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I am a linguistic anthropologist trained within the tradition of “ethnography of communication” and micro-sociolinguistics. I am fundamentally interested in the relationship between linguistic practice and language ideology as it is manifest in everyday life – from quotidian child language socialization routines, play between peer and youths, verbal art, immigrant practices of interpretation and translation in the United States, and discourses within social movements organized around issue of indigenous language revitalization and maintenance. I have worked extensively with young people, here and abroad, from Maya children in Guatemala to Samoan and Mexican Immigrant children and youth in the U.S. I explore how children experience and interpret the multiple dimensions of social inequality that shape their lifeways and opportunities.

Interests:

Indigenous Social Movements and Langauge Revitalization, Language Ideology, Language Socialization, Verbal Art as Performance, Globalization and Immigration.

Areas of Expertise:

Mayan languages and Cultures, Immigrant Latino Experiences in the USA.

Major Publications:

Reynolds, J. F. “Shaming the shift generation: Ideologies of family and linguistic revitalization in Guatemala.” In Language Ideologies in American Indian Communities, Margaret Field & Deborah House, (eds.). Tucson: University of Arizona Press. forthcoming

Orellana, M. F., Reynolds, J., Dorner, L., and Meza, M. “In other words: Translating or “para-phrasing” as a family literacy practice in immigrant households.” Reading Research Quarterly 38(1). 2003

Kroskrity, P. V., Bethel, R., and Reynolds, J. F. TAITADUHAAN: WESTERN MONO WAYS OF SPEAKING. A CD-ROM. Oklahoma University Press. 2002

Kroskrity, P. V., and Reynolds, J. F. “Using Multimedia in Language Renewal: Observations from making the CD-ROM TAITADUHAAN: WESTERN MONO WAYS OF SPEAKING.” In Kenneth Hale and Leanne Hinton, eds., Handbook for Language Revitalization. Orlando, FL: Academic Press. 2001

Duranti, A. and Reynolds, J. “Phonological and cultural innovations in the speech of Samoans in Southern California,” Estudios de Sociolingüística 1(1): 93-110. 2000