Professor Wendy Ayres-Bennett

Wendy Ayres-Bennett is Professor of French Philology and Linguistics, University of Cambridge. She specialises in the history of French and the history of linguistic thought, on which she has published widely. Her research interests include standardisation and codification, linguistic ideology and policy, variation and change. She is Principal Investigator on the multi-disciplinary, multi-institution research project, Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies, funded by the AHRC under its Open World Research Initiative (2016-2020). The project is working closely with policymakers and practitioners to promote the value of languages for key issues of our time and the benefits of language learning for individuals and societies.