This page contains reports on linguistic lab studies, resource-use impact, and conservation policy.
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Lateralized Whorf Experiment
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (Sapir and Whorf, 1952) states that our reality is shaped by the language we speak. Gilbert et al. (2008) conducted several experiments investigating the effects of visual field (VF) and lexical-category terms on reaction time (RT). Here, we replicated Gilbert et al. (2008) Experiment 2, demonstrating that between-category pairs for lexical terms are easier to discriminate between than within-category pairs…
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Shifting Vowels Across 50 Years: A Generational Study of South-Eastern England English
An Acoustic Analysis of Vowels In this essay, I investigate changes in the vowel system across time in the community of South-East England. I have collected and analysed data from four speakers in this community (two younger and two older). In section 1.0, I outline the method I used to collect this data and why I went about it in this way. In section 2.0, I present my data in vowel plots. In section 3.0, I discuss my findings and possible reasons for the data, which I support with evidence from other sources. In this section, I specifically look at…
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Trophy Hunting in Bwabwata National Park, Namibia: Community-Based Study Design
This is a two-year participatory ethnographic research proposal to evaluate the impacts of Trophy Hunting (TH), a Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme, in Bwabwata National Park (BNP) in Namibia. The project will evaluate the CBNRM’s impacts in terms of wildlife conservation, household economies and livelihoods, and community development. Community development will be defined by the building of new infrastructure (e.g. roads, schools, etc.), gender benefits, and community attitudes towards the scheme.
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A Lasting Green Wall: Policy, Collaboration, and Conflict
The GGW is a UN project implemented in 2007 which aims to halt desertification in the African Sahel by creating a ‘green wall’ against the Saharah desert. Expected benefits include land restoration, employment, carbon capture, and increased biodiversity. However, recent evaluations show that long-term sustainability and country benefits are unsatisfactory, attributed to insufficient community engagement, project coordination, policy issues, and conflicts.
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Social Policy – Sami Languages: Decline & Preservation
In this short report, I will introduce the Sami languages (referred to collectively as Sami), where they are spoken, and the number of speakers they have. I will also be outlining the reasons for Sami’s decline and the policies in place to help preserve the Sami languages. An Introduction to Sami The Sami languages refer to a group of 10 distinguished Finno-Ugric languages (or arguably dialects) spoken by people in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia (Hammine, 2016). There are approximately 25-35,000 speakers of the Sami languages (Magga & Skutnabb-Kangas, 2010); it is estimated that speakers of Sami make up only…
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Vowel Analysis Between Two English Speakers
This study uses unnormalized and normalized data to compare FLEECE, GOOSE KIT, DRESS, TRAP, BATH, and THOUGHT vowels from two British English Speakers. It is hypothesized different pronunciations will occur as speakers differ in sex and birthplace (Hughes, Trudgill, & Landon, 2013). Females have higher formant frequencies and larger vowel spaces than males due to anatomical and social differences…
Waygaze 