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Mercedes Durham

Yr Athro Mercedes Durham

Athro

Ysgol Saesneg, Cyfathrebu ac Athroniaeth

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Trosolwyg

Rwy'n aelod o'r Ganolfan Iaith a Chyfathrebu.

Rwy'n sosioieithydd sy'n canolbwyntio'n bennaf ar amrywiad a newid iaith. Mae fy ymchwil yn ymwneud yn fras â sut mae amrywiad ieithyddol (a chydag ef, newid iaith) yn cael ei gaffael, ei drosglwyddo a'i weld gan siaradwyr unigol ac ar draws cenedlaethau olynol.

Rydw i wedi bod ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd ers mis Medi 2012. Cyn hynny bûm yn gweithio fel darlithydd mewn Ieithyddiaeth Saesneg ym Mhrifysgol Aberdeen rhwng 2008 a 2012. Rwyf hefyd wedi gweithio a dysgu ym Mhrifysgolion Efrog, Glasgow a Leeds.

Cefais fy magu ac astudio yn y Swistir, gan gael fy ngradd gyntaf ym Mhrifysgol Lausanne a'm doethuriaeth ym Mhrifysgol Fribourg.

 

Siarad dros Yersel - Wales

https://speakforyersel.ac.uk/wales/ (Gallwch gymryd yr arolwg drwy'r ddolen yn ogystal â gweld y canlyniadau cyfredol ar ei gyfer) 

 

Diddordebau ymchwil

  • Amrywiad Iaith a Newid
  • Sosioieithyddiaeth
  • Caffael Amrywiad brodorol ac anfrodorol
  • Newid tafodiaith
  • Mathau brodorol ac anfrodorol o Saesneg

Myfyrwyr ôl-raddedig

Mae gen i ddiddordeb mewn goruchwylio prosiectau doethurol sy'n ymwneud yn fras â meysydd Sosioieithyddiaeth, ac Amrywiad a Newid Iaith, yn enwedig y rhai gan fyfyrwyr sydd â diddordeb mewn caffael amrywiad, morffosyntreth, a disgwrs ac mewn tafodieithoedd Saesneg, Ffrangeg neu Eidaleg.

Gwaith i'r wasg

Rwyf wedi siarad am fy mhrosiectau ymchwil a ieithyddol yn fwy cyffredinol ar y radio ar sawl achlysur (BBC Wiltshire, BBC Cymru a Capital/HeartFM).

Mae fy ymchwil hefyd wedi cael ei drafod mewn papurau newydd a gwefannau:

Cyhoeddiad

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2009

2007

2006

2005

2004

  • Durham, M. 2004. The future of Swiss English: Variation in an English lingua franca. Presented at: 2nd International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 2), Uppsala, Sweden, 12-14 June 2003 Presented at Gunnarsson, B. ed.Language Variation in Europe: Papers from the Second International Conference on Language Variation in Europe, ICLaVE 2, Uppsala University, Sweden, June 12-14, 2003. Uppsala: Dept. of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University pp. 156-167.

2003

Articles

Book sections

Books

Conferences

  • Durham, M., Smith, J. and Fortune, L. 2006. Caregiver and child in the acquisition of (socio)linguistic norms in a Scottish dialect. Presented at: BUCLD 30 : Boston University conference on language development, Boston, MA, USA, 4-6 November 2005BUCLD 30: Proceedings of the 30th Annual Boston University Conference on Language. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press pp. 572-583.
  • Durham, M. 2004. The future of Swiss English: Variation in an English lingua franca. Presented at: 2nd International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 2), Uppsala, Sweden, 12-14 June 2003 Presented at Gunnarsson, B. ed.Language Variation in Europe: Papers from the Second International Conference on Language Variation in Europe, ICLaVE 2, Uppsala University, Sweden, June 12-14, 2003. Uppsala: Dept. of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University pp. 156-167.

Websites

Ymchwil

I work in sociolinguistics, the subfield of linguistics which examines language in a societal context: namely why and how different social groups (as defined by social class, gender, age, ethnicity, etc) make use of the linguistic resources present in the language(s) they speak to signal affiliation with or dissimilarity from other groups across various contexts. 

My research focuses primarily on aspects of Language Variation and Change (LVC), and involves the use of quantitative methods to analyse linguistic features (predominantly morphosyntactic and/or pragmatic, but also phonological in some instances) to establish what affects their use.

As well as standard statistical methods, I often employ multivariate analysis in the interpretation of my data, using the methodologies of comparative sociolinguistics to find similarities in the speech patterns of different varieties.

I have worked a range of different projects, different dialects of English and different features (main projects listed below). Although there is considerable breadth and depth in these projects, they are all broadly concerned with how variation (and with it, language change) is acquired, viewed and transmitted either in individual speakers (native or non-native) or across successive generations. 

