Dr. Jhonni Carr holds a PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She teaches in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Berkeley. Specializing in Spanish Sociolinguistics, she investigates language access and the power dynamics of displayed languages in the public space of California, Mexico, and Brazil. She uses interdisciplinary methods to explore these areas’ signage (linguistic landscape) and residents’ attitudes toward the presence and absence of different languages. Dr. Carr has also published work related to the concept of language solidarity and the role of linguistic allies in supporting multilingualism; language attitudes with respect to varying pronunciations of Spanish and English; and the intersection between U.S. Latinx culture and Food Studies. Her research has been supported by institutions such as the U.S. Department of Education, the American Federation of Teachers, the UC Regents, the Berkeley Language Center, and the UC Berkeley Institute of International Studies.
Dr. Carr’s dissertation, “Signs of Our Times: Language Contact and Attitudes in the Linguistic Landscape of Southeast Los Angeles” exposes the dynamic situation of Spanish and English in the signage of three L.A. cities and the manner in which language is intertwined with the public space and its inhabitants. She does so by comparing the material presence of languages in the linguistic landscape with Latinx community members’ perceptions of language use and their resulting attitudes. A corpus containing images of 4,664 signs is examined, along with responses from 24 semi-directed, sociolinguistic interviews. This investigation illuminates the power relations that lie in the coexistence of Spanish and English inscriptions in the urban space of Southeast Los Angeles.
She is currently revising her dissertation to produce a book manuscript. In writing her first book, Dr. Carr is delving into the finer details of her corpus in order to expand her macro analysis of language contact in the signage with a micro analysis by using a corpus linguistics approach. She is currently working on a new chapter regarding the use of Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish (Parodi, 2004, 2009, 2011) and Spanglish as seen in public space, exploring such morphological innovations as store names Wateria and Shoeteria.
An additional research interest of hers is second language pedagogy. In 2021 she gave a presentation entitled “Technology in the classroom and beyond: Designing and disseminating results of a collaborative LL research project” at the Linguistic Landscapes International Workshop. She has organized a panel on best practices for teaching Spanish to heritage speakers for the International Conference on Language Teacher Education and also enjoys giving presentations at the American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese conferences.
Dr. Carr is a passionate educator and has been distinguished with awards and honors for her instruction. She received the 2024-2025 Arts & Humanities Teaching Award, in addition to university-wide Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times(link is external) award, for which approximately 500 nominations were received. From 2021 to 2022 she collaborated with the Center for Teaching and Learning(link is external) as a fellow to develop a Linguistic Solidarity curriculum for the language and linguistics classroom. In Spring 2020, she served as a Berkeley Language Center Fellow in order to develop a course on the presence of Spanish in the linguistic landscape. She has taught classes related to the study of Spanish, Portuguese, and English linguistics, languages, and cultures.
For more information, see her CV and personal website(link is external).
Courses Taught at UC Berkeley (*course created and instructed for the first time):
Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics (Spanish 100(link is external))
Spanish Pronunciation and Accents in Native and Non-Native Speakers (Spanish 101(link is external))*
Spanish Phonetics and Phonology (Spanish 161(link is external))*
Spanish Morphology and Syntax (Spanish 162(link is external))*
Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Approaches to Spanish Bilingualism (Spanish 163(link is external))
Spanish Dialectology and Sociolinguistic Variation (Spanish 164(link is external))
Spanish in the U.S. and in Contact with Other Languages (Spanish 165(link is external))*
Spanish in the Linguistic Landscape: Implications for Linguistic and Sociocultural Study (Spanish 179(link is external))*
Selected Publications:
2024. Signs of language justice? Solidarity, belonging, and strategies for fostering linguistic equity. In M. Ramos Pellicia, P. MacGregor-Mendoza & M. Niño-Murcia (Eds.), Advocating for sociolinguistic justice in the United States: Empowering Spanish-speaking communities (pp. 24–56). Routledge.
2024. A framework for measuring language representation in the linguistic landscape: The case of Los Angeles Koreatown. With Ji Young Kim. In C. Lamar Prieto & Á. González Alba (Eds.), Digital flux, linguistic justice and minoritized languages (pp. 173–194). De Gruyter.
2021. Reframing the question of correlation between the local linguistic population and urban signage: The case of Spanish in the Los Angeles linguistic landscape. In P. Gubitosi and M. Ramos Pellicia (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the Spanish-speaking world (pp. 239–265). John Benjamins.
2020. Language solidarity: How to create a forcefield with words. With Román Luján. In C. Boullosa and A. Quintero Soriano (Eds.), Let’s Talk about Your Wall: The Border Crisis from the Mexican Perspective (pp. 49–62). New York, NY: The New Press.
2019. Linguistic landscapes. In M. Aronoff (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199772810-0251(link is external)
2017. Signs of our times: Language contact and attitudes in the linguistic landscape of Southeast Los Angeles. (Doctoral dissertation). University of California, Los Angeles.
2015. Hablas mejor que yo: actitudes de hablantes nativos hacia el español de hablantes no nativos avanzados. Voices 3(1): 31–45.
2014. One margarita, please! Language attitudes regarding pronunciation in the language of origin. Voices 2(1): 63–73.
2013b. The quest for authenticity in L.A. Mexican food: A preliminary study. The International Journal of Food Studies 2(1): 45–51.
2013a. Yo quiero Taco Bell: How Hispanic culture affects American taste buds. Voices 1(1): 49–55
