Jonathan Choti

Jonathan Choti is an Associate Professor of African Languages and Cultures in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University's College of Arts & Letters. He teaches Swahili and a Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities (CISAH) course on African cultures, languages, and literature, and leads the Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania summer program.

His educational background includes:

• B.A. in English Language, Linguistics, and Swahili from Egerton University, Kenya
• M.A. in English Language & Linguistics from Egerton University, Kenya
• Ph.D. in Linguistics (2015) from Michigan State University

Choti's research centers on Bantu language structures, with primary focus on Swahili phonology and morphology. He actively contributes to minority language pedagogy and endangered language documentation, bridging theoretical linguistics with practical educational applications. His work emphasizes preserving African linguistic heritage while developing effective teaching methodologies for less commonly taught languages.

His publication trends reveal consistent focus on Bantu language structures, with recent work (2022-2023) expanding into theoretical frameworks for African linguistics and syntactic analysis of understudied languages like Bùlì. The 2023 conference proceedings demonstrate his leadership in advancing descriptive methodologies, while 2022 publications on Haya and Ekegusii augment systems show deep morphological analysis. Earlier work (2015) established foundational research on nasal prefix phenomena across Bantu languages.

Accolades include:

• Mid-Michigan Spartans Quality in Teaching Award (2019)
• Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship (2020)
• Lilly Fellowship (2020-2021, co-recipient)
• Summer Hub Faculty Fellowship Program (2020)
• Carnegie Fellowship (2022)
• Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant (2023)

Choti mentors doctoral students and leads international initiatives through funded projects including the Carnegie Fellowship for Kenyan educational development and the Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant addressing Tanzanian food insecurity. His Mozilla Foundation-funded work centers African perspectives in technology curriculum design, demonstrating commitment to community-engaged scholarship that bridges linguistic theory with real-world applications in East Africa.

He maintains active roles in professional organizations including the Association of Contemporary African Linguistics (ACAL), National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), and African Language Teachers’ Association (ALTA), fostering international collaborations that support African language preservation and pedagogy.