Dr Eleanor Ridge staff profile picture

Contact details +6469516593

Dr Eleanor Ridge BA, MA, PhD

Senior Lecturer

Doctoral Co-Supervisor
School of Humanities Media and Creative Comm

Professional

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts - University of Oxford (2010)
  • Master of Studies - University of Oxford (2013)
  • Doctor of Philosophy - University of London (2019)

Certifications and Registrations

  • Licence, Co-Supervisor, Massey University

Research Expertise

Research Interests

Language documentation and description

Languages of Vanuatu and the Pacific

Language variation

Corpus linguistics

Syntax and morphology

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Applied Linguistics and Educational Linguistics (200401): Language in Culture and Society (Sociolinguistics) (200405): Language in Time and Space (incl. Historical Linguistics, Dialectology) (200406): Languages, Communication And Culture (200000): Lexicography (200407): Linguistic Structures (incl. Grammar, Phonology, Lexicon, Semantics) (200408): Linguistics (200400): Linguistics not elsewhere classified (200499)

Research Projects

Summary of Research Projects

Position Current Completed
Project Leader 1 2

Current Projects

Project Title: Do endangered languages get simpler under threat? Young people’s language use in urban and rural communities in Vanuatu

Date Range: 2022 - 2025

Funding Body: Royal Society of New Zealand

Project Team:

Research Outputs

Journal

Ridge, E. (2023). Book review of Malau Catriona (with contributions from Philemon Ala, Katherine E. Holmes, Armstrong Malau and Eli Field Malau), 2021. A Dictionary of Vurës, Vanuatu. Te Reo - Journal of the Linguistics Society of New Zeland. 66(1), 1-8Retreived from https://nzlingsoc.org/journal_article/book-review-by-eleanor-ridge-of-malau-2021/
[Book Review]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2022). Patterns of variation in subject-indexing prefixes in Vatlongos, Southeast Ambrym. Asia-Pacific Language Variation. 8(1), 72-105
[Journal article]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018). Language contexts: Vatlongos, Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Language Documentation and Description. 15, 87-122 Retrieved from http://www.elpublishing.org/PID/162
[Journal article]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Book

Ridge, E., Nicholas, SA., & Benton, R. (2023). Sociolinguistics in the Pacific. In MJ. Ball, R. Mesthrie, & C. Meluzzi (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World. (pp. 333 - 347). London: Routledge
[Chapter]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2020). Morphosyntactic and functional asymmetries in Vatlongos discourse demonstratives. In Å. Næss, A. Margetts, & Y. Treiss (Eds.) Demonstratives in Discourse. (pp. 69 - 101). Berlin, Germany: Language Science Press
[Chapter]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Thesis

Ridge, EC. (2019). Variation in Vatlongos Verbal Morphosyntax : speaker communities in Southeast Ambrym and Mele Maat. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. (Doctoral Thesis, SOAS University of London) Ridge, EC. (2019). Variation in Vatlongos Verbal Morphosyntax : speaker communities in Southeast Ambrym and Mele Maat. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. (Doctoral Thesis)
[Doctoral Thesis]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2013). Cutting and breaking events in Abma: a language of Central Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. (Master's Thesis, Oxford University)
[Masters Thesis]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Conference

Ridge, E., Donald, E., & Wase, S. (2024, July). Transcribing Tonkinson's Southeast Ambrym recordings: first impressions and community experiences. Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. National University Vanuatu, Port Vila, Vanuatu.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2023, July). The sixth vowel in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym). Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. National University Vanuatu, Port Vila, Vanuatu.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2021, December). Supporting young speakers of Vatlongos language, Vanuatu. Presented at The tenth Pacific@Massey Research Conference. Massey University.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2021, June). Complement clauses in Vatlongos: not clausal objects, but key to transitivity marking. Presented at 13th International Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference. University of Edinburgh.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2021, August). Supporting maintenance of small-scale multilingualism for young members of Vatlongos-speaking communities. Presented at Typology of Small Scale Multilingualism Conference 2. University of Helsinki.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.