My focus on the acquisition of variation and the fact that I have examined both native and non-native data makes my LVC research somewhat different from the bulk of studies conducted in the field, but, in many ways, understanding acquisition is crucial to understanding transmission (i.e. change) as well and is a fruitful venue for further research that can lead to more fine-tuned theories into precisely how language changes. 

The various facets of my research each attempt to bring further insight into the question of how and why features that vary are transmitted and will, I hope, ultimately allow me to posit a cohesive theory which will allow us to better understand these processes.

Non-Native Variation

One strand of my research focuses on the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence by non-native speakers and I have worked on non-native speakers of English in Switzerland. This is an important direction of research in a world where English is increasingly used as a lingua franca and the number of non-native speakers is steadily growing, as it is vital to establish which features of native competence are likely to be lost or modified. Moreover, examining how non-native speakers gain sociolinguistic competence can also help us to better understand why some features may turn out to be particularly prone to change in native speech as well.

Variation in Child Language

Another strand of my research focuses on children's acquisition of sociolinguistic competence. I have worked with Dr Jennifer Smith (of Glasgow University) on this topic, and our research (funded by the ESRC) has focused on a range of phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical items found in a dialect of North-East Scots in the speech of 29 children and their primary caregivers (i.e. their mother), and has shown that age, the complexity of the feature, and the social awareness of it, all impact on how soon children are able to produce native-like patterns, but that it is often earlier than previously reported.

Processes of dialect shift

I have worked on two separate projects examining dialect shift on the Shetland Islands. One (funded by the ESRC) with Dr Jennifer Smith focused on language change across three generations in the main town of Lerwick, while the other (funded by the British Academy) focused on changes in the dialect attitudes of Shetland school children over the past 30 years.

Non-canonical word order

I am also interested how non-canonical word order forms differ with respect to rates and use across dialects of English. While the use of the forms is linked to information structure, there are social factors at play in their selection as well and this is what I want to focus on. Having examined right dislocation forms in York, I intend to extend my research to other features and other areas.

Additional Collaborative Projects

  • Quotative be like (with Dr William Haddican, CUNY Queens College)
  • Grammaticalisation of the going to future form (with Professor Sali Tagliamonte, University of Toronto, and Dr Jennifer Smith, Glasgow University)

Addysgu

Mae fy addysgu yng Nghaerdydd yn canolbwyntio'n bennaf ar agweddau ar sosioieithyddiaeth ac amrywiad a newid iaith, er fy mod hefyd wedi dysgu Dulliau Ymchwil Meintiol yma a modiwlau ar seineg, morffoleg, a chaffael iaith gyntaf ac ail iaith mewn mannau eraill yn y gorffennol.

Yn 2024-25, byddaf yn dysgu SET006 (Materion Cyfoes mewn Sosioieithyddiaeth) ac yn cyd-addysgu SE1369 (Sosioieithyddiaeth). 

Meysydd goruchwyliaeth

I am interested in supervising doctoral projects broadly related to the fields of Sociolinguistics, and Language Variation and Change, particularly those from students with interests in the acquisition of variation, morphosyntax, and discourse, and in English, French or Italian dialects.

Goruchwyliaeth gyfredol

Katharine Young

Katharine Young

Myfyriwr ymchwil

Lewis Greenaway

Lewis Greenaway

Myfyriwr ymchwil

Abdulrahman Alasmari

Abdulrahman Alasmari

Myfyriwr ymchwil

Prosiectau'r gorffennol

  • Dr Susan Reichelt (cwblhawyd 2018) Adeiladwaith sosioieithyddol amrywiaeth cymeriad mewn cyfresi teledu ffuglennol.
  • Dr Muhammed Altheeby (cwblhawyd 2018) Gwahaniaethau yng nghymhwysedd pragmatig dysgwyr EFL a ESL Sawdi.
  • Dr Eimi Watanabe (cwblhawyd 2018) agweddau Prydain tuag at ddwyieithog Japaneaidd-Saesneg.
  • Dr Reem Al Madani (cwblhawyd 2022) Rôl patrymau a swyddogaethau amlieithog digidol wrth frandio a hunan-frandio: Ymchwiliad i arferion gan ddefnyddwyr Saudi ar Twitter.

Contact Details

Email DurhamM@caerdydd.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 74244
Campuses Adeilad John Percival , Ystafell 3.30, Rhodfa Colum, Caerdydd, CF10 3EU

Themâu ymchwil

Arbenigeddau

  • Sosioieithyddiaeth
  • Amrywiad iaith a newid
  • Agweddau ieithyddol
  • Saesneg Cymraeg
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