Kathleen Anderson

Linguistics master's student in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Tell us a little about yourself, including what inspires you to learn and continue in your chosen field

Taanshi kiyawaaw. En Michif niya. I'm a learner of Southern Michif, which is an Indigenous language traditionally spoken by Métis people across our homeland. While it is a complex and unique language, it is also an endangered language. I hope in pursuing linguistics to utilize its methods as a tool to support the ongoing revitalization efforts by my community and ultimately advance second-language learners' proficiency.

Why did you choose to come to SFU?

After completing my undergraduate degree here in Linguistics and Indigenous Studies, I already had some great working relationships with professors. When it came time to pursuing my MA, it was a very easy choice to work with my now advisor again. I also really enjoyed the programming SFU had to offer as an undergraduate so I was interested in seeing how that translated into a graduate program.

How would you describe your research or your program to a family member?

My program focuses on understanding details about language, from its sounds all the way to how it gets its meaning. In my own research, I am focused on analyzing the pieces of words that have meaning, what they mean and where they can appear in sentences in Southern Michif.

What three (3) keywords would you use to describe your research?

Michif, Linguistic, Revitalization

How have your courses, RA-ships, TA-ships, or non-academic school experiences contributed to your academic and/or professional development?

During my undergrad at SFU, I had the invaluable opportunity to work as an RA for various projects, including developing a glossary of linguistic terms in relation to Indigenous languages that are taught at SFU. These experiences all supported me in learning how to utilize and adapt linguistic topics to support Indigenous language revitalization, which ultimately provided me clarity on my intended direction in my career. Since then, I've worked on various projects with various organizations for the greater Métis community to further the ongoing efforts of revitalizing and strengthening Métis languages. These professional connections enabled me to become a learner of my heritage language as an apprentice to my mentor-speaker. In doing so, I realized how limited we are in our resources and research on topics that have great potential to support learners. Ultimately, this is what motivated me to pursue my MA.

Have you been the recipient of any major or donor-funded awards? If so, please tell us which ones and a little about how the awards have impacted your studies and/or research

I have been the recipient of a BC Graduate Scholarship as well as the Graduate Dean's Entrance Award. The two have greatly supported my efforts in moving from Winnipeg to the West Coast to pursue my MA as well as permitted me to focus more of my time on research related to my thesis. It is unlikely without these two awards that I would be able to commit to my graduate program full-time or at all.

Contact Kathleen:kaa32@sfu.ca