معرفی
Dr Adam Schembri is a Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and Communication at the University of Birmingham, where he has worked since January 2016. He teaches sociolinguistics, language and gesture, and linguistic diversity modules on BA and MA programmes.
His educational background includes:
- Bachelor of Arts (English Literature), University of Sydney, 1988
- Diploma in Education (English/English as a Second Language), Sydney College of Advanced Education, 1989
- Master of Letters (Linguistics), University of Sydney, 1992
- Diploma in Interpreting (Australian Sign Language/English), Sydney Institute of Technical and Further Education, 1996
- PhD (Linguistics), University of Sydney, 2002. Title: “Issues in the analysis of polycomponential verbs in Australian Sign Language (Auslan)”
Dr Schembri's research centers on sign language linguistics, especially Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and British Sign Language (BSL). He investigates sociolinguistic variation, gesture studies, and linguistic diversity, with particular focus on how grammar relates to iconicity, language age, and social structure in deaf communities.
His 2016-2024 publications reveal consistent exploration of sign language phonetics, syntax, and sociolinguistics through cross-linguistic corpus studies. Key trends include analyzing indicating verbs across sign languages, measuring lexical variation against social structures, and examining co-speech gestures in bilingual contexts, demonstrating methodological rigor in both theoretical and applied frameworks.
Dr Schembri has not been mentioned to have received any scientific awards in the provided text.
He has supervised PhD students researching Russian Sign Language morphology and interpretation between African-American Vernacular English and ASL, with current supervision spanning co-speech gestures in bilinguals, sign language variation in Algeria, and grammars of Kufr Qassem and Nepali Sign Languages. He leads the ERC SignMorph project and an ARC Linkage Project on Auslan learners while collaborating on the BSL Syntax Project.
His collaborative work involves the Centre for Corpus Research, DCAL Research Centre at UCL, Deaf Rainbow UK, and the Association of British Sign Language Teachers and Assessors.
