Research goals of the collective

We are academic researchers interested in exploring multiple social dimensions of language use. We have chosen to carry out our research using an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach.

One of our primary goals is to develop comparable English and French databases of speakers from a wide spectrum of various social dimensions including age, region, nation, gender (cis and trans, binary and non-binary), sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. The development of these databases will allow us to explore natural language production and the perception of language differences at various linguistic levels including discourse analysis, conversational analysis, narrative analysis, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistic variation, phonetics, phonology and pragmatics. The research questions we are posing involve the intersections of cognition, agency, variation and social identity construction.

The database will help us answer research questions such as “What happens at a cognitive level when you listen to people you are familiar with versus those who you aren’t familiar with?”

We design our research questions to contribute to current linguistic, social and cognitive theories as well as to support and contribute to specific communities. For example, our research contributes to a deeper exploration of causes of unconscious bias and stereotype development, which negatively affect life opportunities for various social groups. At the same time, our results can inform programs aimed at enhancing people’s access to education, housing and employment.

The development of these databases of speakers is on-going and if you are interested in participating or finding out more about participating, go to our "Participation call out" page.

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