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Dr Dawn Leslie

Dr Dawn Leslie
Dr Dawn Leslie
Dr Dawn Leslie

MA (Hons), MLitt, PGDE, PhD

Lecturer

Accepting PhDs

About
Email Address
dawn.leslie@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272627
Office Address
EIG3 24 High Street
Old Aberdeen Campus

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School/Department
School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture
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Personal Website
ORCiD

Biography

I graduated with an MA in English-Language & Linguistics (2009, University of Aberdeen), and a further MLitt in Sociolinguistics (2010, University of Aberdeen), before completing my Ph.D. in Linguistics (University of Aberdeen) in 2020 following some time away from academia (spent in the eLearning and secondary education sectors).

I am now a Lecturer in Language & Linguistics and I am currently Undergraduate Programme Coordinator for the Language & Linguistics degree programme. My main research interests are centred on perceptual dialectology, sociolinguistics, Scots language issues (with a special interest in North-East Scots/'Doric’) and multilingualism in the North-East region. I also have a wider research interest in minority language issues and the challenges faced by speaker communities of marginalised varieties. 

Currently accepting new PhD students

I welcome expressions of interest for supervision of sociolinguistic projects (especially in these areas):

  • 'language regard' (e.g. language attitudes, perceptual dialectology, linguistic prescriptivism) in any global context
  • Scots language issues (including 'Doric')
  • multilingualism in Scottish society
  • acquisition of sociolinguistic competence
  • minoritised/endangered languages (including, but not limited to, issues of status, education, and technology such as GenAI)

Get in touch: dawn.leslie@abdn.ac.uk

Qualifications

  • MA English-Language & Linguistics 
    2009 - University of Aberdeen 
  • MLitt Sociolinguistics 
    2010 - University of Aberdeen 
  • PGDE (Secondary) English 
    2013 - University of Aberdeen 
  • Ph.D Linguistics 
    2020 - University of Aberdeen 

    Thesis title: Perceptions of North East Scottish Speech

External Memberships

Chair of The Forum for Research on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster (FRLSU)

Latest Publications

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

My research is centred on language attitudes and perceptions of linguistic variation and change among minority language communities (focusing mostly on Scots) and, more recently, on the efficacy of Artificial Intelligence tools when creating content in so-called ‘low resource’ languages.

In 2022, I also collaborated with colleague, Prof. Michelle Macleod, as Postdoctoral Research Assistant on the AHRC Future of Language Research scoping project to conduct wider research on the challenges faced by current minority language stakeholders: this included surveying and interviewing different representatives from community, activist, educational and governmental backgrounds from across the British Isles.

I am currently part of the Aberlangs research collective at the University of Aberdeen – a partnership initiative supporting multilingualism and the presence of home, heritage and community languages in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. We have recently completed a small project on Mapping Multilingualism in the North-East region. Our next endeavour is an RSE-funded project – Beyond English: Investigating multilingualism in North-East Scottish schools – from Sept 2025 to Dec 2026. 

Aside from my own research, I am also the current Chair of the Forum for Research on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster (FRLSU) and a recognised voice on Scots language issues, having recently given evidence re. minority languages to the House of Commons Culture Select Committee and presented on dialect diversity to the Scottish Parliament Cross-Party Working Group on Scots Language.

 

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Linguistics.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Email Me

Linguistics

Accepting PhDs
View Research Area

Research Specialisms

  • Linguistics
  • Scots Language
  • Sociolinguistics

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Supervision

I welcome expressions of interest for PhD supervision from anyone looking to carry out research related to sociolinguistics (especially in the following areas):

I have specific expertise in 'language regard' (including research related to language attitudes, perceptual dialectology and/or linguistic prescriptivism) and would be happy to supervise projects looking at this in any global context.

Aligned with my current research interests regarding multilingualism in the North-East of Scotland, I am also keen to supervise any projects aimed at furthering our understanding of the different language communities found in the region (and in Scotland/UK more generally). This includes investigation of the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence.

As a researcher whose work often focuses on Scots (a minoritised language spoken in Scotland and Ulster), I am naturally interested in any proposed projects investigating its current status, its sociolinguistic history and the many identity-issues related to its use. However, I am also interested in other global contexts involving minority languages and the challenges faced by the communities that speak them. I am particularly keen to explore issues of digital equality for minoritised languages, especially the status of 'low resource' languages in relation to evolving technology such as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).

If you would like to get in touch about potential PhD supervision, please email me: dawn.leslie@abdn.ac.uk

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I am currently main supervisor for:

Asmaa Alenezi - From Learning to Belonging: Sociolinguistic Competence and Identity Shift Between International Learners in North-East Scotland.

Zafar Abdullaev - The Role of Socio-cultural Factors in Understanding Sociolinguistic Competence of Uzbek Migrants in Scotland 

Kyriaki Koukou - A sociolinguistic exploration of the interaction between English and the native non-standard variety spoken by the Greek-speaking community in Cyprus: Investigating the influence and utilisation of English, and language attitudes within this context

Funding and Grants

Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Research Collaboration Grant (Spring 2025):

  • Dr Dawn Leslie, University of Aberdeen, with collaborators Dr Fransiska Louwagie, University of Aberdeen and Dr Colin Christie, University of Aberdeen: Beyond English: Investigating multilingualism in North-East Scottish schools
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