Photo of Rachelle Vessey

Rachelle Vessey

Assistant Professor and Assistant Director (Applied Linguistics & Discourse Studies)

Degrees:B.A. (French, Mount Allison University), M.A. (Applied Language Studies, Carleton University), Ph.D. (Linguistics, University of London)
Email:rachelle.vessey@carleton.ca

Biography

Rachelle Vessey is an Assistant Professor in the School of Linguistics and Language Studies at Carleton University. Her research centres on beliefs about language (language ideologies) and how these manifest in discourse (specifically: newspapers, digital communication, language policy texts, and spoken discourse).  She is particularly interested in how beliefs about language contribute to social inclusion and exclusion, especially in national contexts. She has examined language ideologies in large corpora of (English and French) Canadian newspapers, online forums, interviews with domestic workers, United Nations official documents and extremist magazines.

Research interests

Language ideologies, corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, French, media discourse, Canadian studies

Publications

Books

  1. Baker, P., Vessey, R., and McEnery, T. (2021). The Language of Violent Jihad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  2. Vessey, R. (2016). Language and Canadian media: Representations, Ideologies, Policies. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapters in Edited Books

  1. Vessey, R. (2024). Comparing representations across corpora and discourses. In C. Taylor and F. Heritage (Eds), Analysing Representation: A corpus and discourse textbook (pp. 180-194). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003350972
  2. Sheyholislami, J. and Vessey, R. (2024). Language policy and discourse in the public sphere: The discursive construction of language and multilingualism as policy objects. In M. Gazzola, F. Grin, L. Cardinal and K. Heugh (Eds), Routledge Handbook of Language Policy and Planning (pp. 201-2012). ISBN: 978-1-138-32819-8
  3. Vessey, R. (2018). Language policy and planning and the Olympic Games. In A. Blackledge and A. Creese (Eds), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Superdiversity (pp. 227-240). London: Routledge.
  4. Vessey, R. (2018). Language policy and the media. In C. M. Cotter and D. Perrin (Eds), Routledge Handbook of Language and Media (pp. 329-342). London: Routledge.

Articles in Refereed Journals (Peer-Reviewed)

  1. Vessey, R. (2024). The language of sexual violence and impropriety: a cross-cultural and cross-linguistic study. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict.Online First: https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00110.ves.
  2. Vessey, R. (2024). From cross-linguistic to intersectional corpus-assisted discourse studies. Journal of Corpora and Discourse Studies, 7, 7-21. https://doi.org/10.18573/jcads.117.
  3. McEntee-Atalianis, L. and Vessey, (2024). Using corpus linguistics to investigate agency and benign neglect in organisational language policy and planning: the United Nations as a case study. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45 (2), 358-373. DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2021.1890753.
  4. Vessey, R. (2023). Language and gender in Canadian Chief Medical Officers’ tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critical Discourse Studies, 20 (2), 200-217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2022.2050772
  5. Vessey, R. and Nicolai, E. (2023). The language ideologies of multilingual nannies in London. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 27 (3), 221-2244. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12589.
  6. Vessey, (2022). Parallel digital monolingualism: A Canadian case study of language ideologies and hashtags in multilingual digital discourse. Internet Pragmatics. http://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00087.ves.
  7. Vessey, R. (2021). Nationalist language ideologies in tweets about the 2019 Canadian general election. Discourse, Context & Media, 39,
  8. McEntee-Atalianis, L. and Vessey, (2020). Mapping the language ideologies of organisational members: a corpus linguistic investigation of the United Nations’ General Debates (1970–2016). Language Policy, 19(4), 549-573.
  9. Vessey, R. and Sheyholislami, J. (2020). Language ideological debates about linguistic landscapes: The case of Chinese signage in Richmond, Canada. Journal of Language and Politics, 19 (5), 786–808.
  10. Vessey, R. (2019). Domestic work = language work? Language and gender ideologies in the marketing of multilingual domestic workers in London. Gender & Language, 13(3), 314-338.
  11. Baker, J. P. and Vessey, (2018).  A corpus-driven comparison of English and French Islamist extremist texts. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 3(1), 255-278.
  12. Vessey, R. (2017). Representations of language education in English and French Canadian newspapers. Canadian Modern Language Review, 73 (2), 158-182.
  13. Vessey, R. (2017). Corpus approaches to language ideology. Applied Linguistics, 38 (3), 277-296.
  14. Vessey, R. (2016). Language ideologies in social media: the case of Pastagate. Journal of Language and Politics, 15 (2), 1-24.
  15. Vessey, R. (2015). Food fight: moral panic in news and social media concerning ‘pastagate’. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 10 (2), 253-271.
  16. MacDonald, M., Homolar, A., Rethel, L., Schnurr, S. and Vessey, R. (2015) Manufacturing Dissent: the discursive formation of nuclear proliferation (2006-2012). Discourse & Communication, 9 (2), 173-197.
  17. Vessey, R. (2014). Borrowed words, mock language, and nationalism in Canada. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14 (2), 176-190.
  18. Vessey, R. (2013). Too much French? Not enough French? The Vancouver Olympics and a very Canadian language ideological debate. Multilingua, 32 (5), 659-682.
  19. Vessey, R. (2013). Challenges in cross-linguistic corpus-assisted discourse studies. Corpora, 8 (1), 1-26.
  20. Freake [previous surname], R., Gentil, G. & Sheyholislami, J. (2011). A bilingual corpus-assisted discourse study of the construction of nationhood and belonging in Quebec. Discourse & Society, 22(11), 21-47.

