Projects

PhD project

In my PhD project A Pragmaphilological Approach to Multilingual Practices in the Early Modern English Period, I focus on the functions of language choice and code-switching. My aim is to

1. develop a new ‘pragmaphilological’ method for analysing the functions of language choice and code-switching
2. apply this method to concrete data in order to test its applicability
3. arrive at a better understanding of language choice and code-switching as (linguistic) strategies, particularly in relation to their functional potential

The core of my material consists of the Orationes manuscript (CCA Lit. Ms E41, Canterbury Cathedral Library), which includes plays and speeches performed (and probably partly composed) by the students of the King’s School, Canterbury, in the second half of the 17th century. Some of the texts are monolingual (English or Latin), but many of them contain switching between English, Latin, Greek and some other languages (see the separate Orationes project description below for more information).

The theoretical framework adopted in my study could be described as eclectic. At the centre of the framework are the concept of face and facework (e.g. Goffman 1967; Brown & Levinson 1987),  but it also includes various ideas and concepts adopted from many different fields, including linguistics, pragmatics, philology, sociology and philosophy. Preliminary versions of the method and the theoretical framework were developed as part of my MA thesis, and I have developed some of the ideas further in a few recent publications. Although I focus on theoretical and methodological questions in particular, the philological part of my study ensures that the discussion is based on in-depth analyses of actual texts.

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The Orationes project

The Orationes manuscript (CCA Lit. MS E41, Canterbury Cathedral Library) is a unique source of Restoration school drama.  Running up to 656 folio pages, the manuscript contains plays, speeches and poems performed and partly composed by the students of the King’s School, Canterbury, during the headmastership of Rev. George Lovejoy (i.e. 1665-1684).

The texts in the manuscript – written in English, Latin and Greek – are divided into four subgenres according to the occasion of performance. On Oak Apple Day (May 29th) the students celebrated the birthday and restoration of King Charles II; on Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th) they recounted and re-enacted the events of the ‘Gunpowder Plot’ of 1605; in December they pleaded with the Dean and Chapter for a short Christmas break; and in Lent they engaged in rhetorical battles in the form of riddles and aenigmata. The Orationes manuscript contains the texts of these performances arranged in yearly cycles, with 17 cycles and 68 individual performances in total. On a few occasions, however, the students performed plays by well-known authors (ranging from Plautus to James Shirley), making the number of ‘original’ plays approximately 54 in total.

The whole manuscript is being digitised as part of the on-going Orationes project, the first stage of which was funded by the Academy of Finland (2011–2015). In addition to the digital edition, the project will also produce printed commentaries of the plays, as well as research into more detailed topics and questions around individual plays and subgenres, their linguistic and literary features, and their socio-historical relevance.

Other scholars working on the Orationes manuscript and collaborating with me include Prof. Anthony W. Johnson (the project leader) and Mr. Tommi Alho, both from the Åbo Akademi University. A commentary of a collection of Christmas plays is currently in preparation by Prof. Johnson with Dr. Paul V. Sullivan (University of Texas at Austin) and Prof. Jyri Vaahtera (University of Turku). As an example of recent activities, the project organised a panel at the RSA conference in Boston in April 2016.

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The learner beliefs trilogy

I have been working in collaboration with Dr. Pekka Lintunen on learner beliefs about various aspects of pronunciation and phonetics teaching. We conducted studies on

1. learner beliefs about pronunciation teaching, including its effect on pronunciation development
2. learner beliefs about and attitudes towards phonetics as a field of study
3. learners’ model accent preferences and factors affecting accent choice

Our aim has been to investigate learner beliefs and attitudes from many different perspectives in order to answer questions such as the following: How can we improve pronunciation/phonetics teaching and facilitate learning? How do learners’ beliefs change and develop? Are learner beliefs different from researchers’ and teachers’ beliefs? For more information, see Publications and Presentations.

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Other projects

I have been a member of the Pragmatics on the Page (PoP) project (more information can be found on its website).