Andre Joseph Theng

Andre Joseph Theng is a sociolinguist affiliated with the University of Edinburgh's School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Linguistics & English Language. He holds a PhD from the University of Hong Kong and a B.A. (Hons) from National University of Singapore. His research focuses on sociolinguistic intersections between online/offline spaces, religious discourses (particularly Catholic social media), class dynamics, and identity formations. He employs multimodal discourse analysis and social semiotics to study phenomena like digital ecclesiology and elite foodscapes.

Theng has taught undergraduate courses including LEL1A, Sociolinguistics, and Discourse Analysis at Edinburgh. His recent work explores how social media influencers reshape Catholic authority and community structures, alongside analyzing pandemic-era linguistic landscapes in Hong Kong and Lamma Island's urban-rural nexus. His earlier research examined semiotics in Hong Kong/Singapore coffee culture and multilingual proficiencies in neoliberal Singaporean education contexts.

Key contributions include chapters in The Routledge Handbook of Language and Religion (2024) and articles in Sociolinguistic Studies, Pragmatics and Society, and Signs and Society. Theng has presented at international conferences including the Global Network for Digital Theology Conference, Georgetown University Roundtable, and Sociolinguistics Symposium 23.