My research explores how language reflects and constructs identity, belonging, and power.
Working primarily through ethnographic and sociolinguistic methods, I study how language ideology and communicative practices influence cultural expression and educational experience. Drawing from linguistic and cultural anthropology, my work examines how people use language to negotiate history, place, and self—especially where local identity and global discourse intersect. My central focus is on understanding how language practices facilitate identity, belonging, and cultural continuity.
Areas of Focus
Sociolinguistics and Language Ideologies
· Language attitudes and their social consequences
· Ideologies of authenticity and representation of Cajuns in language and media
· Metalinguistic and metapragmatic awareness in interaction
Anthropology of Language and Belonging
· Ethnography of communication and embodied interaction
· Cajun and Acadian language practices, belonging, and cultural continuity
Language, Equity and Pedagogy
· Linguicism, access, and language-based discrimination
· Equitable approaches to multilingual learner support
· Managing complexity and developing adaptive teaching practices
Current Projects
Resonant Belongings: Comparative Ethnography of Identity, Belonging, and Cultural Continuity in the Dance Halls of the Acadian Diaspora — Developing a doctoral research framework to explore how embodied communicative practices may enact and create resonances of belonging across Cajun, Acadian, and French regional contexts, with attention to cultural continuity and translocal identity.
La Poussière: Rhythms of Identity, Class, and Cultural Belonging in a Cajun Dance Hall — Developing a conference presentation and journal article based on an ethnographic study of Cajun identity in a local dance hall, examining class-based sociability, multimodal communication, and intergenerational continuity.
Teaching English Across Contexts: A Practicum-Based Study of Multilingual Learner Support in K–12, Adult, and University Settings — Examining teacher adaptability and learner engagement across institutional contexts (practicum capstone project).
Linguicism, Language Attitudes, and Language Inequality — Forthcoming (2026, contracted); co-authoring a chapter on linguicism and language activism for a sociolinguistics textbook.
Putting on the Poo-Yai: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Authenticity in Cajun Languages — Conducting a media discourse analysis of portrayals of Cajun identity in contemporary media, with attention to representation and cultural ideology, co-authored with Dr. Nicole Stanford and Catelyn Errington.
Managing Complexity in ESL Classrooms: Rethinking Bloom’s Taxonomy and Higher-Order Thinking — Investigating the relationship between cognitive frameworks and communicative language teaching in multilingual learning environments.