About
My research centers on language in contact and in context, themes that capture both my languages of interest (high-contact and minority language varieties, such as Creoles) and my domains of specialization (pragmatic elements, such as pragmatic markers).
What I love most about being a linguist is having opportunities to spark ah-ha! moments about varieties and features of language that are marginalized, stigmatized, or overlooked. In my work, I draw upon insights and methodologies from many approaches to linguistic research, including contact linguistics; corpus, experimental, and historical pragmatics; sociolinguistics; morphosyntax; and gesture.
Currently, I am investigating the functions and features of pragmatic markers in Kwéyòl Donmnik, an understudied French- and English- influenced Creole. I am also a collaborator on projects centered on language ideology, language and identity, and language use by acitivists in minoritized language communities.
My background affords me a strong foundation in Romance linguistics, as well as ample experience teaching linguistics and academic writing at the university level.
