As a sociolinguist, I critically explore the ways in which language reflects, reinforces, or contests social inequalities, in the online and offline worlds. Passionate about languages, open science, and research-led, student-driven higher education, I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of linguistic practices and ideologies in transnational spaces, challenging traditional notions of ‘language’. As a member of the Heritage Language Lab Leiden and a Research Fellow at the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre on Governance of Migration and Diversity, I contribute to advancing knowledge at the intersection of language, mobility, and diversity.

More information about Naomi Truan

Fields of interest

• Multilingualism
• Migration
• Globalization
• Digital communication
• Social media
• Parliamentary debates
• Political discourse
• Person reference
• Pronouns

Research

My research investigates the role of e.g. German within multilingual and transnational contexts, analyzing how language ideologies shape its use and perception alongside other linguistic and semiotic resources. Drawing on qualitative methods, including interviews and ethnographic and discourse analysis, I explore how speakers negotiate linguistic diversity and identities. Trained in corpus linguistics and pragmatics, I also incorporate quantitative approaches to my work on e.g. gender-inclusive language or digital interactions.

Among other themes, I welcome BA, MA and PhD theses and collaborations on language ideologies, multilingualism, creative online practices, gender.

Grants and awards

Awards
2022: Open Science Award for Research Data from the French Ministry of Science and Research
2021: Student Teaching Award for Online Teaching of the University of Leipzig
2018: Graduate Student Travel Award of the American Pragmatics Association

Fellowships and grants
2021-2022: Junior Fellow of the Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald
2018: Fulbright Scholarship Program
2016-2019: German Academic Exchange Service
2016-2019: Deutsch-Französische Hochschule
2018: Arthur King Peters Memorial Travel Grant
2014-2015: Alfred Töpfer Stiftung F.V.S.
2012-2013: Internationales Parlamentsstipendium des Deutschen Bundestages

Curriculum vitae

Prior to my appointment at Leiden University, I was a full-time researcher and lecturer in German Linguistics at the University of Leipzig. During my PhD in cotutelle, I worked between the Free University Berlin and Sorbonne University in Paris. I am also an Alumna of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Greifswald (Germany).

Selected publications

In my dissertation, ‘The Politics of Person Reference’ (published with John Benjamins), I focused on:
- person reference and speech roles (see Truan 2021);
- pronouns and forms of address (see Truan 2015, Truan 2022);
- contrastive discourse analysis (see Truan 2019a);
- parliamentary discourse (see Truan 2016, Truan 2020, and most publications 2015-2019);
- populism (see Truan 2019a, Truan 2019b).

Since then, my research interests revolve around two areas:

1) language ideologies around multilingualism (sociolinguistics of German)
- language ideologies in transnational spaces (see Truan 2024a, Truan 2024b, Truan 2025);
- language ideologies and gender (see Truan & Oldani 2021);
- linguistic racism (see Oldani & Truan 2022)

2) language and identity in digital spaces
- gender and hashtags in Twitter protests (#CoronaEltern) (see Truan & Fischer 2023);
- the use of forms of address in online communities (T-form / V-form in German) (see Truan 2022);
- the creation of communities of practice, for instance people enacting their cats online (see Truan 2022);
- digital practices in the classroom and in higher education (see Truan & Dressel 2021, Truan & Dressel 2022).

Publications

Activities