Alexander MendesAssistant ProfessorFrench

PhD–UC Davis

Alexander Mendes (he/il). PhD University of California, Davis – 2018. I am a scholar-practitioner working in interdisciplinary French studies from the vantage point of sociocultural and applied linguistics. I am interested in material and symbolic dimensions of multilingual dynamics, specifically language policies and practices in the French Mediterranean. My current book project is an ethnography of urban multilingualism on Corsica exploring issues related to immigration, heritage languages, and globalization. I am also Core Faculty in Linguistics and Hispanic Studies. 

My interests include: 

• Minoritized language maintenance / revitalization / reclamation 
• Critical pedagogies 
• The role of linguistics and language policy in social justice initiatives 
• Sociopolitical processes shaping conceptualizations and representations of “multilingualism” 
• Globalization studies and Mediterranean studies 

• Mendes, A. (2022). “Je la veux…cuite ? Francohegemony, Steak, and FLE in French Cultural Contexts.” The French Review. 95(3): 139-156.
• Mendes, A. (2021). “Forging Multilingualism: Teleological Tension in French and Corsican Middle School Curricula.” Language Policy. 20(2): 173-192. 
• Mendes, A. (2020). “Verdant Vernaculars: Corsican Environmental Assemblages.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. 30(2): 156-178. 
• Mendes, A. (2018). “Granite Island Pearls: ‘Unaccompanied Foreign Minors’ in a Corsican FLE Class.” Critical Multilingualism Studies. 6(1): 190-214. 
• Kemp, R., Moline, E., Escalante, C., Mendes, A., & Bayley, R. (2016). “Where Have All the Participles Went? Using Twitter Data to Teach About Language.” American Speech. 91(2): 226-235.