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Ridge, E. (2020, June). Prior motion serial verb constructions in Vatlongos: same morphosyntactic behaviour; different diachronic outcomes. Presented at 12th International Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference. University of Oslo.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2019). Effects of semantic role on constituent order: the negative clitic and object noun phrase in Vatlongos (Vanuatu, Oceanic). Poster session presented at the meeting of Lexical Functional Grammar 2019. Australian National University
[Conference Poster]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E., & Franjieh, M. (2019, October). Stakeholder attitudes to vernacular literacy implementation in Ambrym, Vanuatu. Presented at Conference on Oceanic Languages. University of New Caledonia, Noumea.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2019, October). Serial verb constructions in Vatlongos: form, function and sociolinguistic distribution. Presented at Conference on Oceanic Languages. University of New Caledonia, Noumea.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2019, November). Say what you want: the lexical meaning, distribution and functional extensions of hit verbs in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym, Vanuatu). Presented at New Zealand Linguistics Society. University of Canterbury, Christchurch.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, July). Introduction to FLEx. Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. University of the South Pacific, Port Vila.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2018, July). Creating a dictionary app from FLEx data. Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. University of the South Pacific, Port Vila.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2018, July). Language in changing in town but also on the island: Vatlongos in Mele Maat and Ambrym (public talk in Bislama). Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. Vanuatu Cultural Centre.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2018, May). Distribution of adverbs in the Vatlongos clause: semantic and syntactic implications. Presented at Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics. University of Surrey.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, June). Morphosyntactic and functional asymmetries in Vatlongos demonstratives. Presented at Discourse Functions of Demonstratives workshop. University of Oslo.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, July). Developments in verb-initial consonant mutation in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym). Presented at Vanuatu Languages Conference. University of the South Pacific, Port Vila.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, September). Repetition of verbs and their objects as a constituency test in Vatlongos (Vanuatu). Presented at Syntax of the World's Languages 8. INALCO, Paris.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, September). The development of auxiliary verb constructions in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym, Vanuatu). Presented at Linguistics Association of Great Britain annual meeting. University of Sheffield.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E.One strategy, many functions: non-contiguous serial verb constructions in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym). . SOAS, University of London
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2017, June). Negation in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym), Vanuatu. Presented at Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics 9. INALCO, Paris.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2017, July). Three Vatlongos speaker communities: language repertoires, domains and attitudes. Presented at Cambridge Endangered Languages and Cultures Postgraduate Workshop. University of Cambridge.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2017, July). Use of loan verbs in Vatlongos (Southeast Ambrym), Vanuatu. Presented at Seventh Cambridge Conference on Language Endangerment. University of Cambridge.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2017, December). Grammatical and phonological words in the Vanuatu verb complex. Presented at What is a Word? Workshop. University of Zurich.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E.Serial verb constructions and negative morphemes in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). . SOAS, University of London
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2016, June). Auxiliary verbs in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at Linguistics Research Student Conference @ SOAS. SOAS, University of London.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2016, June). Quantitative analysis of loan verb usage in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu) using FLEx and R. Presented at Third Linguistics Research Student Conference @ SOAS: Workshop on Methodology, Method and Data Collection in Language Documentation and Description. SOAS, University of London.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2016, November). Phonotactically conditioned optional allomorphy in Southeast Ambrym subject-index prefixes. Presented at New Fields for Morphology. University of Melbourne.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2016, December). Three strategies for adding directional information to verbs in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at Australian Linguistics Society annual conference. Monash University, Melbourne.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2014). Using picture stimuli to target grammatical meanings and create subtitled videos in Sylheti. Poster session presented at the meeting of Workshop on Collaboration for Language Preservation and Revitalisation in Asia. Mahidol University
[Conference Poster]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2014). Using video stimuli to investigate event distinctions in Abma, Vanuatu. Poster session presented at the meeting of Workshop on Collaboration for Language Preservation and Revitalisation in Asia. Mahidol University
[Conference Poster]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2014, May). Long live the dictionary: Serial verb constructions in Parker's Southeast Ambrym Dictionary. Presented at First Linguistics Research Student Conference @ SOAS. SOAS, University of London.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E.Towards an LFG analysis of nuclear-layer serial verbs in Abma. . SOAS, University of London
[Conference Paper]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2013, May). Serial verb constructions in Abma: data from Cut and Break events. Presented at Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics 6. SOAS, University of London.
[Conference Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Other

Ridge, E. (2022, September). Bislama loanwords in Vatlongos. In School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, Massey University.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2019, April). Variation in Vatlongos subject-indexing prefixes (invited talk). Presented at University of Surrey.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018). Language documentation training days. Presented at Lacito, CNRS, Paris.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, May). Language documentation training sessions. Presented at University of Malaya.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, June). SOAS FLEx Workshop. Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018). Vatlongos Pangloss deposit. Retreived from https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Vatlongos
[Dataset]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2018, March). Serial verb constructions in Vatlongos: mismatches between formal and functional integration (invited talk). Presented at Lacito, CNRS, Paris.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Ridge, E. (2017, October). Tense, aspect or modality? TAM categories in Vatlongos. Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E., & Hemmings, C. (2016, April). Newsworthiness. Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2016, May). Verbal compounding in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2015, May). Serial verb constructions in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2015, November). Challenges for grammatical analysis of Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2015, November). TAM marking in Southeast Ambrym (Vanuatu). Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2014, March). Narratives in Abma and Bislama. Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2014, April). Serial verb constructions in Parker's (1970) Southeast Ambrym Dictionary. Presented at SOAS, University of London.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2013, February). Information Structure in Abma: Schneider (2010) Chapter 10. Presented at Oxford University.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
Ridge, E. (2013, May). Serial verbs in Abma: data from cut and break events. Presented at Oxford University.
[Oral Presentation]Authored by: Ridge, E.
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Teaching and Supervision

Teaching Statement

In my teaching I aim to support students to analyse the complexities of language, appreciate the depth and diversity of their own language knowledge, and become experts in their sociolinguistic context. Our courses in descriptive linguistics are embedded in the context of Aotearoa in the Pacific, with a particular focus on te reo Maori, New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand English and Pacific languages. I am always developing my skills in online tools to create an engaging learning environment for all students. I aim to create a friendly, supportive environment where students actively engage in learning by doing, and learn from each other's experiences, ideas, and mistakes too!

Contact Supervisor

Graduate Supervision Statement

As a supervisor I aim to support students to pursue their own research goals, developing the skills they need to conduct research increasingly independently. I love to learn from my students as they become experts in their research area.

I am especially interested in supervising projects in language documentation, language revitalization and Pacific languages. I particularly enjoy supporting students to conduct research in their own language communities. I am also interested in language variation, corpus linguistics and quantitative analysis.


Dr Eleanor Ridge is available for Masters and Doctorial supervision.

Summary of Doctoral Supervision

Position Current Completed
Co-supervisor 3 0

Current Doctoral Supervision

Co-supervisor of:

  • Pakkawan Udomphol - Doctor of Philosophy
    Critically investigating metadiscourse in New Zealand environmental sustainability reports using corpus linguistics
  • Jingwen Gu - Doctor of Philosophy
    Exploring Primary School Teacher Perceptions and Practices Integrating Technology in a Chinese EFL Context
  • Haixia Wang - Doctor of Philosophy
    Exploring university Chinese EFL learners’self-regulated strategies in learning spoken English beyond the classroom