Linguistic diversity in a time of crisis: Language challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

TLDR

Multilingual crisis communication during COVID‑19 has exposed the exclusion of linguistic minorities, the dominance of English, and the neglect of minoritized languages, highlighting the need for multilingual repertoires to build trust and resilient communities. This special issue examines these challenges and potential solutions through case studies from China and the global Chinese diaspora, aiming to foster intercultural dialogue within sociolinguistics. The authors argue that sociolinguistics must incorporate local knowledge, diversify its voices, and engage policy makers and activists to better prepare for future crises.

Abstract

Abstract Multilingual crisis communication has emerged as a global challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Global public health communication is characterized by the large-scale exclusion of linguistic minorities from timely high-quality information. The severe limitations of multilingual crisis communication that the COVID-19 crisis has laid bare result from the dominance of English-centric global mass communication; the longstanding devaluation of minoritized languages; and the failure to consider the importance of multilingual repertoires for building trust and resilient communities. These challenges, along with possible solutions, are explored in greater detail by the articles brought together in this special issue, which present case studies from China and the global Chinese diaspora. As such, the special issue constitutes not only an exploration of the sociolinguistics of the COVID-19 crisis but also a concerted effort to open a space for intercultural dialogue within sociolinguistics. We close by contending that, in order to learn lessons from COVID-19 and to be better prepared for future crises, sociolinguistics needs to include local knowledges and grassroots practices not only as objects of investigation but in its epistemologies; needs to diversify its knowledge base and the academic voices producing that knowledge base; and needs to re-enter dialogue with policy makers and activists.