PhD Sociolinguistics in Liverpool United Kingdom | University of Liverpool

The connection between individuals and language serves as the primary focus for most sociolinguistic studies. At the University of Liverpool, scholars investigate how society and language interact, leveraging expertise from Modern Languages. Specialists examine sociolinguistic phenomena across French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian-speaking regions, as well as North Africa and the Middle East, offering diverse national and transnational insights into language-society dynamics.

The University of Liverpool's Sociolinguistics program hosts numerous researchers studying the Linguistic Landscape, addressing various aspects of public language use. The Department of Modern Languages & Cultures includes two editorial board members for the journal Linguistic Landscape: An International Journal, one of whom serves as editor. Beyond developing methodological approaches to public language analysis, Liverpool researchers investigate linguistic environments in France and Italy, with special attention to regional and minority languages. This research has expanded to the Middle East through recent projects in Jordan, Algeria, and Kuwait.

Liverpool's Sociolinguistics team also examines migration studies and minority languages within the growing field of new speaker research. Framed by language policy, ideologies, and legitimacy debates, colleagues address questions of linguistic capital.

The research group currently directs an AHRC-funded network on Multilingual Memorialisation, collaborating with partners in Algeria, Cape Verde, and Eritrea to study multilingual representations of monuments and historical memory in public spaces.
They recently launched the Linguistics Section of Modern Languages Open, featuring contributions from its editorial board. Edited by Nicola Bermingham (University of Liverpool), the section's board includes Michelle Harrison (University of Leicester), Kerstin Hoge (University of Oxford), Adam Ledgeway (University of Cambridge), and Leigh Oakes (Queen Mary University of London).