Research

Vera V. IRwin

AREAS OF INTEREST:

Sociolinguistics
Language and identity
Language and ethnicity
Bilingualism
German sociolinguistics
Language maintenance and shift in migration
Second language acquisition

DISSERTATION TITLE:
More than just ethnic: negotiation of ethnicity through language among Russian German re-settlers and Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union in Germany.
Chair: Robin Queen
Click HERE for the dissertation abstract

The main focus of my research lies within the field of Sociolinguistics, where I am especially interested in the role language plays in expressing and negotiating speakers' ethnicity, gender as well as other aspects of their social identities.

My most recent research looks in particular at the questions of language and identity negotiation between two migrant communities in Germany: Russian German re-settlers (Spätaussiedler) and Russian Jewish quota refugees (Kontingentflüchtlinge), who seem to be involved into active definition and construction of ethnic and social boundary between each other within the new post-migrant context. As my research shows, language becomes an inherent part of this negotiation, involving issues of second language acquisition, language shift and maintenance as well as issues and ideologies surrounding the phenomenon of code-switching between Russian and German.

In my earlier research that focused specifically on the Russian German community, I have also looked at the aspects of gender-related identities and the role gender can play in the linguistic and social adaptation of migrants.

During my training as sociolinguist in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan, I gained extensive experience in designing and conducting ethnographic and sociolinguistic fieldwork in migrant communities (Summer of 2001, Summer of 2002, as well as year-long fieldwork in 2004-2005 made possible by the grant from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)).