RESEARCH
Research Summary
My two main areas of research are language contact (what happens when speakers of multiple languages meet and influence each other) and language acquisition (how speakers acquire languages in naturalistic and educational contexts). My current work focuses on describing and explaining dialectal variation, especially in the lexicon.
In terms of methodologies, I generally take a variationist and cognitivist approach to the work that I do, and I enjoy experimenting with other quantitative methods such as dialectometry. In any case, I believe that all methods of linguistic inquiry are valid and I’m always looking to collaborate with and learn from others in new, interdisciplinary ways.
While much of my research and training relates to Spanish, I am also especially interested in contributing to scholarship on several minoritized languages and dialects: (Balearic) Catalan, Aranese, Quechua, and various Mayan languages.
My other research interests include (critical) discourse analysis, language policy, and historical linguistics.
Publications
2022 | Klee, C., Rogers, B., de la Fuente, M., Ramsburg, J. Intervocalic /s/ Voicing in the Andean Spanish of Southern Peru. To appear in Mark Waltermire and Kate Bove (eds.), Mutual Influence in Situations of Spanish Language Contact in the Americas. London: Routledge.
2021 | Ramsburg, J. The Oral Production of Discourse Markers by Advanced Learners of Spanish, IULC Working Papers, Indiana University Bloomington, Vol. 21. (Accepted)
2021 | Ramsburg, J. Epistemic Legitimization and Inter/Subjectivity in the Presidential Discourse of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Diálogo de la Lengua, Vol. 13, 55-71.
2020 | Ramsburg, J. Perception of the Salvadoran [sh] and [θ] by L2 Spanish Learners. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, University of Kansas, Department of Linguistics, Vol. 41, 1-6.
Presentations
2021 | Ramsburg, J. Els orígens de la castellanització illenca. Presented at the Escola d’Estiu de Lingüística Catalana, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Jul. 18-24.
2021 | Ramsburg, J. Discoursivization and contact-induced language change: Pragmatic borrowing in Balearic Catalan. Presented at the 74th KFLC: The Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Conference, Apr. 22-24.
2021 | Ramsburg, J, Salazar Pozos, O., Hama, Y. Creating a narrative: Media representations of enforced disappearances in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Presented at the 10th Annual Hispanic & Lusophone Linguistics Conference, Arizona State University, Mar. 19-20.
2021 | Ramsburg, J, Salazar Pozos, O., Hama, Y. Disappeared in person and in press: Linguistic ambiguity in the reporting of enforced disappearances in Nuevo León, México. Presented at the 24th Ohio State University Congress on Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, Mar. 12-13.
2021 | Ramsburg, J. Discursive Variation in Texas Spanish. Presented at the Cultural Constructions Conference, University of Texas at Arlington, Mar. 4-5
2021 | Ramsburg, J. Orthographic Development of the Palatal Nasal /ɲ/ in Balearic Catalan as an Indicator of Contact-Induced Change. Presented at the 3rd Annual Meeting of the North American Research Network in Historical Sociolinguistics, Jan. 8-10.
2019 | Ramsburg, J. Epistemic Legitimization & Inter/Subjectivity in the Presidential Discourses of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Presented at the 6th Annual Calambur Graduate Conference, University of Minnesota, Mar. 29-30.
2017 | Ramsburg, J. and Mayén, B. Transcultural Competence as a Service-Learning Goal. Presented at the Iowa Civic Action Academy, Grand View University, Nov. 3-4.