Research Interests and Background

William Scott Frager is a sociolinguist whose research focuses on language and social exclusion, notably in "extreme" contexts (often post-colonial settings) where one language or language variety is essential for key domains such as academic success, advancement in the formal employment, political participation, fair treatment in the judicial system, and entering prestigious social networks, but is unknown and/or inaccessible to much of the population.

His interests include understanding the durability of language-based exclusion and social reproduction, language policy and international development, standardization of marginalized languages and the tensions therein, the rise and fall of "prestige" languages (e.g. Latin in Western Europe), Creolistics and debates surrounding "Creole exceptionalism," and language acquisition and language teaching. His sociological perspective is informed by the work of Pierre Bourdieu and Norbert Elias.  

The primary case study of his current doctoral research is Haiti, "the linguistic apartheid."  The research is qualitative in nature and based on the collection and analysis of interview data through fieldwork.



He previously worked in the education sector in Haiti, where he was first exposed to debates around mother-tongue education vs. early education in dominant languages. He is fluent in Kreyòl (Haitian Creole) and French, conversational in Spanish, and learning (spoken) Latin and Italian. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics from New York University and a Master's degree in International Development from Sciences Po, Paris. He previously worked as a Policy Analyst with the MIT-Haiti Initiative on a grant from the MIT Policy Lab.

Teaching and Conferences

His recent teaching includes lectures to undergraduates and graduates at MIT and Oxford on Language Standardization and the "Reproduction Thesis," Creoles and Pidgins (and "Creole Exceptionalism"), and Language and Gender (Oxford tutorial). He has presented his research at various workshops and conferences, notably NWAV51 in New York City (October 2023) and HiSoN in Zurich (June 2023). He also moderated a panel on the "Future of Education in Haiti" at the "Linguistic Barriers, Exploitation and Resistance in Haiti" conference at MIT (January 2024).

Publications

Co-authored with Michel DeGraff and Haynes Miller (2022.)

“Language Policy in Haitian Education: A History of Conflict over the Use of Kreyòl as Language of Instruction.” in the Journal of Haitian Studies 28 (2).

https://lingphil.scripts.mit.edu/papers/degraff/DeGraff_Frager_Haynes_2…

Co-authored with Michel DeGraff and Haynes Miller (2022.)

"An nou fè 2 kabès olye pou n rete nan lave men siye atè" in Le Nouvelliste, August 29, 2022. 

https://lenouvelliste.com/article/237813/an-nou-fe-2-kabes-olye-pou-n-r…