By William Merrix, Florida State University
Previously, I introduced myself and my research, which I am completing in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. I will be working with students at the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) and potentially market goers in the borough of Adjamé to understand how they utilize “standard” French, Ivorian French, and Nouchi to talk about politics, conceptualize human rights, express Ivorian identity, and articulate their ideal political futures, hopes, and aspirations. After a long string of flights yesterday through Atlanta and Paris, I arrived in Abidjan last night.
Today is only the first full day of my stay in Abidjan. So far, I enjoy being in the city. I am staying in an Ivorian neighborhood about a 10-15 minute car ride from UFHB, which means that I am surrounded by the fascinating sights and sounds of everyday life in Abidjan. The commotion of traffic, street vendors selling various commodities and foods, and the loud music coming from restaurants and bars have been an overwhelming presence. However, it has allowed me to use some of my professional participant observation tools already. Whether it be in the taxi from the airport to my apartment, at a dinner table at a restaurant, or in the back of a bus in an obscene amount of traffic. There is no shortage of stimuli for my senses to intake and process.
The view from the back of a SOTRA bus. One of the few methods of public transportation in Abidjan.
While here in Abidjan, I plan to make use of the resources available to me at UFHB. This includes the expertise of my hosts, Professors Wise Bogni and Jacques Kouakou N’goran, and the spaces within the Institute for Applied Linguistics at UFHB to conduct my interviews and focus groups. I can also lean on my fellow cohort of Tyler Fellows from FSU, as we will meet virtually every month to update each other and talk about how our research is going. This project is already helping me build on the knowledge I gained from my preliminary work in Paris. In addition, it is an amazing cultural and academic experience that will greatly expand my worldview. It will be the longest I have been away from my home of Tallahassee, and every task is an adventure because everything is new to me here.
I was super excited to be making my first trip to UFHB! I got to see the campus and meet some students and faculty in person. Everyone was very nice. I set up a schedule with my research assistant to complete my cohort of interviews. This put me on track to begin my first interviews and focus groups next week! In addition, I will be giving a talk to an English-language group at UFHB on separate research I am conducting into the effects of automated speech recognition accuracy labels and confidence scores on language attitudes. This is an opportunity for academic exchange and recruitment for my interviews here in Abidjan that I can not wait to undertake.
The main entrance to the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny campus.
While I am an outsider here in Abidjan and every action is a brand-new undertaking I am looking forward to being able to immerse myself here. The biggest challenge will be to acclimate myself to everyday life here in Abidjan. I am eager to do this by putting myself in the shoes of the people I am working with to better understand their lives and perspectives. Already from day 1 it has been a fascinating and singular experience. I can’t wait to share it all with you!
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