Billian K. Otundo

Dr. Billian K. Otundo is a postdoctoral researcher and habilitation candidate in the Department of English Linguistics at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, within the Cluster of Excellence Africa Multiple. Her research focuses on multilingual African learning environments, translanguaging, and sociophonetics. She has held roles including Lecturer at Moi University (2019–2021), Postdoctoral Researcher at Radboud University (2018–2019), and Visiting Scientist at the University of Cologne (2021). Her work integrates quantitative and qualitative methods, with expertise in SPSS, R, Praat, and MAXQDA.

Research Interests:

• Sociolinguistics, Multilingualism, Translanguaging
• World Englishes (Kenya, Mali, Cameroon, etc.)
• Language-in-Education Policy, Decolonizing Curricula
• Sociophonetics (intonation), Linguistic Anthropology

Key Projects: Co-convener of postdoctoral working groups on language localization, AI in education, and digital innovations. Collaborative studies include intonation patterns in Kenyan English/Swahili, code-switching in radio discourse, and decolonization of higher education.

Grants: DFG-funded research on multilingual learning spaces (2022–), TWAS-DFG (2021), NWO-WOTRO (2018–2019). Editorial roles include Journal of Linguistics, Literary and Communication Studies and Multiplicity series (Africa Multiple).

Labs/Initiatives: Founded the Philippines-Kenya Education Network (PEN), advised Moi University’s linguistics curriculum, and consulted on Kenya’s County Government policies (Gender/Disability Mainstreaming).