Film celebrating language diversity at York St John University screens this weekend

Students and staff at York St John University will feature in a short film as part of the Our City Festival: One Community Many Voices on Sunday 27 March at York Explore.

The 'OurLOTE Project: York St John University' film, screening at 11.30am and 1.10pm, celebrates the languages used in the University community including American Sign Language, Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Spanish, and Welsh.  

The film was made as part of the OurLOTE Project which aims to celebrate languages other than English, funded by York St John University and the University Council for Modern Languages. 

Dr Becky Muradás-Taylor, who started the OurLOTE Project said, "People have been talking for years about a language education crisis in the UK. But not much attention has been paid to the lack of role models. I wanted to change that by celebrating the languages spoken at York St John University.” 

Alfie Ball, a third-year student at York St John University studying Japanese, TESOL and Linguistics who worked on the film said, "Languages are such an integral part of our identities and our lives, and the OurLOTE project has allowed many students and staff at the university to express themselves in ways they usually hide away. It has been such a privilege for me to witness this whilst working on the project.” 

Alfie is one of many people in the City of York studying a language. York St John University has over 300 students studying British Sign Language, Japanese and Korean to degree level, and the University of York has degree programmes in French, German, Italian and Spanish, making York a fantastic destination for language learners.

Dr Muradás-Taylor is currently applying for funding to broaden the OurLOTE Project out to the City of York to further explore and celebrate languages used in local government, education settings, media and business, as well as local residents. 

The film will screen at Library Square, Museum Street, York YO1 7DS, followed by a lecture from The Centre for Language and Social Justice Research (LSJ) at York St John University exploring how social inequality and injustices are enacted through language. 

Find the One City Festival full event listings including musical performances, creative workshops, lectures and community stands.