Book Reviews

  1. Vessey, R. (2024). Review of K. Gonçalves and A. A. Schluter (2024). Domestic workers talk. Language use and social practices in a multilingual workplace. Multilingual Matters. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology (online first), pp. 1-3. DOI: 10.1111/jola.12420.
  2. Vessey, R. (2022). Review of T. Ricento (Ed.), Language politics and policies: Perspectives from Canada and the United States. Language Problems and Language Planning. https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.00083.ves
  3. Vessey, R. (2022). Review of S. Dollinger, Creating Canadian English. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 34 (1), 124-5.
  4. Vessey, R. (2018). Review of A. Nurmi, T. Rütten, and P. Pahta (Eds.), Challenging the Myth of Monolingual Corpora. Applied Linguistics, 40 (5), 864-869.
  5. Vessey, (2018) Review of M. Heller, L. Bell, M. Daveluy, M. McLaughlin, and H. Noel Sustaining the nation. The making and moving of language and nation. Journal of Language and Politics, 17(4), 579-581.
  6. Vessey, R. (2016). Review of D. Biber and R. Reppen (Eds), Cambridge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics. Journal of English Linguistics, 44 (3), 276-279.
  7. Vessey, R. (2016). Review of A. Marland, T. Giasson, and T. A. Small (Eds), Political communication in Canada: Meet the press and tweet the rest. British Journal of Canadian Studies, 29 (1), 128.
  8. Vessey, R. (2015). Review of M. Zappavigna, Discourse of Twitter and social media. Yearbook of Corpus Linguistics and Pragmatics, 2015, 295-299.
  9. Vessey, R. (2013). Review of E. Haque, Multiculturalism within a Bilingual Framework: Language, Race, and Belonging in Canada. Language Policy, 13 (1), 79-81.
  10. Vessey, R. (2012). Review of J. Jedwab and R. Landry (Eds), Life after forty: Official languages policy in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Policy, 38 (3), 441-3.

