Alisha Reaves, PhD

Biography

Alisha Reaves received her PhD in French Linguistics from Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to joining the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures at Towson University, she taught French language and culture at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University Bloomington.  She received a B.S. with a double major in French and Linguistics from Tulane University in New Orleans and an M.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. Her research concentrates on discourse markers, both their acquisition by learners of French as well as their use by French native speakers. Other research interests broadly include language policy and sociolinguistic variation in the francophone world.  In teaching, Dr. Reaves believes in incorporating experiential learning and linguistics, and showcasing the diversity of the francophone world.

Selected Publications

• Root, J. & Reaves, A. (Forthcoming). So, ça c’est ça: “so” and “ça fait” in two regions of francophone Louisiana. Linguistic Minorities and Society Special Issue: “Regards sur la variation morphosyntaxique et pragmatique dans les communautés francophones minoritaires”.
• Reaves, A. (2023). Enseigner la diversité linguistique de la France. The French Review, 97 (1), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2023.a911324
• Reaves, A. (2023). Discourse Markers in Second Language French. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003323754

• Reaves, A. (2022) Language Policy & Change in the Classroom: Teaching the Feminization of Professional Titles in Intermediate French. In: S. Bouamer & L. Bourdeau (Eds.), Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies (pp. 137-149). Palgrave MacMillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95357-7_9