Anna’s project investigates dialect contact and language variation and change in Corby, Northamptonshire, an East Midlands town which experienced rapid expansion in the 20^th century, and which is again experiencing significant population change. The main objective is to find out what is happening to the Corby dialect now, in the context of increased and more diverse mobility.

The findings will be of interest not only to linguists, but also to others looking at social change in increasingly connected small communities. It will advance our understanding of how migration and population changes affect local areas, local identity and community cohesion.  

A specialist in language variation and change in morphosyntax (grammar), Anna is retraining to develop her skills in phonetic and phonological change (sound) as well as improving her coding and data handling and visualization skills.