Profile

Johnny Laforêt, a Fulbright scholar, received his Ph.D. in French Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition & Teacher Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in August 2016. He also holds several certificates including a Certificate in Teaching English as an International Language, Texas Tech University (2012), a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2015), and a Certificate in teaching Business French from the Chamber of Commerce Paris Ile-de-France, June 2018. Finally, in 2021, with the technical assistance of three undergrad students in the CS department, Dr. Laforêt designed a vocabulary App Vocappulaire with the aim of helping students learn new vocabulary more effectively, and in a thematic fashion. 

Research Interests

• Haitian Creole, Literature, and Culture
• Francophonie
• Classroom Language Acquisition
• Sociolinguistics
• Second Language Acquisition
• Linguistic Landscape
• Language Maintenance, Shift, and Loss
• Language Pedagogy
• Language Variation and Change
• Business French
• Technical Translations

Selected Publications

  _{Books and Edited Volumes}

• Haitian Creole Maintenance by Haitian Immigrants in the Greater Chicago Area. (EducaVision 2022).

  _{Selected Articles and Book Chapters}

• “Retansyon e transmisyon kreyòl ayisyen nan kominote ayisyen Chikago a”. In Rationalités et Imaginaires Créoles. Pratiques, expression et usage. Renauld Govain.   Revue Kreolistika, Crillash, numéro 2, 2022, pp. 97-107.


• “Pratiques linguistiques des Haïtiens vivant aux États-Unis: une étude de cas de la communauté haïtienne à Chicago”. In La Francophonie haïtienne et la Francophonie internationale : Apports d'Haïti et du Français haïtien, Renauld Govain ed. Jebca Editions, 2021, pp.103-120


• “Le paysage linguistique de Port-au-Prince : le cas de la route de Frères”, Revue internationale des francophonies [Online], 11 | 2023, Online since 27 mars 2023, connection on 17 juillet 2023.


• “Pour un virage francophone reel”. Champs Littéraires et langues de la francophonie-monde. Forthcoming.

Selected Conference Presentations

• “Patterns of Language Use and Maintenance by Haitian Immigrants in the Greater Chicago Area”. The Berkely Language Center. Found in Translation (FIT) Working Group. Monday, April 10, 2023


• “Le paysage linguistique d’Haïti : Une étude de cas de trois départements”. COLEF : Contacts de langues et de cultures dans les espaces francophones. Université de Montpellier 3, France. Monday March 27, 2023.


• “Pourra-t-on un jour espérer avoir une cohabitation harmonieuse entre les deux langues officielles d’Haïti ? ” Haitian Studies Association 34^th Annual Conference at Howard University on October 8, 2022. 


• “Plas kreyòl ayisyen nan kouvèti lengwistik Pòtoprens: egzanp Wout Frè”. Akedemi Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole Academy) on March 11, 2022.


• “Patterns of Language Use and Language Maintenance by Haitian immigrants in Chicago” 2022 American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. March 22, 2022


• “La couverture linguistique de Port-au-Prince”. La F/francophonie en Amérique latine et dans les Caraïbes, Visioconférence. Institut International pour la Francophonie et Revue Internationale des Francophonies. November 24, 2021


• “Konsèvasyon lang ak kilti kreyòl nan dyaspora ayisyen an”Haitian Studies Association 33^rd Annual Conference: Haitian Studies in 21-23 October 2021.


• “Retansyon e transmisyon kreyòl ak fransè nan dyaspor ayisyen Ozetazini: analiz kalitatif ak kantitatifak done nou rekòlte nan kominote ayisyen Chikago a soti 2014 pou rive 2016”. Invited guest during the Tuesday’s experts conferences at the College for Applied Linguistics of the State University of Haiti, Haiti June 23, 2020


• “La couverture linguistique de l’espace public de Port-au-Prince”, Haitian Studies Association 31^st Annual Conference: Haitian Studies in Changing Climates, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. 17-19 October 2019.


• “Bay Ayiti yon koulè kreyòl”. Talk given at the Haitian Studies Association 29th Annual Conference Haiti: Paradoxes, contradictions, intersections in the making of people, Xavier University and Tulane University. November 1- 4, 2017.


• “Pratiques linguistiques des Haïtiens vivant aux États-Unis : Une étude de cas de la communauté haïtienne à Chicago”  .Pourquoi étudier les langues, cultures et sociétés créoles aujourd’hui ?.  XV^ème Colloque International des Etudes Créoles. October 31 2016 – Novembre 4, 2016, Baie Mahault – Guadeloupe.


• “Haitians in Chicago and the Maintenance of their Native Languages”. Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on February 18, 2016.


• “Haitian Immigrants in the U.S.: Self-representations through Language Maintenance” Talk given at the Haitian Studies Association’s annual conference at the Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada, on October 23, 2015.