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Key research themes
1. How do social and cognitive factors shape language change in contexts of linguistic contact?
Language contact research increasingly emphasizes that linguistic change cannot be understood without integrating the social dynamics and cognitive processes of speakers. This theme explores how social parameters such as community size, language prestige, bilingualism intensity, and speaker identity intersect with cognitive bilingual mechanisms to influence contact-induced variation and change. Understanding these factors sheds light on the mechanisms driving changes in multilingual settings, including which linguistic subsystems are more susceptible to change and how language ideologies impact language maintenance or shift.
Key finding: This paper foregrounds the necessity of centering social and cultural dynamics in the analysis of language contact, arguing that linguistic change is deeply entwined with speaker interactional practices, social identities,... Read more
Key finding: Investigates Spanish-English bilingualism in the US Southwest, showing that despite intense contact, speakers preserve abstract syntactic structures of their heritage language, indicating syntax as a boundary to language... Read more
Key finding: Presents a cognitive agent-based framework distinguishing types of contact-induced change (borrowing, imposition, restructuring, convergence) contingent on language dominance and bilingual speaker activity. It emphasizes the... Read more
Key finding: Synthesizes how social parameters such as speaker numbers, prestige, bilingualism, and language shift strongly influence which linguistic modules are affected by contact. For example, lexical borrowing typically occurs in... Read more
2. What methodological innovations enable large-scale and integrated study of language contact beyond traditional philological approaches?
Traditional language contact research requires detailed comparative studies of the contact languages involved, limiting scalability and breadth. This theme addresses methodological innovations using computational analyses and broad multilingual data sets to identify contact effects. It also critiques the traditional usage of 'language' as a discrete entity, advocating for usage-based and interactional models that consider languages as networked repertoires emerging from individual speaker knowledge and interaction, enabling more nuanced and scalable contact research.
Key finding: Proposes a computational, database-driven approach to detecting and analyzing language contact patterns across large samples of languages without requiring in-depth, language-pair-specific philological studies. By calibrating... Read more
Key finding: This paper further develops the computational heuristic approach to detect contact effects by examining non-random distributions of linguistic features across systems, allowing for the study of contact influence even when... Read more
Key finding: Advocates a cognitive and usage-based definition of language as radially organized networks of interlinked constructions rather than discrete grammatical systems. This conceptualization aligns better with observed contact... Read more
Key finding: Challenges the separationist view that bilingual competence consists of discrete, autonomous grammars. Using creole continuum data and code-switching phenomena, the author argues for an integrated I-language with a single... Read more
3. How can awareness and understanding of contact-induced variation improve heritage language education and linguistic self-confidence?
Heritage language speakers often exhibit contact-induced linguistic variation that diverges from prescriptive norms, which can negatively affect their language identity and connection to ethnic communities. This theme investigates the role of variation awareness and social evaluation of variants in heritage language classrooms. Raising students’ understanding of contact effects fosters metalinguistic awareness, counters stigmatization of their language use, and supports linguistic self-confidence and stronger ethnic identity.
Key finding: Demonstrates that recognizing various outcomes of language contact—including stability, attrition, and mixing—enables heritage language learners to critically understand their own language use without binary judgments of... Read more