Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I’m a linguist based at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. My research centres on the sociolinguistics of multilingualism, encompassing work on multilingual practices, language variation and change, migration and language in the classroom. I feel strongly about the importance of interpreting linguistic research for diverse audiences and bringing it to bear in useful ways on contemporary social issues. At its core, my research work seeks to understand how and why multilingual and multilectal speakers draw on their different linguistic resources to express their place in the world. I explore this across several interconnected focuses:
- (small-scale) multilingualism, multilingual repertoires + language ideologies
- critical sociolinguistics and language rights
- the languages and linguistics of Aboriginal Australia
- heritage language identities, especially the Celtic languages
- language in the classroom; linguistics for high-school students
I am currently engaged in fieldwork and community language support in the linguistically diverse and highly multilingual region of Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Recent projects include an ELDP-funded documentation of the Burarra language (Maningrida region – archival deposit here) and collaborative work with community organisations to record artists’ narratives and procedural texts in local Aboriginal languages.
I enjoy making linguistics accessible and interesting for diverse audiences, including school students, minority language speakers and the general public. I am co-founder of the award-winning Linguistics Roadshow – an interactive showcase about the science of language for high-school students – and have extensive experience working with schools and Indigenous community institutions in Arnhem Land and north-west Victoria. I have contributed many non-academic publications about languages and linguistics, including articles for The Conversation and language and culture resources for school curricula and Indigenous art exhibitions.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Linguistics
- Australian Aboriginal languages
- Sociolinguistics
- Multilingualism
- Migration
- Language Change and Variation
- Language and Identity
- Linguistic Anthropology
- Ethnography
- Language Documentation
- Ethical Research
- Heritage Languages
- Celtic Languages
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Active
-
Where Gesture Meets Grammar: Crosslinguistic Multimodal Communication
Margetts, A. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Brown, L. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Vaughan, J. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Kita, S. (Partner Investigator (PI))
Australian Research Council (ARC), Monash University – Internal Department Contribution
1/11/24 → 31/10/27
Project: Research
-
Showing stories: ancestral narratives in the artistic practice of north-central Arnhem Land
Vaughan, J. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)) & Garde, M. (Chief Investigator (CI))
1/03/24 → 28/02/26
Project: Research
-
Sociolinguistic research into Indigenous languages of Australia
Vaughan, J., Singer, R. & Wigglesworth, G., 2024, The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World. Ball, M. J. & Meluzzi, C. (eds.). 2nd ed. Abingdon UK: Routledge, p. 312-322 11 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus) -
The Linguistics Roadshow
Jepson, K., Billington, R. & Vaughan, J., 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Linguistics Vanguard. 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Burarra
Vaughan, J., 2023, Paris : ILARA (Institute for Linguistic Heritage and Diversity).Research output: Other contribution › Other
-
GramAdapt Social Contact Dataset
Kashima, E., Di Garbo, F., Raatikainen, O., Rosnátaly, A., Beck, S., Berge, A., Blanco, A., Bowden, R., Brid, N., Brincat, J. M., Carpio, M. B., Cobbinah, A., Cúneo, P., Fehn, A. M., Gholami, S., Arun, G., Gibson, H., Hall, E., Hannß, K. & Haynie, H. J. & 28 others, , 2023, Zenodo.Research output: Other contribution › Other
Open Access -
Language naming in Indigenous Australia: a view from western Arnhem Land
Vaughan, J., Singer, R. & Garde, M., 2023, In: Multilingua. 42, 1, p. 83-118 36 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
-
Talkley Award
Vaughan, J. (Recipient), Billington, R. (Recipient) & Jepson, K. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
- 1 Contribution to conference
-
The Value of Languages in a Multicultural World
Vaughan, J. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
13 Dec 2021 → 15 Dec 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Contribution to conference
Press/Media
-
Meet the remote Indigenous community where a few thousand people use 15 different languages
5/12/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
-
Togs or swimmers? Why Australians use different words to describe the same things
Vaughan, J., Billington, R. & Jepson, K.
5/01/16
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature