Associate Professor Carmel O'Shannessy
Areas of expertise
- Linguistics 2004
- Linguistic Structures (Incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) 200408
- Language In Culture And Society (Sociolinguistics) 200405
- Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Languages 200319
Research interests
Language contact and change, language acquisition, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, code-switching, mixed languages, Australian languages, endangered languages
Biography
Carmel O’Shannessy is Associate Professor in the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at the Australian National University. In the 1990s her background as an ESL teacher and Applied Linguist took her to work in remote Indigenous schools in Australia’s Northern Territory, in the areas of Indigenous language maintenance and education. While working in the Warlpiri-English bilingual education program in the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu she noticed what sounded like extensive code-switching by younger speakers, and with the community’s approval was keen to investigate how young people were speaking. She subsequently completed her PhD in Linguistics at the University of Sydney (Australia) and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics (The Netherlands) in 2007, with documentation of the genesis and development of Light Warlpiri, a mixed language that had recently emerged in the community. Within the areas of language contact and change and language acquisition, her research continues to document children’s bilingual acquisition and maintenance of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri. She is especially interested in the roles of children and adults in contact-induced language change. She also documents traditional Warlpiri songs. Carmel has been involved with languages in remote Indigenous communities in Australia since 1996, in the areas of bilingual education and her current research.
Personal webpage: carmeloshannessy.net
Researcher's projects
ARC Future Fellowship 2019 Tracking language development of Indigenous children in Central Australia (Primary Investigator)
Traditional Warlpiri songs documentation project 2021 - 2024
Evaluation of English Language Learning for Indigenous Children program, DESE 2020 - 2022
ANU Futures Scheme grant 2018 - 2024 for 'Language Contact and Acquisition'
PI (Principal Investigator) on USA National Science Foundation Project/Grant #1348013 ‘Documentation and acquisition of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri’. Duration 2015-2019
Available student projects
Aspects of acquisition of Light Warlpiri
Aspects of acquisition of multilingual repertoires in Central Australia - Eastern & Central Arrernte, Western Arrarnta, Warlpiri, English
Aspects of documentation of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri
Phonology of Light Warlpiri, Warlpiri and English spoken by Light Warlpiri speakers
Current student projects
PhD students, primary supervisor:
Megan Wood: Ideological and implementational learning spaces for students in a remote Northern Territory bilingual school
Henry Leslie-O'Neill: Developing a Learners Guide to Miriwoong
Member of PhD panels:
Lesley Woods: A learner's guide to Ngiyampaa
Li Chen: The language contact situation of Kaxabu and Southern Min
James Gray: Information structure in Pintupi-Luritja
Past student projects
PhD primary supervisor
2022 Emma Browne: Linguistic Innovation and Continuity: Teaching in and of Warlpiri Language at Yuendumu School
2013 Erica Beck: The Role of Socio-indexical Information in Regional Accent Discrimination by 5-7 Year Old Children
PhD Panel or Committee member:
2023 Maho Fukuno: Translator ideology and norms: The intersection in the habitus of English-Japanese translators in a community translation setting
2022 Susan Poetsch: Children's learning of Arrernte in Central Australia
2021 Denise Angelo: Misrecognising contact languages and the effects on education and policy, with a focus on Australia
2010 Christopher V. Odato: Children's Development of Knowledge and Beliefs About English Like(s)
Qualifying Research Papers (QRP) (equivalent to a Masters Thesis)
2016 Ariana Bancu: Contact-induced variation in Viscri Saxon verb clusters
2015 David Ogden: The effects of experience on second-language consonant detection: Non-native vowel context speeds identification of non-native consonant categories
2012 Tridha Chatterjee: Bilingual compound verbs in Bengali-English codeswitching
Masters theses
2018 Xiaoyue Yang: A corpus-based study on Mandarin child-directed speech (ANU)
Undergraduate Honours theses
2020 Gina Welsh: Computational challenges of automatic morphosyntactic glossing of two Australian languages (Winner, Reginald de Bray award for ANU Linguistics Honours thesis)
2019 Caroline Hendy: An acoustic analysis of fricatives in Light Warlpiri (Winner, Reginald de Bray award for ANU Linguistics Honours thesis)
2019 Amelia Carter: Historical comparative analysis of Yuin-Kuric languages
2014 Gabrielle Valentic: The influences of teacher multilingual linguistic response on Spanish-English bilingual student linguistic output
2013 Frances Morton: The Sex Trade: Language ideology behind "Sex Work" and "Sex Trafficking"
2013 Julia Bogen (2nd reader): Corrective feedback in L2 learning
2012 Amy Hemmeter: Gender and formality effects on the production of vocal fry
Publications
- O'Shannessy, C & Angelo, D 2023, 'Insights from the perspective of language ecologies and new contact languages in Australia', Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 88-92.
- O'Shannessy, C, Carter, A & Kalyan, S 2022, 'Transitivity Marking in Light Warlpiri, an Australian Mixed Language', Languages, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 1-18.
- O'Shannessy, C, Marlkirdi Napaljarri, R, Nangala Johnson, E et al. 2022, ''I Could Still Be Myself as a Warlpiri Person': How Bilingual Education Achieves Community Development Aims', in Deborah Hill, Felix K. Ameka (ed.), Languages, Linguistics and Development Practices, Palgrave Macmillan, Switzerland, pp. 163 -188.
- Wigglesworth, G & O'Shannessy, C 2022, 'Bilingualism', in Hassan Mohebbi, Christine Coombe (ed.), Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics, Springer, Switzerland, pp. 677-681.
- Bundgaard-Nielsen, R & O'Shannessy, C 2021, 'Voice onset time and constriction duration in Warlpiri stops (Australia)', Phonetica, vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 1-28.
- O'Shannessy, C 2021, 'Conventionalized creativity in the emergence of a mixed language – A case study of Light Warlpiri', in Enoch O. Aboh & Cécile B. Vigouroux (ed.), Variation Rolls the Dice, John Benjamins Publishing Co., Amsterdam/Philadelphia, pp. 81-104.
- Bundgaard-Nielsen, R & O'Shannessy, C 2021, 'When more is more: The mixed language Light Warlpiri amalgamates source language phonologies to form a near-maximal inventory', Journal of Phonetics, vol. 85.
- O'Shannessy, C & Brown, C 2021, 'Reflexive and reciproal encoding in the Australian mixed language, Light Warlpiri', Languages, vol. 6, no. 2.
- O'Shannessy, C 2021, 'Code-switching as a way of speaking - from language shift to language maintenance', in Anna M. Babel and Mark A. Sicoli (ed.), Contact, Structure, and Change: A Festschrift in Honor of Sarah G. Thomason, Michigan Publishing, Ann Arbor, USA, pp. 36-42.
- O'Shannessy, C & Davidson, L 2020, 'Language Contact and Change through Child First Language Acquisition', in Raymond Hickey (ed.), The Handbook of Language Contact, Wiley-Blackwell, USA.
- O'Shannessy, C 2020, 'Mixed Languages', in Evangelia Adamou, Yaron Matras (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Language Contact, Routledge, London, pp. 325-348.
- O'Shannessy, C 2020, 'How ordinary child language acquisition processes can lead to the unusual outcome of a mixed language', International Journal of Bilingualism, pp. -.
- Disbray, S, O'Shannessy, C, Macdonald, G et al. 2020, 'Talking together: how language documentation and teaching practice support oral language development in bilingual education programs', International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, no. -, pp. 1-17.
- Dinku, Y, Markham, F, Venn, D et al. 2020, Language use is connected to indicators of wellbeing: Evidence from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey 2014-15 .
- DITRC, AIATSIS: J. Battin, J. Lee, D. Marmion, R. Smith, T. Wang, ANU: Y. Dinku, J. Hunt, F. Markham, D. Angelo, E. Browne, I. Kral, C. O’Shannessy, J. Simpson & H. Smith (2020) National Indigenous Languages Report. Canberra: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, formerly the Department of Communications and the Arts. https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/indigenous-arts-and-languages/national-indigenous-languages-report
- O'Shannessy, C 2020, 'Language Contact in Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri', in Anthony P Grant (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Language Contact, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tasman Japanangka, M & O'Shannessy, C 2020, Kaja-warnu-jangka 'From the bush'.
- O'Shannessy, C, Disbray, S, Martin, B et al 2019, '(Re)turning research into pedagogical practice: A case study of translational language research in Warlpiri', in L Barwick, J Green & P Vaarzon-Morel (ed.), Archival Returns: Central Australia and beyond, University of Hawaii Press, Hawai, pp. 139-151.
- O'Shannessy, C 2019, 'Why do children lead contact-induced language change in some contexts but not others?', in E Doron, M Rappaport Hovav, Y Reshef & M Taube (ed.), Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew , John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, Netherlands, pp. 321-335.
- O'Shannessy, C 2019, Interview: Light Warlpiri and the emergence of new languages.
- Bundgaard-Nielsen, R & O'Shannessy, C 2019, 'A Happy Marriage: The Stop and Affricate Inventory of the Mixed Language Light Warlpiri (Australia)', 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, ICPhS 2019, ed. S. Calhoun, P. Escudero, M. Tabain, & P. Warren, Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc., Melbourne, pp. 1283-1287.
- Bundgaard-Nielsen, R & O'Shannessy, C 2019, 'Voice Onset Time and Constriction Duration in Warlpiri Stops (Australia)', 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, ICPhS 2019, ed. S. Calhoun, P. Escudero, M. Tabain, & P. Warren, Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc., Melbourne, pp. 3612-3616.
- Angelo, D, O'Shannessy, C, Simpson, J et al. 2019, Well-being & Indigenous Language Ecologies (WILE): A strengths-based approach. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/186414
- Simpson, Jane Helen, Disbray, Samantha & O'Shannessy, Carmel. 2019, 'Setting the scene: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages learning and teaching', Babel, vol. 54, no. 1 & 2, pp. 7-10.
- O'Shannessy, C 2018, 'Can the roles of different age groups in rapid and dramatic change in contact language situations teach us something about language change in other situations?', NWAV Asia Pacific, University of Queensland, Australia, pp. 86pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2018, 'How different are young children's language processing mechanisms in contact-induced language change?', 20th International Congress of Linguists, Conference Organising Committee, South Africa.
- O'Shannessy, C 2018, 'Multilingual language use and ideologies across generations: a case study of language change and continuity', 20th International Congress of Linguists, Conference Organising Committee, South Africa.
- Simpson, Jane Helen; Angelo, Denise;Browne, Emma Clare,;Kral, Inge; Markham, Francis; O'Shannessy, Carmel; Venn, Danielle 2018, 'Census data on Australian Languages', 22nd Annual Conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, ed. Sebastian Drude, Nicholas Ostler, Marielle Moser, FEL & EL Publishing, United Kingdom, pp. 115-120.
- O'Shannessy, C 2017, 'What do children do in contact-induced language change?', LSA 2017 Annual Meeting, Linguistic Society of America, Austin United States, pp. 22pp.
- McCarty, T, O'Shannessy, C & Lee, T 2017, 'Multilingualism and Indigenous-Language Education: Innovative Practices and Emerging Language Forms', American Association for Applied Linguistics 2017 Annual Conference, Conference Organising Committee, United States, pp. 7pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2017, 'Children, language learning, and news ways of speaking - what do they mean for children in NT schools?', 2017 ATESOL NT Symposium, Charles Darwin University, Darwin Australia, pp. 51pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2017, 'From code-switching to a mixed language: Mechanisms in the development of Light Warlpiri', From Language Mixing to Fused Lects (FRIAS), ed. Peter Auer, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, Germany, pp. 65pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2017, Small Talk: Light Warlpiri in the media, pp. Online.
- O'Shannessy, C 2017, Interview: Why Indigenous languages matter.
- O'Shannessy, C & Meakins, F 2016, 'Introduction: Australian language contact in historical and synchronic perspective', in Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy (ed.), Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation, De Gruyter Mouton, Boston/Berlin, pp. 3-26.
- Meakins, F & O'Shannessy, C, eds, 2016, Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation, De Gruyter Mouton, Boston/Berlin.
- O'Shannessy, C 2016, 'Entrenchment of Light Warlpiri morphology', in Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy (ed.), Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation, De Gruyter Mouton, Boston/Berlin, pp. 217-251.
- O'Shannessy, C 2016, 'Distributions of case allomorphy by multilingual children: Speaking Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri', Linguistic Variation, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 68-102pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2016, 'OVERVIEW - Acquisition in contact'.
- O'Shannessy, C 2015, 'Multilingual children increase language differentiation by indexing communities of practice', First Language, vol. 35, no. 4-5, pp. 305-326pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2013, 'The role of multiple sources in the formation of an innovative auxiliary category in Light Warlpiri, a new Australian mixed language', Language (Washington), vol. 89, no. 2, pp. 328-353pp.
- Meakins, F & O'Shannessy, C 2012, 'Typological constraints on verb integration in two Australian mixed languages', Journal of Language Contact, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 216-246pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2012, 'The role of codeswitched input to children in the origin of a new mixed language', Linguistics: an interdisciplinary journal of the language sciences, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 305-340pp.
- O'Shannessy, C & Meakins, F 2012, 'Comprehension of competing argument marking systems in two Australian mixed languages', Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 378-396pp.
- O'Shannessy, C 2011, 'Competition between word order and case-marking in interpreting grammatical relations: a case study in multilingual acquisition', Journal of Child Language, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 763-792pp.
- Meakins, F & O'Shannessy, C 2010, 'Ordering arguments about: Word order and discourse motivations in the development and use of the ergative marker in two Australian mixed languages', Lingua, vol. 120, no. 7, pp. 1693-1713.
- O'Shannessy, C 2009, 'Language variation and change in a North Australian indigenous community', in James N Stanford and Dennis R Preston (ed.), Variation in Indigenous Minority Languages, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, pp. 419-439.
- O'Shannessy, C 2008, 'Children's production of their heritage language and a new mixed language', in J. Simpson and G. Wigglesworth (ed.), Children's Language and Multilingualism: Indigenous Language Use at Home and School, Continuum Publishing Company, London, pp. 261-282.
- O'Shannessy, C 2006, Language contact and children's bilingual acquisition: learning a mixed language and Warlpiri in northern Australia.
- Meakins, F & O'Shannessy, C 2005, 'Possessing variation: Age and inalienability related variables in the possessive constructions of two Australian mixed languages', Monash University Linguistics Papers, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 43-63.
- O'Shannessy, C 2005, 'Light Warlpiri: A New Language', Australian Journal of Linguistics, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 31-57.
Projects and Grants
Grants information is drawn from ARIES. To add or update Projects or Grants information please contact your College Research Office.
- Evaluation of the English Language Learning for Indigenous Children (ELLIC) trial - Phase 4 & 5 (Primary Investigator)
- Traditional Warlpiri Songs (Primary Investigator)
- Evaluation of the English Language Learning for Indigenous Children (ELLIC) trial - Phase 3 (Primary Investigator)
- Understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language ecologies (Secondary Investigator)
- Evaluation of the English Language Learning for Indigenous Children (ELLIC) trial - Phase 1 and 2 (Primary Investigator)
- Tracking language development of Indigenous children in Central Australia (Primary Investigator)
- Working papers on improving Education Outcomes for Indigenous Student (Secondary Investigator)
- Documentation and acquisition of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri (Primary Investigator)
- Celebrating Warlpiri elders, culture and language (Primary Investigator)
- Indigenous Languages Project (Secondary Investigator)
