Research
Real-time dialect change in London-based New Zealanders
My current postdoctoral project (2022-present) examines the consequences of mid-term dialect contact and dialect change among London-based New Zealanders. In this project, I explore the impact of social network, language attitudes and personality traits on dialect change, and how individual experiences of migration shape the outcomes of dialect contact.
Tongan English: Sound, structure, and status
I have an ongoing interest in World Englishes, including the emergence of linguistic norms and social variation in New Englishes, and the value attributed to these varieties within the broader World Englishes landscape. My doctoral research (2019-2022) examined the development of and social meaning of variation in Tongan English, a nativising variety of English in the South Pacific. This included a description of the sound and structure of the emergent variety, analysis of the social meaning of variation in speech rhythm and rhoticity, and exploration of local language attitudes and ideologies.
