Dr Sonia Morán Panero BA, MA, PhD
Lecturer in Applied Linguistics
Dr Sonia Morán Panero is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Southampton.
I joined the department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in Southampton as a staff member in 2017. At this institution, I also completed an ESRC-funded PhD in Applied Linguistics (2016) and an MA in Applied Linguistics and Research Methodology (2009). Prior to this, I had studied a BA in English Philology (English Linguistics, Culture and Literature) at the prestigious Universidad de Salamanca in Spain.
My doctoral research explored the (re)production and contestation of ideologies of English as a global language through students’ metalinguistic discourse in the Spanish-speaking world. This project was shortlisted for the international Joshua A. Fishman Award in 2018, as one of the 10 best PhD thesis produced on an topic pertaining to the sociology of language.
My research expertise is in the sociolinguistics of language in an era of globalisation, and particularly in the symbolic, ideological and social aspects of the use, teaching and learning of English for intercultural communication purposes. I am interested in the investigation of how language ontologies, identities and social meanings shape and are shaped by linguistic practices in educational and non-educational contexts where English is seen and/or used as an international lingua franca. In addition to explaining how and why linguistic and semiotic variability may emerge in diverse communicative settings, I seek to understand the potential symbolic, discriminatory, and material consequences that can result from regulatory discourses on the legitimacy of speakers and language use.
At present I am exploring the sociolinguistic justice opportunities that can be afforded by raising critical awareness of ELF research in EFL settings in Chile, Mexico and Spain. Although my research has so far been primarily set in Spanish-speaking countries, I also investigate approaches to English as a Medium of Instruction across different educational settings in the world. I publish on these and other related topics in a variety of international academic outlets.