Nadège Lejeune is a current LTS student enrolled in a concurrent degree program with her Comparative Literature doctoral degree.
Pont Neuf in Paris
Hello Nadège! Tell us a little about yourself – what was your background before coming to the UO for graduate school?
I grew up in France and did my undergraduate degree there, before moving on to a Master’s in English, also in France. I jumped a little all over the place, dabbling in English for Specific Purposes, British history and American literature… During the course of my Master’s degree, I had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Notre Dame, which is where I discovered Comparative Literature, a discipline that is much less established in France. I decided to get my PhD in Comparative Literature, and my visit to Oregon convinced me Eugene was the place for me! I’ve been here since 2016 now.
You are doing a concurrent degree with LTS and the doctoral program in Comparative Literature. What motivated you to add the LTS MA? What intersections do you see across these fields or in the professions?
A few years ago I had the opportunity to teach French here at UO and that’s what got me interested in language teaching. I decided to start the Language Teaching Studies program last year… and here I am! As I move through the program I’ve discovered a lot of overlap between my own research and linguistics in general. Taking LT and LING classes has provided me with more specific, grounded ways of approaching my research in Comparative Literature: I focus on the uses of French in contemporary literature, and more specifically how the French language changes or is modified in contemporary texts. Recent research in SLA has given me new insights into some of the key concepts of my dissertation, such as translingualism or multilingualism.
You are fairly early in the LTS program still, so your ideas might be still forming, but what topics do you think you might explore for your capstone MA project? (we might follow up with you next year 🙂)
Yes, my ideas are still only just forming, but I am interested in the multilingual classroom and the concrete manifestations of that. More recently I have been thinking about the intersection between motivation and multilingualism and wondering if fostering a multilingual environment would boost learner motivation. I’m not quite sure how all of this will come together but I’m excited to move forward over the next few months!
What do you most look forward to doing when the pandemic is over? (cross our fingers!)
I’m really looking forward to being able to meet the people in the program in person! I’ve been interacting with everyone in class and it’s been great to gradually get to know everyone, but it would be even better to be able to go out for dinner or a drink with all of you 😀
