Lauren W Reed
Research
I am an affiliate of the Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, at the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra. My research focuses on deaf sign languages of Papua New Guinea. I work with sign language varieties used in the rural Highlands of New Guinea, and with Papua New Guinea Sign Language, the emerging national SL of PNG. I am interested in what emerging sign languages can tell us about both the nature and the evolution of human language; in how community characteristics condition language shape; and the multimodality of human language. I am a hearing native user of Auslan (Australian Sign Language).
Publications (accepted)
Reed, Lauren W & Rumsey, Alan. (In press). Sign languages in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. To appear in Kendon, Adam, A New Guinea sign language: A primary sign language from the Upper Lagaip Valley in Papua New Guinea, with supplementary essays by Sherman Wilcox and by Lauren Reed and Alan Rumsey. John Benjamins.
Reed, Lauren W & Lindsey, Kate L. (In press). “Now the story’s turning around”: Associated motion and directionality in Ende, a language of Papua New Guinea. To appear in Koch, Harold & Guillaume, Antoine (Eds.), Associated Motion, Empirical Approaches to Linguistic Typology series. De Gruyter Mouton.
Green, Jennifer; Lauren W Reed; Elizabeth M Ellis; & Inge Kral. (In press). Mara yurriku: Western Desert sign languages. To appear in Australian Aboriginal Studies.
Publications (under review)
Rumsey, Alan; Francesca Merlan; & Lauren W. Reed. (Under review). The acquisition of clause chaining in Ku Waru.
Lauren W. Reed. (Under review). "Culture sign is my favourite": Bilingualism and identity in the Port Moresby deaf community.
Lauren W. Reed & Alan Rumsey. (Under review). Sign networks: Insights from Papua New Guinea for sign language typology.
Theses
Reed, Lauren W. (2019). Sign languages of Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea, and their significance for sign language typology. Master's thesis. Canberra: Australian National University. doi: 10.25911/5d69027b5d5f8
Education
2019
Master of General and Applied Linguistics (Advanced), Australian National University, Canberra
2007
Bachelor of Arts (Arabic), Deakin University, Melbourne
2002
Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults, RMIT University, Melbourne
Grants, Fellowships and Awards
2019
Jalwang Scholarship, Australian Linguistic Society (AUD $4901)
2018
Language Documentation Grant, Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (AUD $8,574)
Student Experience Grant, College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU (AUD $2,000)
2017
Research Grant, Australian Linguistic Society (AUD $4,626)
Firebird Fellowship, Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research (USD $7,154)
Fellowship, Linguistic Institute, Linguistic Society of America (USD $2,000; fee waiver)
2016
Summer Research Scholarship, Australian National University (AUD $800)
2008
Alfred Deakin Medal, Deakin University
- For outstanding academic, university and community achievements
Refereed conference papers
2019
Reed, Lauren. (2019). “Culture sign is my favourite”: Bilingualism and identity in the Port Moresby deaf community. Paper presented at Symposium on Sociolinguistic Variation in Signed and Spoken Languages of the Asia-Pacific Region, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK, 12 July 2019. doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9758678
2018
Ellis, Elizabeth Marrkilyi; Green, Jennifer; Reed, Lauren; Simpson, Jane; & Kral, Inge. (2018). An exploration of the handshapes and phonology of Western Desert alternate sign languages. Paper presented at Australian Languages Workshop, Marysville, Victoria, 3 March.
2017
Reed, Lauren & Rumsey, Alan. (2017). Initial observations of mouth action distribution, type, and variation in Kailge Sign Language, an undocumented sign language of Papua New Guinea. Paper presented at Australian Linguistic Society annual conference, University of Sydney, 6 December.
Refereed conference posters
2019
Reed, Lauren & Rumsey, Alan. (Accepted). Kailge Sign Language: A “network-based” sign language and its significance for sign language typology. Poster to be presented at TISLR 13 (Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research), University of Hamburg, September 2019.
Reed, Lauren. (Accepted). Co-expression of past and future in Kailge Sign Language, Papua New Guinea. Poster to be presented at TISLR 13 (Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research), University of Hamburg, September 2019.
Reed, Lauren. (Accepted). A sociolinguistic sketch of the Port Moresby deaf community and Papua New Guinea Sign Language. Poster to be presented at TISLR 13 (Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research), University of Hamburg, September 2019.
2017
Reed, Lauren & Rumsey, Alan. (2017). Initial observations of mouth action type and distribution in an undocumented sign language of Papua New Guinea. Poster presented at the 2017 Linguistic Society of America Linguistic Institute, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 16 July.
Presentations, seminars and invited talks
2019
Reed, Lauren. (2019). Understanding and not-understanding among sign language users in the New Guinea Highlands. Presentation to the Rumsey Symposium, Australian National University, 15 September. doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9761489
Reed, Lauren and Planer, Ronald. (2019). Handling the data: The role of emerging sign languages in the study of language evolution. Presentation to the University of Edinburgh, 17 July.
Reed, Lauren and Rumsey, Alan. (2019). Young sign languages, multimodality and rapid language evolution in Papua New Guinea. Presentation to CoEDL Fest, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 4 February. doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9759572
2018
Reed, Lauren; Rumsey, Alan; Merlan, Francesca; & Onga, John. (2018). The communicative ecology of deaf sign languages in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Seminar for the Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra, 12 October. Presentation available via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNDZPpEJkH0, and slides via https://cloudstor.aarnet.edu.au/plus/s/2ShUz8KKfmK8YaM
Reed, Lauren. (2018). “Now the story’s turning around”: Directionality and associated motion in Ende, a language of southern New Guinea. Presentation to workshop, Directionality or associated motion? Evidence from diverse languages, Australian National University, Canberra, 22 June.
2017
Reed, Lauren & Rumsey, Alan. (2017.) New research on a vernacular sign language in the New Guinea Highlands. Seminar for the Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra, 18 August.
Reed, Lauren (2017.) ‘Speaking by moving’: Ngaanyatjarra traditional sign language. Presentation to the Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra, 19 January.
Reed, Lauren. (2017). Primary and alternate sign languages: Auslan and Ngaanyatjarra sign language. Presentation to National Youth Science Forum, Australian National University, Canberra, 5 January.
Community resources
2018
I designed, filmed and recorded "Gagan: Colours in Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay & Auslan" in partnership with Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, Gunnedah, New South Wales. The video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1wPrgNv6f8
2017
In conjuction with Kate Lindsey and the Ende Language Committee, I worked with the Ende community in Limol, Western Province, Papua New Guinea to transcribe, translate and illustrate two books of hunting and fishing stories in Ende, a Pahoturi River language of PNG.
Mamoeatt Ttoenttoen (Hunting Stories) can be found here.
Tudiatt Ttoenttoen (Fishing Stories) can be found here.
Corpora
Rumsey, Alan; Andrew Noma; Lauren Reed; Naomi Peck; Charlotte van Tongeren; & Stephanie Yam. (Finalised, awaiting accession). ACQDIV portion of the Ku Waru Child Language Socialization Study (KWCLSS).
Contributer to: Lindsey, Kate L. (collector). (2019). Language Corpus of Ende and other Pahoturi River Languages (LSNG08). Digital collection managed by PARADISEC. doi: 10.26278/5c1a5cfcaacde
Teaching
2019
Tutor, Tjabal Centre, Australian National University
- Gamilaraay (an Australian Indigenous language)
Guest lecturer, Australian National University
- Cross Cultural Communication (LING 2021/6021)
- Child Language Acquisition (LING 2521/6521)
2018
Guest lecturer, Australian National University
- Learning an Indigenous Australian Language (AUST 1001/6008)
- Language in Indigenous Australia (LING 2016/6016)
Academic employment
August 2019 - present
Research assistant to Dr Danielle Barth, Australian National University
- Annotation in ELAN of gesture by speakers of Matukar Panau, an Austronesian language of Papua New Guinea
March 2017 - present
Research assistant to Professor Alan Rumsey, Australian National University
- Glossing in FLEx of child language material in Ku Waru, a Trans-New-Guinea language of Papua New Guinea
- Coding and analysis of child language material for research projects, such as a study into the acquisition of clause chains by children
- Preparing Ku Waru data for accession to ACQDIV, a corpus of child language acquisition data in maximally diverse languages
- Coordinating Professor Rumsey's team of research assistants
March 2017 - October 2018
Research assistant to Dr Jennifer Green, University of Melbourne
- Annotation in ELAN of alternate sign language used in Ngaanyatjarra, Warlpiri and Gurindji communities of Australia
Professional activities
2020-2022
Member, Sign Language Linguistics Society
2017-2019
Affiliate, Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language (acceptance via application)
2017-2019
Member, Linguistic Society of America
2016-2019
Member, Australian Linguistic Society
Languages
English, Auslan, Tok Pisin, French, Arabic, Gamilaraay
Non-academic work history
Prior to starting in linguistics, I worked as a food writer and food tour guide, specialising in Melbourne's culturally diverse Western suburbs. You can see my old blog and professional website here. Prior to that, I worked as a transcriptionist of forensic psychiatric and medicolegal documents, and in hospitality. I am a mother to three unique and wonderful children, born 2006, 2007 and 2009.
When not doing linguistics...
I love bushwalking and camping; birdwatching; long slow road trips; ferreting out cheap and cheerful restaurants, at home and abroad; fancying maps, both old and new; and adventures with my three daughters.
