Alice Marikan

Biography

Background

I am a Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) scholar specialising in sociolinguistic dialectology. My research approach is variation study drawing from traditional dialectology.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Applied Language Studies (Hons.)

  • 2015 - 2018 : Universiti Teknologi MARA
  • Final Year Project Title: The Use of English as the Language for Learning: A Dilemma Between English and Malay

Master of Science (MSc) in Applied Linguistics

  • 2019 - 2020 : The University of Edinburgh
  • Dissertation Title: Kedah Dialect: Dialect Loss and Variation Amongst Kedahans of Different Generation

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Linguistics and English Language (Ongoing)

  • 2021 - 2024 : The University of Edinburgh
  • Working Thesis Title: Variation within the Northern Malay Dialects

Research summary

  • Sociolinguistic Dialectology
  • Variation Study
  • Phonetics
  • Austronesian Linguistics

Project activity

My thesis focuses on the variation between the three Northern Malay dialects in Malaysia. The thesis investigates the current claims of the status of these dialects: claims that are, thus far, not based on any empirical evidence. Drawing on dialectology and using variationist sociolinguistic fieldwork methods, this thesis will be the first study to document Northern Malay dialects, their linguistic variability, and the constraints on that variable. It will be the first empirical study of how that variation is (or is not) mapped geographically and distributed socially.

Current project grants

(1) MARA Graduate Excellence Programme
(2) Tweedie Research Fellowship
(3) PPLS Research Support Grants

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