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Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Sandra Keller

Instructional Assistant Professor of French
Office
Stevenson Hall - STV 203D
Office Phone
(309) 438-7620office
phone
Email
slkell1@ilstu.eduemail
  • About
  • Education
  • Research

Biography

I am a sociolinguist who studies language ideologies in France, particularly with respect to the minority language of Gallo in Brittany. At ISU, French program courses I have taught include First- and Second-Year French (FRE 111, 112, 115, 116); French Phonetics (FRE 209); Contemporary France (FRE 224); and Introduction to Applied French Linguistics (FRE 340). I have also taught Sociolinguistics for the Departments of English and Anthropology (ENG/ANT 342).

Current Courses

111.002First-Year French (Part I)

102.011Honors Mindset Seminar

340.001Introduction to Applied French Linguistics

115.002Second-Year French (Part I)

Research Interests & Areas

French linguistics; sociolinguistics; language ideologies; minority language representations and practices; discourse analysis; intersectional identities in contemporary France; verbal art and performance; narrative

Ph D Linguistics

University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

MA French

University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

BA Psychology & French

Rhodes College
Memphis, TN

Book, Chapter

Keller, Sandra. (2021). “’I Didn't Know It Was a Language Back Then’: The Ideological Value of Recognition among Gallo Advocates in Brittany.” In Netta Avineri and Jesse O. Harasta, eds., Metalinguistic Communities: Case Studies of Agency, Ideology, and Symbolic Uses of Language. Palgrave Macmillan. Pp. 183-203.

Eagle, Clarissa, and Sandra Keller. (2020). "Marianne Repensée: Femmes, Culture, Rupture et Représentations." In Michel Gueldry and Armelle Crouzières-Ingenthron, eds., La France Contemporaine : Unité et Diversités, Polarisations et Solidarités. French Review Book Series, AATF Press. Pp. 31-64.

Journal Article

Keller, Sandra. (2019). “The Semiotics of Gallo Dictionaries: Indexing Modern Localness and Distributing Epistemic Authority in Minority Language Advocacy.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 29(1): 95-118.

Presentations

2021 “Claiming speakerhood, defining community: Gallésantes and verbal art in Brittany, France.” Midwest Modern Language Association annual convention. Milwaukee, WI. (November 5)
Edwards, L., Keller, Sandra. (2020, November 14). Forging Nuanced Understandings of Frenchness and Francophonie in the Second-Year Classroom. Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum, Virtual Conference. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/diversity-decolonization-and-the-french-curriculum-tickets-117350300909#

2018 “’I didn’t know it was a language back then’: Minority language advocacy and the ideological value of recognition among users of Gallo in Brittany.” American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Washington, DC. (November 17)

2017 “Stance-taking in minority language labeling: Terminological pluralism and personal connection.” American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Washington, DC. (November 30)

2016 “Creating a language-object: Participant roles of language recognition in minority language advocacy.” Multimedia poster presentation. American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Minneapolis, MN. (November 19)

2015 “’I love patois, I learn gallo’: Ideological projects of minority language-naming.” Conference on Language, Interaction, and Social Organization. Santa Barbara, CA. (May 30)

2015 “’You know perfectly well this is a lesson’: Ignorance and knowledge in humorous Gallo-French performances.” American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Denver, CO. (November 20)

2014 “Indexing speakerhood: Discursive and material practice at Gallo language festivals.” American Anthropological Association annual meeting. Washington, DC. (December 4)

2013 “Performing Gallo, imagining place: Language and regional identity in Brittany, France.” Poster presentation. Locating Language: A Symposium on the Linguistics of Place. Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. (April 20)

2013 “Place, scale and linguistic hybridity in artistic performance: Advocating for a regional language of France.” American Association for Applied Linguistics conference. Dallas, TX. (March 16)

2012 “’Comme des oiseaux en plein vol’: Desire, travel, and the power of artistic creation in works by Gabrielle Roy and Fatima Mernissi.” Biannual meeting of Women in French. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. (February 25)

2012 Keller, S.L., Walton, M.D., and Nicolopoulou, A. “Narrative circulation and social practice: A portrait of two preschool classrooms.” Biannual Narrative Matters conference. American University of Paris, Paris, France. (June 1)

2011 “'Les militants' or 'les ringards': Politics of membership on French newspaper discussion boards." Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT). Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. (March 11)

2010 “’C’est toi qu’est pas chez toi’: The political and interactional value of ne in French online newspaper communities.” UT French & Italian Graduate Students Organization Conference, Austin, TX (April 9)

2006 Keller, S.L., Walton, M.D., and Nicolopoulou, A. “Narrative Performance and the Creation of Local Culture in Two Preschool Classrooms.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Baltimore, MD. (June 2)

2005 Harris, A. R., Walton, M. D., and Keller, S. L. “Narratives of Conflict Interactions: Children’s Construction of Emotions and Conflict Resolution.” Poster presentation. Annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Vancouver, Canada. (June 3)