Amelia Tseng
American University, World Languages and Cultures, Faculty Member
- Smithsonian Institution, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Department Memberadd
- Sociolinguistics, Sociophonetics, Language and Identity, Language and Ethnicity, Language contact, Bilingualism and Multilingualism, and 14 moreStyle, Emergent dialects, Latino Englishes, Language and Migration, Language Variation and Change, Dialectology, Discourse Analysis, Language and Ideology, Linguistics, Anthropology, Languages and Linguistics, Identity (Culture), Spanish Linguistics, and Linguistic Anthropologyedit
- I investigate language and identity in situations of migration and multilingualism/language contact, and related issu... moreI investigate language and identity in situations of migration and multilingualism/language contact, and related issues and application in education, equity, language rights, representation, and race and ethnicity. I hold my Ph.D in Linguistics from Georgetown University, M.S. in Linguistics (Georgetown University), and M.A. in Spanish Linguistics (Arizona State University). I am a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, an Adjunct Lecturer in Linguistics and Spanish at Georgetown University, and a Scholar in Residence in the School of Education at American University, where I directed the Bilingual Education program from 2014-2016, and Affiliate Faculty at the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. I am currently researching D.C. Spanish and dialect diversity in the multilingual repertoire, with attention to African American English influence, and the construction of D.C. Latino community identity through Smithsonian archival research and am leading a project on “Bilingualism and Latin@s in D.C.: Exploring Language Use and Cultural Identity, Resource Access, and Metropolitan Mobility" with a $10,000 grant from the AU Metropolitan Policy Center.
My research focuses on multilingualism and identity in situations of immigration, contact, and mobility, and has been recognized through awards by the National Science Foundation, Society for Applied Anthropology, Ford Foundation, Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS), Georgetown University, and American University. I use a range of sociolinguistic and linguistic anthropology analytic approaches, including sociophonetics, variation, discourse analysis, and ethnography to explore the complex relationship between language structures, language practices, and identity expression. Some directions I've explored are language and identity, style, language contact and bilingualism, (im)migration, emergent dialects, Spanish in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Latino language practices (English and Spanish), and I've published on code-switching, migration and identity, and bilingual media. My dissertation project, for which I received an NSF DDRIG grant, addresses style, emergent dialect development, and Latino identity in Washington, D.C. My teaching experience includes university-level linguistics, Spanish, and bilingual education; Spanish and other subjects at the K-12 level; and outreach, international education, and diversity programs.edit
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Sociology and Linguistics
This study investigates the interrelationship of language, identity, and /ae/ (“ash”) variation along the first-formant (F1) and second-formant (F2) dimensions, in firstand secondgeneration Latinos in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan... more
This study investigates the interrelationship of language, identity, and /ae/ (“ash”) variation along the first-formant (F1) and second-formant (F2) dimensions, in firstand secondgeneration Latinos in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. /ae/ was selected since Latino English /ae/ tends to be lower and more backed than in general American English, particularly in pre-nasal context. Methods integrate quantitative analysis of social and stylistic patterning of /ae/ variation and qualitative analysis of how speakers use these features to convey and shape social and personal meanings in interaction. The relationship between style, social factors, and substraterelated phonetic variation in emergent dialects has important implications for language system development and social identity construction in situations of bilingualism and language contact. Specific research questions were 1) how does /ae/, a phonological feature showing a welldocumented distinction between Chicano English and...
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Text & Talk 38(4) Radio highlights the linguistic construction of institutional identity: it privileges presenter speech, as DJs use language to represent not only the self but also the show, and ultimately the station’s identity to the... more
Text & Talk 38(4)
Radio highlights the linguistic construction of institutional identity: it privileges presenter speech, as DJs use language to represent not only the self but also the show, and ultimately the station’s identity to the listening audience for commercial purposes. The relationship between show structure and stylistic practice in interaction offers insights into identity construction and audience relationships in institutional settings. This qualitative study investigates the linguistic construction of closing sequences in bilingual radio discourse, examining the relationship between DJ speech and the interactional construction of closing structures in 18 report- and chat-genre closings from 95.1 Latino Vibe. Findings indicate that closing structures are genre-specific, with the less-formal chat genre integrating elements of media and conversational closings. Code-switching is genre-sensitive and plays a multifaceted functional, relational, and representational role, ranging from constructing show structures to audience affiliation and a formulaic type of “verbal branding.” Ultimately, closing sequences and code-switching relate to broader institutional goals of station representation and audience engagement. The article sheds light on the relationship between interaction-level discourse moves, institutionalized identity construction, and the development of interactional structures through talk; and highlights the added dimensions that bilingual speech strategies contribute to these practices.
Radio highlights the linguistic construction of institutional identity: it privileges presenter speech, as DJs use language to represent not only the self but also the show, and ultimately the station’s identity to the listening audience for commercial purposes. The relationship between show structure and stylistic practice in interaction offers insights into identity construction and audience relationships in institutional settings. This qualitative study investigates the linguistic construction of closing sequences in bilingual radio discourse, examining the relationship between DJ speech and the interactional construction of closing structures in 18 report- and chat-genre closings from 95.1 Latino Vibe. Findings indicate that closing structures are genre-specific, with the less-formal chat genre integrating elements of media and conversational closings. Code-switching is genre-sensitive and plays a multifaceted functional, relational, and representational role, ranging from constructing show structures to audience affiliation and a formulaic type of “verbal branding.” Ultimately, closing sequences and code-switching relate to broader institutional goals of station representation and audience engagement. The article sheds light on the relationship between interaction-level discourse moves, institutionalized identity construction, and the development of interactional structures through talk; and highlights the added dimensions that bilingual speech strategies contribute to these practices.
In Andrew Lynch (ed.), Spanish in the Global City (Routledge Handbook series). (Peer reviewed)
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In Suresh Canagarajah (ed.), Routledge Handbook on Migration and Language.
In Carol Chapelle (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.
Proceedings of the University of Arizona Seventeenth Annual Symposium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literature, Language, and Culture: 2007, 11-28.
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Metropolitan Policy Center/School of Public Affairs, American University.
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Center for Latin American and Latino Studies. American University.
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Language and Education.
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Adaptation of manual for D.C./Maryland/Virginia
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Code Switch, National Public Radio: http://one.npr.org/?sharedMediaId=528816293:531824445