My thesis looks at language activism and modern Scots writing. One of my key contributions is the suggestion that a language ideology approach (e.g., the view that the existence of discrete languages is a consequence of modernism) goes a long way towards explaining why debates within activism are so often circular/inconclusive. Part of the problem, I propose, is that everyday speakers' views on language are blotted out by - and are inconvenient to - the broader movement's vision of empowerment. Hence, some speakers' scepticism towards the Scots campaign is explained away by mobilising taken-for-granted discourses of 'shame', 'education', or 'literacy'. I have spoken about this idea in more detail here.

Generally, I am interested in matters of ideology and language politics.

I did a BA in Spanish & Portuguese at King's College London and an MA in Linguistics at Lancaster University.

Publications:

Pottinger, H. (2022). Language standards in an unstandardised language: the orthographies and ideologies of Scots users on Twitter. Journal of Languages, Texts and Society, 5, 111-146.