Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain, PhD, MA, BA
Contact
Professor, Faculty of Arts - Modern Languages and Cultural Studies Dept
- jenniedo@ualberta.ca
Overview
About
I am a Professor of German Applied Linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies. I have been teaching at the University of Alberta since 1997.
I was educated in the United States, receiving bachelor's degrees in German and Linguistics at Michigan State University in East Lansing and a master's degree and a Ph.D. in Germanic Linguistics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I taught German for six years at the University of Michigan during my graduate education before coming to the U of A.
Research
I am a sociolinguist with a research focus on everyday language in use, but always with an eye toward how this use relates to broader social phenomena such as identity, ideology, and globalization.
My past research has included projects on the perception of language variation in post-unification Germany, language use among migrants from western to eastern Germany, code-switching in the advanced foreign-language classroom, language, identity and space among German-Canadians, and the use of transnational English in social media interaction by Dutch and German youth.
My current research includes a project on language ideologies in and regarding the linguistic landscape, and another on multimodal approaches to interactive intercultural communication.
Teaching
I teach courses on German linguistics and applied linguistics, though in the past I have also taught German language courses. I also teach a introductory undergraduate course in English called Language and Power. I teach at all levels, from beginning undergraduate to advanced graduate, and I have supervised both honours undergraduate and graduate students working on all sorts of languages.
Announcements
If you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree (MA or PhD) under my supervision, please see this page about graduate supervision.
Courses
GERM 112 - Beginners' German II
Prerequisite: GERM 111 or consent of Department. Note: not to be taken by students with native or near native proficiency, or with German 30 or its equivalents in Canada and other countries. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.
GERM 318 - Language and Society in the German-Speaking World
This course introduces students to the study of the relationship between the German language and the societies of the German- speaking countries. Prerequisite: GERM 212 or consent of Department.
MLCS 231 - Language and Power
How language, both spoken and written, creates and sustains economic, social, and political power.
MLCS 599 - Directed Reading
MLCS 799 - Candidacy Colloquium
Preparation for the candidacy exam. This is a pass/ fail course. Prerequisite: consent of Department.
Featured Publications
Feddersen, Richard; Dailey-O'Cain, Jennifer; Liebscher, Grit
Linguistic Landscape: an International Journal. 2023 June; 10.1075/ll.22029.fed
Dailey-O'Cain, Jennifer and Sluchinski, Kerry
In: Multimodal Communication in Intercultural Interaction, edited by Ulrike Schröder, Elisabetta Adami, and Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain. 2023 March; 10.4324/9781003227281-7
Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain
from the book Trans-National English in Social Media Communities. 2017 January; Chapter 2
Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain
Sociolinguistica. 2013 January; (27):147-167
Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain, Grit Liebscher
International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2011 January; 212 (December):91-133
Grit Liebscher, Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain
Journal of Sociolinguistics. 2009 January; 13 (2):195-222
Grit Liebscher, Jennifer Dailey-O'Cain
Canadian Modern Language Review. 2004 January; 60 (4):501-525