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My research interests lie broadly in sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. I have written about problems of societal multilingualism, linguistic diversity, language change, language acquisition, language revitalization, language endangerment, language contact, language policy and planning, pidgins and creoles, gender and language justice. I have conducted extensive fieldwork in Europe (on the language of working class schoolchildren in Scotland and subsequently on patterns of bilingualism and language loss among Panjabi speakers in England) as well as in the Pacific Islands region (in Papua New Guinea on the language of rural and urban schoolchildren, and more recently in Hawai'i).
My research interests lie broadly in sociolinguistics and historical linguistics. I have written about problems of societal multilingualism, linguistic diversity, language change, language acquisition, language revitalization, language endangerment, language contact, language policy and planning, pidgins and creoles, gender and language justice. I have conducted extensive fieldwork in Europe (on the language of working class schoolchildren in Scotland and subsequently on patterns of bilingualism and language loss among Panjabi speakers in England) as well as in the Pacific Islands region (in Papua New Guinea on the language of rural and urban schoolchildren, and more recently in Hawai'i).
I was a member of the UNESCO Expert Group that produced UNESCO’s position paper on Education in a Multilingual World. (Paris, 2003). I also wrote the backgrounder paper on Languages and Cultural Identities for UNESCO’s report Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue (Paris, 2009).
I was a member of the UNESCO Expert Group that produced UNESCO’s position paper on Education in a Multilingual World. (Paris, 2003). I also wrote the backgrounder paper on Languages and Cultural Identities for UNESCO’s report Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue (Paris, 2009).
For more about me, see also the entries in:
For more about me, see also the entries in:
Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education (edited by Colin Baker & Sylvia Prys Jones. Multilingual Matters. 1998, p. 149).
Encyclopedia of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education (edited by Colin Baker & Sylvia Prys Jones. Multilingual Matters. 1998, p. 149).
Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics (edited by Rajend Mesthrie. Elsevier. 2001, p. 905).
Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics (edited by Rajend Mesthrie. Elsevier. 2001, p. 905).
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (edited by Keith Brown. Elsevier. 2006, p. 561).
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (edited by Keith Brown. Elsevier. 2006, p. 561).
The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (edited by Carol A. Chapelle. Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. 2013, pp.).
The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (edited by Carol A. Chapelle. Blackwell Publishing, Ltd. 2013, pp.).
This interview contains a bio and discussion about how some of my diverse interests and research have developed over the course of my career:
2024 An interview with Suzanne Romaine. Sociolinguistica 38(1): 104–111.
DEGREES/EDUCATION
A.B. magna cum laude, 1973, German/Linguistics, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Study abroad, 1971‑2, Germanic philology/Linguistics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
Diploma in Phonetics 1974, University of Edinburgh
M.Litt. 1975, Phonetics/Linguistics, University of Edinburgh
Ph.D. 1981, Linguistics, University of Birmingham
HONORARY DEGREES
Ph.D. honoris causa, 1998, University of Tromsø, Norway
Ph.D. honoris causa, 1999, University of Uppsala, Sweden
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
1979‑83, Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Birmingham
1983‑84, Senior Research Scientist in Linguistic Anthropology, Max-Planck-Institut-für-Psycholinguistik, Nijmegen
1984-2014, Merton Professor of English Language, University of Oxford
MAJOR HONORS/AWARDS/ FELLOWSHIPS (Selected)
1974-75 Rotary International Foundation Fellowship. University of Edinburgh .
1982 Suzette Taylor Travelling Fellowship, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University,.
·1987 Canada Commonwealth Scholar, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.
1990 Rector's medal, awarded by Rector, University of Helsinki on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the University of Helsinki.
1991-1992 Kerstin Hesselgren Professorship for outstanding women in the Humanities, Swedish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Stockholm [award held at FUMS (Forskning och utbildning i modern svenska), Institutionen för nordiska språk, University of Uppsala].
2004-2005 Royden B. Davis Chair in Interdisciplinary Studies, Georgetown University. Washington, DC.
2005-2006 Fellow, Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California.
2009-2010 Senior Fellow, Internationales Forschungszentrum fűr Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna.
2010 - Fellow, Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Helsinki, Finland
2011-2012 AHRC [Arts and Humanities Research Council] Fellowship
2013 Toh Puan Mahani Idris Daim Chair Professorship, first endowed professorship in Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
2014 Knowledge Exchange Fellow, TORCH [The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities], University of Oxford.
2015-2016 Marie Curie Fellow of the European Union and Senior Fellow, FRIAS (Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies), University of Freiburg
2016- Fellow, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
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