Principal Investigator: Colin Reilly
Dr. Colin Reilly, Lecturer in Linguistics, Division of Literature and Languages, University of Stirling
My research interests relate to language policy in multilingual contexts. I am interested in how language policies can either inhibit or enable access and engagement with services and institutions, and how we can develop more equitable and inclusive approaches to language policy.
There are two main strands to my research: multilingualism and education; multilingualism and the labour market. I am interested in perceptions towards the value of language and multilingualism and have conducted research on these issues in Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.
I am also interested in collaborative research, and researching multilingually, and most of my research is conducted as part of international, interdisciplinary teams.
Before joining the University of Stirling as a Lecturer in Linguistics in 2023, I was a Senior Research Officer in the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex, and a Teaching Associate in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow.
Research Assistant: Thokozani Chikuni-Ziwa
Thokozani Chikuni-Ziwa is a researcher and community builder passionate about inclusive development and amplifying marginalised voices. With extensive experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods, she brings a strong interdisciplinary lens to the project. Her work spans grassroots initiatives, nonprofits, and academic collaborations, with a focus on informal economies, language, and agency.
She holds an MSc in Agricultural Economics and has led and supported studies across diverse contexts, from designing and implementing fieldwork to managing data collection, analysis, and knowledge dissemination. She is particularly interested in how language practices shape economic opportunities in everyday spaces. Outside of her professional work, she volunteers as a youth mentor and advocates for care work recognition.
Principal Investigator: Ahmmardouh Mjaya
Ahmmardouh Mjaya is a lecturer in language and linguistics in the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Classical Studies and a Ciyawo language specialist at the Centre for Language Studies (CLS) at the University of Malawi. As a lecturer he specialises in teaching and conducting research on language and literacy in the context of policy and development. As a Ciyawo specialist, he is involved in developing and promoting Ciyawo language by producing dictionaries, orthographies and grammars among others. He is a Co-chair of the UNESCO Chair on Adult Literacy and Learning for Social Transformation, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. Under the UNESCO Chair partnership, he was a Principal Investigator for the Malawi team in a multinational Family Literacy project funded by the GRTA-UKRI from October 2019 to March 2022. Currently, he is a Co-PI in a BA ODA funded Multilingual Markets Project which seeks to investigate language skills for informal employment in Malawi. He is the author of the book titled: Literacies, Power and Identities in Figured Worlds in Malawi published by Bloomsbury Publishing.
Luckia Emment: Research Assistant
Luckia Emment is a linguist, researcher and educator based in Zomba, Malawi, with expertise in discourse analysis, multilingualism, and lexicography. She is currently completing her Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics at the University of Malawi, where through her thesis, she is exploring COVID-19 anti-vaccination misinformation on WhatsApp using multimodal discourse analysis. Luckia’s contributions in research include the Linguistics in Malawi Experience (LIME) project, where she conducted a morphosyntactic analysis of ideophones in Cilambya, an understudied Bantu language. She also played a key role in the development of the English-Ciyawo and Ciyawo-English dictionaries and contributed to the revision of the Ciyawo orthography. Luckia served as a research assistant on the Microvariation and Youth Language Practices in Africa project and worked on several qualitative and quantitative studies across Malawi. Fluent in English, Chichewa, and Ciyawo, she also works as a translator and she tutors linguistics at the University of Malawi. Currently, she is an executive member of the Malawi Union of Academic and Non-Fiction Authors (MUANA).
CO-INVESTIGATOR: Gift Wasambo Kayira
Gift Wasambo Kayira is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Malawi. He received his doctorate in history from West Virginia University, USA. His research interests revolve around British Imperial history, histories of poverty and development, culture and ethnicities in 20th and 21st-century Malawi. He has published on these themes extensively in the Journal of Public Administration and Development Alternatives, Journal of Southern African Studies, Journal of Eastern African Studies, African Studies Quarterly, Society of Malawi Journal, and others. Some of his contributions have also appeared in edited volumes. He is the author of The State and the Legacies of British Colonial Development in Malawi: Confronting Poverty, 1939-1983 (Lexington, 2023). Kayira runs a postgraduate seminar in African Economic History at the University of Malawi. He also teaches courses in Modern African History, World History, and Evolution of Development Thinking at the undergraduate level.
Co-investigator: Kristinn Hermannsson
Kristinn Hermannsson is a Professor of Education and Economics in the School of Education, University of Glasgow. He currently heads the School of Education. A graduate of the Universities of Strathclyde (PhD, MSc with distinction), Maastricht (MSc) and Reykjavik (BSc), his research analyses the economic impacts of education, with a particular focus on labour market outcomes. He has published widely on a broad range of economic impacts of education using data from the UK, Europe and low-income countries. Kristinn’s research draws on a broad methodological toolkit from applied economics and regional science He frequently collaborates in multidisciplinary research using complementary and mixed methods. His current research primarily focuses on employability and skills, in particular language skills in multilingual settings.
Postdoc Research Assistant: Elysha Ramage:
Dr Elysha Ramage joined the Team in September as a Postdoc Research Assistant. She recently completed my PhD in Economics at the University of Glasgow titled ‘Not going to university: context based rationality, with links to social class and rural location in the career decision-making of school leavers in Scotland’.
Her research interests are in labour market transitions, especially youth transitions and educational pathways into the labour market and career development. Before moving into academia she worked as a school-based careers adviser for Skills Development Scotland supporting young people in their post-school transitions using a coaching approach to guidance.
Research Assistant: Charlotte Chizalema
I’m currently pursuing postgraduate studies in Applied Linguistics at the university of Malawi and I have a strong interest in the role of language in society and development. I am passionate about research that explores real-world language use and how it shapes people’s lives. I am excited to be part of the Multilingual Markets project.
Post-Doc Researcher: Victor Chikaipa
I am a senior lecturer in the Department of Language, Linguistics and Classical Studies in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Malawi. I hold a PhD in General Linguistics from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. My current research interests focus on language policy, language ideology, multilingualism and translingual practices, and environmental and political discourses in the media. With a strong background in academia and practical fieldwork, I have dedicated my career to advancing the knowledge and practice of the position of heritage languages in community development and social change.
Co-Investigator: Winford Masanjala
Co-I Masanjala is an experienced economist and has researched and published widely on the Malawian economy, sustainable development in Malawi, and issues regarding livelihoods in Malawi, including skills acquisition. He recently retired from the University of Malawi but is periodically engaged as an adjunct to support the postgraduate programme in economics. His public sector experience includes service as Secretary for Economic Planning and Development, Secretary for Energy and Director of Economic Affairs in the Malawi government. He brings in massive experience in running projects of this nature including the effect of English-only instruction on skill formation and labour market readiness of young Malawians and the Youth Employment and Migration in Eastern and Southern Africa project.
Research Assistant: Evarister Khombe
Evarister Khombe is a researcher specializing in development economics. She has a Bachelor of Social Science degree and is currently a student pursuing Master of Arts in Economics with the University of Malawi under the School of Economics, Law and Government. Her current research focuses on the impact of informal financial institutions on household resilience, particularly in response to climate shocks. Evarister is passionate about using econometric models to uncover the hidden mechanisms of informal financial participation and its role in improving welfare of individuals.
Multilingual Markets 