Dr Jaspal Singh

Professional biography

I am a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and English Language at the Open University. My teaching and research interests revolve around the interconnections between language and culture. Taking inspiration from classic western and eastern philosophy, hip hop and other Black diasporic traditions, I arrive at a type of research that complexifies standard approaches in the social sciences. For example, I aim to problematise research ethics and common-sense writing strategies. Before joining the Open University, I was Assistant Professor of Sociolinguistics at the School of English, the University of Hong Kong. I completed my PhD at the Centre for Language and Communication Research, Cardiff University under the supervision of Dr Frances Rock. I studied Linguistics, Philosophy and Medieval and Modern History at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. I'm currently using the pronouns he, his and him.

My latest books are avaialble through the OU Library:

Williams, Quentin and Jaspal Naveel Singh (eds.) (2023) Global Hiphopography. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Singh, Jaspal Naveel (2022) Transcultural Voices: Narrating Hip Hop Culture in Complex Delhi. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. *** Shortlisted for the 2022 Book Prize of the British Association for Applied Linguistics ***

Research interests

Applied linguistics, linguistic ethnography, critical sociolinguistics, global hip hop linguistics, raciolingusitics, decoloniality. 

Read about my current research project on Global Patwa: Raciolinguistic appropriations of Jamaican language features in British, German and Indian reggae cultures. 

Teaching interests

I'm module team chair of L804 Core Concepts in Linguistics, a brand-new module of our new Master of Arts in Linguistics. I also chair the production of L805 Applying Linguistics in Society, which will be launched in October 2025. I'm, moreover, serving as MA Pathway Lead (Applied Linguistics) and I am part of a team producing a new MA programme in lingusitics. 

Impact and engagement

I'm a member the Open University Palestine Solidarity Group and the WELS Language Matters Group.

You can read a short piece about my ethnographic research in the Indian hip hop scene on Open Learn.

I'm member of the conference team for Archiving Hip Hop: 50 Years of History in the Making, which took place on the OU campus in Milton Keynes on 28 and 29 September 2023. We're currently planning our next conference, Hip Hop in the Institution, for September 2025. 

International links

I'm co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sociolinguistics. I'm currently also serving on the editorial board of the academic journals Gender and Language and Language in Society. Together with Anna De Fina and Ana Deumert, I am editor of the Encounters Book Series at Multilingual Matters. 

Between 2019 and 2021, I served as Secretary of DiscourseNet, an international and non-hierarchical association for everyone interested in discourse studies.