I am a guest researcher at MultiLing—Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan, University of Oslo and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. Prior to this, I worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MultiLing (2020-2023), where I also studied and received my PhD in Sociolinguistics (University of Oslo, 2020).
My research has encompassed three main areas of interest: (i) family multilingualism, (ii) media discourses and digitally-mediated communication, and (iii) decoloniality and Southern epistemologies. Pursuing these areas of interest has resulted in high-impact publications based on original research in peer-reviewed, international academic outlets, both as a single author and in collaboration with other scholars (e.g. Multilingual Margins, Multilingua, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, and International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism).
(i) Family multilingualism
In my PhD project (University of Oslo, 2016–2019, supervised by Professor Pia Lane, Professor Elizabeth Lanza, and Professor Alastair Pennycook), I analysed the extent to which language practices in everyday interactions in the home of Brazilian-Norwegian families living in Norway were informed by broader language ideologies.
(ii) Media discourses and digitally-mediated communication
In my ongoing postdoctoral project (University of Oslo, 2020–), “Speech styles of young adults in urban spaces in Norway: Continuities and disruptions”, I investigate (i) Norwegian print media representations of youth with immigrant background and their linguistic practices and (ii) the interconnections between the digitally-mediated communication practices of young adults in Oslo and broader social, cultural, economic, and political processes associated with globalisation. Results of part (i) indicate that “kebabnorsk”—a term commonly used to describe the speech styles of urban youths in Norway—is oftentimes mobilised in media debates to discursively construct an axis of differentiation (i.e. us vs. them) where “us” is a category that encompasses “ethnic Norwegians” who uphold Western values and speak standard Norwegian, whilst “them” describes those who have ethnic minoritised backgrounds, uphold non-Western values, and speak “kebabnorsk”.
(iii) Decoloniality and Southern epistemologies
In 2018, I was one of the founding members of the “Global Virtual Forum: Decoloniality and Southern Epistemologies”. Since 2020, this initiative has received institutional support from the African Studies Program at the Pennsylvania State University (United States), and it has been led by Prof. Sinfree Makoni in collaboration with Magda Madany-Saá (PSU), Chanel Van Der Merwe (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa), and Prof. Bassey E. Antia (University of the Western Cape, South Africa). The “Global Virtual Forum” consists of online discussions with prominent scholars in the humanities and social sciences and one of its overarching goals has been to explore the ways in which recent scholarship can help us to think about issues related to language practices, language ideologies, and multilingualism.
The over 500 registered members of the Forum are based in higher education institutions in countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Japan, Nigeria, and South Africa. The Forum sessions, held on Zoom, are video recorded. The video recordings of our discussions are uploaded to the African Studies Programme YouTube channel, which has served as a platform to disseminate research to academic communities and society in general. We have been turning the transcribed recordings into 'conversational chapters'. The first volume 'Decolonial Voices, Language and Race' was published in June 2022 (Multilingual Matters). Other volumes will be published under the newly established book series 'Global Forum on Southern Epistemologies', for which I act as a co-editor.
I have experience in designing and delivering online and in-person language-related courses (e.g. ‘Language Acquisition’, ‘Language Policy’, and ‘Multilingualism’) at BA and MA levels.
Courses taught
- LING1109 - Multilingualism (Norwegian)
- SPR4110 - Language and Communication in the Multicultural Society (Norwegian)
- NOR4172 - Language Policy (Norwegian)
- LING1107 - Language Acquisition (Norwegian)
- LING1113 - Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics (Norwegian)