Call for Book Proposals - Monographs or Edited Volumes on Endangered Languages

Vernon Press invites monograph or edited volume book proposals on the topic of Endangered Languages.

According to The Ethnologue, there are approximately 7,139 living languages around the world, yet only 23 of these languages account for over half of the world’s speakers. In this age of globalisation, there is a clear threat to marginal languages and cultures of the world; with government policies, economic opportunities, employment prospects, education, and language prestige representing but a few contributing factors to language endangerment. Currently, there is widespread consensus that within the next century, approximately 90 percent of them will disappear altogether.

Endeavouring to tackle this tragic reality, UNESCO has declared 2022-23 as the ‘Decade of Indigenous Languages’, with the hope that increased visibility and awareness of the issue will lead to further investigation and generate actionable solutions to ensure the survival of global linguistic diversity.

All areas of study with the common goal of exploring endangered language documentation and conservation are encouraged to be submitted.

Possible contributions include (but are not limited to):

• Linguistic properties of heritage languages in bilingual speakers.
• Heritage language acquisition.
• Heritage language policies.
• Causes of language endangerment.
• Attitudes and identity in heritage languages.
• Research methods in heritage language development.
• New trends in heritage language education/ ethno-education.
• Understudied heritage languages.
• New trends in language preservation/ revitalisation.

How to submit your proposal

Please submit monograph proposals (approx. two pages) to submissions@vernonpress.com including a summary, a short biographical note and (if applicable) a list of similar titles using this form: Proposal form. More information on what we look for in a proposal is available on our website.

About the publisher

Vernon Press is an independent publisher of scholarly books in the social sciences and humanities. We work closely with authors, academic associations, distributors, and library information specialists to identify and develop high quality, high impact titles.