likely to
change over time.

Whilst I commend the fact that the authors note this at all, my feeling is
that the situation is unlikely to change unless dictionaries such as the
one I’m reviewing take a stand and introduce female, non-white academics
into their representation of the canon. It’s not like there aren’t
excellent female and/or non-white researchers out there.

How do others feel about this? If you support my view, who would you like
to see included?

Many thanks,
Emma.

*********************************************************************

Dr Emma Moore
Lecturer in Sociolinguistics; Admissions Tutor
Department of English Language and Linguistics
University of Sheffield
5 Shearwood Road
Sheffield
S10 2TN
UK

Phone: +44 (0)114 222 0232
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 0240
E-mail: e.moore at sheffield.ac.uk
Webpage: http://www.shef.ac.uk/english/language/staff/emmam.html
********************************************************************