Current Students and Their Research Interests

Ph.D Students

Laura Baxter

B.A. (McGill University), M.A. (University of Toronto)

baxter@yorku.ca / http://sites.google.com/site/laurabaxter

Research interests include: language variation and change, sociolinguistics, sociophonetics, dialectology, historical linguistics. Current research focuses on dialects of Canadian English.

Philip Comeau

B.A. (Dalhousie University), M.A. (York University)

pcomeau@yorku.ca / http://sites.google.com/site/philipdeniscomeau

Sociolinguistics; Language variation and change; Canadian French; Acadian French; Louisiana French; language contact; morphosyntax; socio-syntax. Current dissertation project is a comparative analysis of the subjunctive mood and future temporal reference across varieties of Acadian French spoken in Nova Scotia.

D. Rick Grimm

B.A. (University of Calgary), M.A. (University of Alberta)

rgrimm@yorku.ca / http://www.glendon.yorku.ca/crlc/membrespgindiv/RickGrimm.html

Research interests include spoken Ontario French, minority French in Canada, language variation and change, language contact (specifically French and English), diachronic linguistics, language maintenance and sociolinguistic theory.

Ali Hadidi

B.Sc. (Iran University of Science and Technology), M.A. (University of Tehran)

ahadidi@yorku.ca

Research focus: Written composition writing processes of adult ESL learners from cognitive and sociocultural theory (SCT) perspectives. Main interests: (critical) discourse analysis; text analysis; second language education (SLE) and acquisition (SLA); English for specific purposes (ESP).

Snezhana S. Harizanova
B.A., M.A. (South-West University, Bulgaria), M.A. (York University)

snezhana@yorku.ca
Research interests: first and second language acquisition/learning; second/foreign language pedagogy and teacher training; second/foreign language curriculum design; second/foreign language assessment; the role of the first language in second/foreign language learning and teaching.

Jessica King

B.A. (University of Guelph), M.A. (York University)

jessking@yorku.ca

Second Language Education; language policy; immigration and citizenship; language, culture, and identity; development of writing for academic purposes.

Iryna Lenchuk

B.A. (National Linguistic University, Ukraine), M.A. in Second Language Education (OISE, University of Toronto)

ilenchuk@yorku.ca

Second language acquisition and the study of narrative.

Jonathan Luke

B.A. (University of Ottawa), TESL (Carleton University), M.A. (Carleton University)
jrluke@yorku.ca
Research interests: language policy and planning; linguistic anthropology; English in the world, globalization and TEFL; English for academic purposes.

John McGaughey
B.A. (University of Western Ontario), M.A. (MacQuarie University)
johnmc@yorku.ca
Research interests include: sociocultural theory/activity theory as applied to second/foreign language acquisition, teaching and learning; the role of the first language in second/foreign language education; bilingual/multilingual pedagogy; classroom based research focusing on classroom interaction; and computer-mediated language learning.

Sean Meades

B.A. (Dalhousie University), M.A. (York University)
sbmeades@yorku.ca
Research interests: Language policy & planning in Northern Ontario; Anishinaabemowin language revitalization; language, gender, and sexuality; critical discourse analysis; language, racism, and colonialism; tourism, economic development and discourses of identity and place.
Dissertation research: Socio-cultural and economic impact of language policy in Northern Ontario.

Angela Meyer Sterzik

B.A. (University of Waterloo), TESL (Conestoga College), M.A (York University)

ajms@yorku.ca

Research interests: adult second language acquisition, English for academic purposes: Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking, High-stakes assessments, pedagogy.

Dissertation research: advanced L2 learners’ discourse comprehension and writing processes linked to whole-text comprehension in academic contexts.

Jeffrey Millar

B.A. (McGill University), TESL Certificate (Concordia University), M.A. (York University)

jmillar@yorku.ca

Research interests: Language Policy and Planning; Ethnography of Language Policy; Language Assessment for purposes of immigration, Critical Language Testing; Critical Discourse Analysis (Dialectical-Relational and Discourse-Historical Approaches); Language Ideology, Standard Language Ideology; Language and (Post)Nationalism, discourses of language and national identity; Language and Governmentality, discourse/language as technologies of government; Language and Neo-liberalism.

Dissertation research: ‘Discourses of language and immigrant integration in Canada and the UK’ - a comparative analysis of the role of discourses of integration and discourse practices of language assessment and training as technologies of government within the immigration regimes of Canada and the UK.

Jacqueline Peters

B.A. (Concordia University), M.A. (University of Toronto)

jepeters@yorku.ca

Research Interests: sociolinguistics; language and ethnicity; language and identity; linguistic ideologies; discourse analysis; sociology of language; ethnography of communication; inter-cultural communication. Specific language interests: Black Canadian English; African American English; Jamaican English and Jamaican Creole.

Tanya Romaniuk

B.A. (McMaster University), TESL Certificate, M.A. (York University)

romanta@yorku.ca / http://tanyaromaniuk.tk/

Research interests: sociocultural linguistics; discourse analysis; conversation analysis; language and gender; institutional talk; broadcast talk; political communication.

Dissertation research: an interactional analysis of laughter in broadcast news interviews.

Sibley Slinkard

B.A. (George Mason University), M.A. (Old Dominion University)

slinkard@yorku.ca

Research areas: Discourse Analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Narrative Analysis, Language, Gender and Sexuality, Language and Violence, Ethnography.

Jessica Spieker

B.A., M.A. (University of Western Ontario)

jspieker@yorku.ca

Phonetic variation in Canadian Hip Hop; Sociolinguistics; Sociophonetics; Language variation; Youth language.

Christine Wiseman

B.A., TESOL Certificate, M.A. (York University)

cwiseman@yorku.ca

Research Interests: Participatory education; critical pedagogy; adult ESL education; empowerment in learning

M.A. Students

Reza Ahmadilari

reza1983@yorku.ca

Tasneem Alfakir