Research Interests
My research focuses on the linguistics of signed languages, with particular attention to multimodality, narrative structure, and the cognitive underpinnings of language production and interpretation. Key areas include:
- Narrative perspectives and constructed action (enactment) in signed discourse
- Mouth actions and non-manual features in Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ)
- Signed language interpretation (ASL–English and LSQ–French)
- Multimodal approaches to language and interaction
- Artificial intelligence and accessibility for Deaf communities and signed language users
Current Projects
Narrative Perspectives in Signed Language Interpretation
This postdoctoral project, funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) and hosted at the University of Manitoba, examines how Deaf and hearing ASL–English interpreters manage narrative perspective shifts in interpreted discourse. Drawing on frameworks from cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis, the project investigates how constructed action and perspective-taking strategies are deployed — and transformed — across source and target texts in interpreted interaction.
AI and Sign Language Accessibility
This project, currently in development as a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant application, explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and accessibility for signed language communities. The project is organized around four research horizons:
- Automated detection of LSQ linguistic markers — developing computational tools for the identification and annotation of grammatical and discourse features in LSQ
- LSQ–French machine translation mechanisms — investigating approaches to automated translation between LSQ and French
- AI tools for signed language interpreters — exploring how AI can support ASL–LSQ and LSQ–French interpreters in preparation, training, and practice
- AI in pedagogical contexts for Deaf students — examining the role of AI-assisted tools in supporting Deaf learners in educational settings
Community partnership and co-development with Deaf communities are central principles of this project.
Completed Projects
Mouth Actions in LSQ
My doctoral research investigated the linguistic status of mouth actions in Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ), drawing on Cognitive Grammar as a theoretical framework. The project examined whether mouth actions function as compositional grammatical units or as context-dependent gestural elements, contributing to debates about the role of non-manual features in signed language grammar.
Narrative Perspectives in Signed and Spoken Discourse
In collaboration with Anne-Marie Parisot (UQAM), this project examined narrative perspective-taking across signed and spoken languages, with publications in Languages in Contrast (De Gruyter) and Lidil. The work explored how signers and speakers deploy perspective shifts, constructed action, and reported speech in narrative contexts, contributing to cross-linguistic and cross-modal research on discourse structure.