Rachel W
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
Expertise
Linguistics, foreign language studies, French studies, Language teaching and learning, Language and ideology, Language and discrimination, Language and gender, Sociolinguistics, Language and society, French linguistics, Spanish linguistics, Italian linguistics, Catalan linguistics, Translation
Bio
I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Romance Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. My research examines the role and impact of teaching explicitly about language variation and change in beginning-level French language courses. I'm also interested in issues surrounding language and ideology, language and discrimination, language standardization and policy, and the social meanings behind the way people use language.Project ideas
Everyday Linguistics
An "everyday linguistics" project involves diving into the world of linguistics by studying the language we hear in everyday life. Whether you want to learn more about the significance of a language's sound system, the words people use, or how people use one word/sentence to communicate several things, all this can be investigated by tuning in to the conversations happening all around you. You can learn methods for collecting speech data, how to analyze it, and what it all means for how we as humans communicate.
Research Proposal
Looking to get approval or even some funding towards a project you're passionate about? Together, we will work through the steps to developing a strong proposal, including researching existing literature, developing research questions or project goals, and devising a timeline and/or budget. We will also discuss persuasive writing strategies and adapting writing to institutional contexts.