Language Diversity

The Language Diversity Research Group is made up of researchers who investigate various aspects of the languages in use by multilinguals. The research topics carried out by the faculty include a variety of approaches to the investigation of linguistic structure and use, and link these analyses of linguistic form with the study of their social and societal impact

A key word for this research group is ‘variation’, which is approached in different ways. Many studies done by members of this group look at variation within a language; how different linguistic features are used by members of different sub-groups (Janet Fuller, Remco Knooihuizen), and also how these features may vary in the speech of individual speakers according to context and speaker identification. Other research projects look at variation between languages, in particular closely related languages, and how this variation influences communication across linguistic boundaries ( Anja Schüppert, Charlotte Gooskens).

Language attitudes and ideologies are also important concerns in our research (Joana Da Silveira Duarte, Aurélie Joubert). We look at how views of particular linguistic features influence communication and performance, as well as how attitudes about certain languages and their speakers play a role in language production and discursive construction of identities. We also address widespread ideas about languages – for example the value of Standard varieties and linguistic purism – and how these are manifest in the communities we study.

Although national languages of various countries as well as English as a global language are topics of research, there is also a clear focus on minority and immigrant languages and their speakers (Janet Fuller, Aurélie Joubert, Joana Da Silveira Duarte, Janine Strandberg). We are concerned with the transmission of these languages in the home, in the community, and through education and other institutions; with the roles these languages play in the lives of their speakers and the broader communities; and with language variation and change within these varieties. Because speakers of these minoritized languages are almost always speakers of the majority languages in their societies as well, this is an inherent part of our focus on multilingualism.

In terms of data and methodology, research in our group includes a wide variety of approaches. Studies done by group members include both quantitative and qualitative approaches, use experiments, ethnography, and interviews, look at large corpora, case studies, face to face and virtual communication as well as media and text. These various approaches complement each other to provide a full picture of the complexity of multilingualism.

Finally, we are also concerned with the accessibility and application of our research; we strive to not just represent the voices of our research participants but also speak to them, and to share the insights we gain beyond the academy.

Group members: