Dr Jonathan Kasstan
I was appointed as Lecturer in French and Linguistics at the University of Westminster in January 2019. Before arriving at Westminster, I lectured at Queen Mary University of London (2015-2018), predominantly in quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistics and research methods. From 2014-2015, I held two posts simultaneously: I was Associate Lecturer in the Department of French at the University of Kent, where I taught introductory linguistic theory and sociolinguistics, and I also held the post of Maître de langue in the Département du monde anglophone at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, where I taught courses in applied phonology and linguistic variation. I hold an MPhil in Linguistics from Cambridge University and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Kent.
My research interests broadly fall within quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistics, with a particular focus on language variation and change in lesser-studied varieties. I also conduct research on heritage languages.
I am currently involved in a number of ongoing research projects, including:
Towards safeguarding Chagossian Creole: Understanding how language attitudes and ideologies shape practice in exile and exodus (funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, SRG2324\240017)
Universals of Linguistic Change in Language Obsolescence (previously funded by the Leverhulme Trust, ECF-2017-584, 2017-2020)
The Linguistics in MFL Project (previously funded by UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council's Open World Research Initiative "Language Acts World Making").
I also co-lead the network Rethinking Research Ethics in the Humanities (previously funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, AH/V001043/1).