Elena Stübinger-Janas

Universidad Nacional de Colombia – Amazonia Campus

Winner of the Norm and Sibby Whitten Research Fund 2022-2023

“Welcome to the Amazon!” – Effects of English in a multilingual context in the southern Colombian Amazonian Trapezium

Puerto Nariño in the southern Colombian Amazon is an area of intense ethnic and linguistic contacts, characterized by multilingualism at both social and individual levels: Magütá (Tikuna), Yagua and Cocama indigenous languages, Spanish and Portuguese, above all, are present. In addition, English is gaining more and more importance as a global and foreign language, due to the increase of tourism in Puerto Nariño and as a consequence of the growing number of international visitors in recent years. The research work aims to investigate how English is integrated into local linguistic dynamics and what effects it has on indigenous languages and their speakers.

About Elena Stübinger-Janas

Elena Stübinger-Janas is a PhD student in Amazonian Studies at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Amazonia Campus. She holds a B.A. in Culture and International Business and a M.A. in Languages and Communication.

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