Research

Generally, my research program examines the role that language ideologies have in the language planning of indigenous and minority speech communities. I have participated in community-based research projects with indigenous communities in Canada, as well as in Papua New Guinea (PNG). My ongoing project with the Taku River Tlingit First Nation examines how a participatory online mapping site, which encourages Tlingit language use, allows the community to further promote their ideologies of stewardship using genres of place, such as place names, to promote stewardship via “performatives of stewardship”. My work with Kala speakers in PNG examines the impacts new literacy can have on language maintenance and language acquisition. I have also conducted research with newly created language communities, such as Na’vi speakers, in order to discover what indigenous and minority communities can learn from created language communities in terms of language learning and revitalization, but also identity strengthening and community-building. Finally, I have expanded my research in fan studies from constructed languages to the language used in another community of practice or fandom, the babywearing community. Babywearing is the practice of carrying a child with a piece of cloth on the body and it is practiced world-wide. This new research project investigates how people learn about babywearing in a North American context, particularly through language, and how to make this practice more accessible to a wider group of people for the benefit of the babies, as well as the caregivers