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Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

Sandra Keller

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

Biography

I am a French instructor and sociolinguist who studies language ideologies and practice, particularly with respect to the language of Gallo in Brittany, France. ISU French 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

FRE 112.001 First-Year French (Part II)

FRE 115.001 Second-Year French (Part I)

FRE 116.001 Second-Year French (Part II)

Teaching Interests & Areas

French language, culture, and linguistics; sociolinguistics

Research Interests & Areas

language ideologies; minority language representations and practices; discourse analysis; verbal art and performance; intersectional identities in contemporary France; inclusive language pedagogy

Ph D Linguistics

University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

MA French

University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC

BA Psychology & French

Rhodes College
Memphis, TN

Outstanding Teaching Award, non-tenure track

College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University
2025

Book, Chapter

“Beyond Borders: Teaching for Multiplicity in the L2 French Classroom”
Sandra Keller & Erin Ponnou-Delaffon
(2025), Narratives of Non-English L2 Language Teachers, Routledge
“’I didn't know it was a language back then’: The ideological value of recognition among Gallo advocates in Brittany.”
Sandra Keller
(2021), 183-203, Metalinguistic Communities: Case Studies of Agency, Ideology, and Symbolic Uses of Language, Palgrave Macmillan
Marianne Repensée : Femmes, Culture, Rupture et Représentations
Clarissa Eagle & Sandra Keller
(2020), 31-64, La France Contemporaine : Unité et Diversités, Polarisations et Solidarités, French Review Book Series, AATF Press
"Les enjeux idéologiques de la transmission du gallo en Haute-Bretagne"
Sandra Keller
57-69, Diversité linguistique, éducation et transmission en Bretagne, Presses universitaires de Rennes

Journal Article

“The Semiotics of Gallo Dictionaries: Indexing Modern Localness and Distributing Epistemic Authority in Minority Language Advocacy.”
Sandra Keller
(2019), 10.1111/jola.12212

Presentations

Claiming speakerhood, defining community: Gallésantes and verbal art in Brittany, France
Sandra Keller
Midwest Modern Language Association annual convention, Milwaukee, WI, November 5, 2021
“Forging Nuanced Understandings of Frenchness and Francophonie in the Second-Year Classroom.”
Laura C Edwards, Sandra Keller
Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum, Online, November 14, 2020
“’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.”
Sandra Keller
American Anthropological Association annual meeting, San Jose, CA, November 17, 2018
“Stance-taking in minority language labeling: Terminological pluralism and personal connection”
Sandra Keller
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 30, 2017
Creating a language-object: Participant roles of language recognition in minority language advocacy"
Sandra Keller
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, November 19, 2016
'You know perfectly well this is a lesson': Ignorance and knowledge in humorous Gallo-French performances
Sandra Keller
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 20, 2015
’I love patois, I learn gallo’: Ideological projects of minority language-naming
Sandra Keller
Conference on Language, Interaction, and Social Organization, Santa Barbara, CA, May 30, 2015
Indexing speakerhood: Discursive and material practice at Gallo language festivals
Sandra Keller
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., December 4, 2014
Performing Gallo, imagining place: Language and regional identity in Brittany, France
Sandra Keller
Locating Language: A Symposium on the Linguistics of Place, Columbus, OH, April 20, 2013
Place, scale and linguistic hybridity in artistic performance: Advocating for a regional language of France
Sandra Keller
American Association for Applied Linguistics, Dallas, TX, March 16, 2013
“Narrative circulation and social practice: A portrait of two preschool classrooms.”
Sandra Keller, Marsha D Walton, Ageliki Nicolopoulou
Biannual Narrative Matters conference, Paris, France, June 1, 2012
’Comme des oiseaux en plein vol’: Desire, travel, and the power of artistic creation in works by Gabrielle Roy and Fatima Mernissi
Sandra Keller
Women in French, Tempe, AZ, February 25, 2012
“'Les militants' or 'les ringards': Politics of membership on French newspaper discussion boards."
Sandra Keller
Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT), Washington, D.C., March 11, 2011
’C’est toi qu’est pas chez toi’: The political and interactional value of ne in French online newspaper communities.
Sandra Keller
UT French & Italian Graduate Students Organization Conference, Austin, TX, April 9, 2010
“Narrative Performance and the Creation of Local Culture in Two Preschool Classrooms
Sandra Keller, Marsha D Walton, Ageliki Nicolopoulou
Jean Piaget Society, Baltimore, MD, June 2, 2006
Narratives of Conflict Interactions: Children’s Construction of Emotions and Conflict Resolution
Alexis R Harris, Marsha D Walton, Sandra Keller
Jean Piaget Society, Vancouver, Canada, June 3, 2005