School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics

Professor Julia Sallabank

Key information

Roles
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics Professor of Language Policy and Revitalisation
Qualifications
PhD (Lancaster)
Building
Main Building
Office
P428b
Email address
js72@soas.ac.uk
Telephone number
020 7898 4326
Support hours
By appointment

Biography

Fields of expertise

  • Multilingualism
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Language policy and planning
  • Endangered language revitalisation
  • Language documentation

Regional Expertise

  • Oceania (Language policy and revitalisation)
  • Europe

Country Expertise: ADD

  • British Isles
  • Thailand (Minority language support and revitalisation)

Language expertise

  • French, German: C2.  I am able to give lectures and examine doctoral theses in these languages.
  • Guernesiais: C1+

Research interests

My main research interests relate to small, minority and endangered languages: e.g. language revitalisation, language policy and planning, mainly from a sociolinguistic perspective. I have contributed to international recognition of language revitalisation as a field of study. I also undertake broader research in the fields of multilingualism, sociolinguistics, linguistic ethnography and linguistic anthropology.

In 2019 I secured funding from AHRC/CHASE for a collaborative PhD studentship 'Multilingualism in perspective: language practices, identities and ideologies in the Sylheti community in Tower Hamlets, London’ (collaborators: Osmani Trust, Tower Hamlets, and Goldsmiths, University of London).

I have become increasingly interested in interdisciplinary studies, e.g. links between languages and development, language use and wellbeing, language and gender; and their implications for language policy. I have co-supervised two PhD students with Anthropology, and am currently co-supervising one with the Music department (music and the revitalisation of Ainu in Japan).

I have also developed collaborative research links with researchers in Thailand (5 collaborative projects to date), New Zealand, Fiji, and Croatia. Since 2000 I have been working with the endangered language community in Guernsey, Channel Islands.

PhD Supervision

Name Title
Nahida Ahmed
Takako Kawabata Choice of languages and scripts in the Japanese linguistic landscape (tentative title)
Meriem Sallemine
Vasiliki Vita Testing ESL methods for teaching Sonsorolese: A documentation project with maintenance in mind
Becky Winstanley Multilingualism in Tower Hamlets: Sylheti practices, places, connections and ideologies
Lingxia Zhou Hegemony and Counter-hegemony in Multilingual China: A case study of language policy and campaigns in Shanghai [WORKING TITLE]
Miho Zlazli A case study of Master-Apprentice initiative with new speakers of Ryukyuan languages (Working Title)

Publications

Contact Julia