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Key research themes
1. How do different social and historical contexts shape the evolution and variation of French language registers in multilingual postcolonial settings?
This research theme investigates the development and diversification of French language registers in postcolonial multilingual societies, focusing on the sociopolitical, historical, and linguistic factors that influence the formation of distinct varieties. It highlights how colonial language policies, societal multilingualism, and identity constructions contribute to the emergence of local varieties and hybrid forms, revealing the dynamic nature of register variation beyond metropolitan French norms.
Key finding: Demonstrates that Cameroon’s French language evolved from a colonial imposition of 'standard' French to a complex multilingual ecology featuring distinct varieties such as Cameroon Popular French (CPF) and Camfranglais, the... Read more
Key finding: Analyzes how insularity, combined with linguistic contact and isolation, shapes a distinct regional variety of Portuguese with competing registers that reflect complex identity negotiations. This illustrates how local... Read more
Key finding: While focusing on English in Francophone West Africa, this study highlights the coexistence and competition between colonial languages and indigenous languages in multilingual postcolonial contexts, underscoring the parallel... Read more
2. What methodological innovations facilitate effective documentation and analysis of language registers in complex multilingual and contact settings?
This theme centers on the development and application of methodological tools and approaches to accurately capture linguistic diversity, register variation, and language contact phenomena in settings characterized by multilingualism. It emphasizes the necessity of ecological data collection, interactive digital tools, and integrated analytic frameworks to preserve minority and regional languages and their registers, addressing both theoretical and practical challenges in linguistic documentation.
Key finding: Argues for shifting from documenting only monolingual speakers of endangered languages to encompassing the full multilingual ecology, including language contact in progress. This provides insights into register variation,... Read more
Key finding: Presents an innovative digital atlas featuring interactive maps and audio recordings of over 300 versions of a canonical text in indigenous and regional languages, illustrating how digital tools support the transcription,... Read more
Key finding: Outlines pluralistic and integrated didactic approaches to language teaching that foster 'plurilingual and pluricultural competence,' highlighting educational methodologies that accommodate multiple registers and... Read more
3. How are linguistic registers ideologically constructed, socially distributed, and linked to identity and power dynamics within language communities?
This theme explores sociolinguistic models of registers, focusing on their cultural metapragmatic status, their role as symbolic emblems of social identity or grouping, and how they mediate access and power within societies. It addresses how register repertoires reflect asymmetries in social class, education, professional domains, and ideological hierarchies, acknowledging register competence as a key sociolinguistic resource.
Key finding: Provides a comprehensive conceptual framework for understanding registers as culturally constructed linguistic repertoires tied to social practices, actor roles, and relationships. It highlights how individual register... Read more
Key finding: Examines perceptions of creole languages’ morphological complexity and challenges the ideological simplification of creole registers as ‘simpler’ varieties. It underscores the social controversies and identity implications... Read more
Key finding: Demonstrates how digital multimodal and mediatic practices shape new literacy registers among advanced French second language learners in Canada, linking language competence, identity formation, and digital citizenship. The... Read more