Editorial Responsibilities

  • Editorial Boards:
    • Corpora journal (Vol. 17, 2022-present)
    • Journal of Corpora and Discourse Studies (JCADS) (September 2022-present)
  • Review board member, Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology (JELI) (January 2023-present)

Papers Presented

  1. Conference plenaries
    1. (2024) Intersectional CADS. 7th Corpora & Discourse International Conference (CADS 2024) University of Innsbruck, Austria.
    2. (2019) ILPE 4 – Les idéologies linguistiques dans la presse écrite: l’exemple des langues romanes. University of Messina, Italy.
    3. (2018) From cross-cultural to superdiverse corpus linguistics: language ideologies and communities. IVACS (Inter-varietal applied corpus studies) Conference. University of Malta Valletta Campus.
    4. (2018) Language ideological practices online: exploring Canada’s ‘two solitudes’ in the digital age. BAAL Language and New Media SIG. The Open University.
  2. Selected invited seminar/lecture series talks
    1. (2024) In conversation with Marcio Saraceni (University of Portsmouth). Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2-jmjdK0Q0&t=32s.
    2. (2023) Multilingual language policy and the United Nations. Seminar Series Discursive, linguistic and textual multi-cultural communication. University of Bologna (Forli).
    3. (2022) Discursive approaches to LPP with a Canadian example. Master class for Planification et politiques linguistiques au Canada. University of Ottawa.
    4. (2022) Gender and public health guidance on Twitter: A Canadian case study. Language, Ideology and Power Research Group. Lancaster University, UK. (online)
    5. (2021) Corpus linguistics and the analysis of language ideology. Corpus linguistics and applied linguistics. Universidad de Murcia, Spain. (online)
    6. (2021) A discursive approach to language policy in the United Nations: 1970-2016. Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, The Netherlands. (online)
    7. (2021) Language ideology and applied linguistics. Issues in Applied Linguistics webinar series, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. (online)
  3. Selected peer-reviewed conference papers
    1. (2024). United Nations language policy. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Language Policy and Planning. Carleton University.
    2. (2024). Agency and positioning in United Nations language policy. Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (CAAL/ACLA). McGill University.
    3. (2023) The language of sexual misconduct. Corpus Linguistics 2023. Lancaster University.
    4. (2022) Gendered Persuasive Strategies in COVID-19 Public Health Guidance on Twitter: A Canadian Case Study. Influence, Manipulation, Seduction 2 – Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Persuasive Language. Tampere/Bayreuth (online).
    5. (2022) Discover Canada: Language ideologies in the Canadian Citizenship Test study guide. Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy and Planning. Montreal, Quebec. (With Angel Arias and Jaffer Sheyholislami).
    6. (2022) Language and gender in Canadian Chief Medical Officers’ tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines. University of Bergamo/ Birmingham City University. (Online)
    7. (2022) Language and gender in the Canadian Chief Medical Officers’ tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approaches to Digital Discourse Analysis 3. University of South Florida. (cancelled due to illness)
    8. (2021). At the intersection of language and gender: Canadian Chief Medical Officers’ health discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Covid Colloquium. University of Sussex. (online)
    9. (2021) Family language policy and the language ideologies of nannies in Britain. Multidisciplinary Approaches in Language Policy and Planning Conference. McGill University. (online)
    10. (2021) Language skills are a ‘plus’: the limits of entrepreneurial multilingual nanny work in Britain. Approaches to Language, Migration & Identity. University of Sussex. (online)
    11. (2021) Multilingual nannies as language teachers: Knowledge and beliefs about language as assets for entrepreneurial childcare workers. BAAL SIG Linguistics and Knowledge about Language in Education. University of Glasgow. (online)
    12. (2020) Language ideologies and Canadian bilingualism: A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of tweets during the 2019 general election. Le bilinguisme et au-delà : Faire avancer la réflexion sur les pédagogies, les politiques et les pratiques. University of Ottawa. (Conference cancelled).
    13. (2020) Language practices and ideologies in online communication: A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of tweets during the 2019 Canadian general election. BAAL Language Policy SIG. University of Cambridge. (Conference cancelled).
    14. (2020) Theorising corpus absence in a language policy context: identifying benign neglect in the United Nations (1970-2016). Corpora and Discourse conference. University of Sussex. (online)