Bambi Schieffelin facts for kids

Bambi B. Schieffelin (born April 26, 1945) is a smart scientist who studies language and people. She is a professor emerita (meaning she's retired but still respected) at New York University (NYU). She helped create a field called language socialization. This field looks at how children learn to use language in their culture. She also writes a lot about how languages meet and change each other, how people think about language, and how people learn to read and write. She has studied Haitian Creole and how missionaries use language.

Learning and Discovering

Bambi Schieffelin went to college at Bennington College in 1967. She then studied anthropology at Columbia University, where she earned her master's and doctorate degrees. She also studied developmental psychology, which is about how people grow and change. Her PhD paper in 1979 was about how Kaluli children in Papua New Guinea learn to talk and act in their community.

Her Work at Universities

She taught at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education for a while. In 1986, there were disagreements about her position there. Because of this, she left the university. Many other professors, like William Labov and Lila R. Gleitman, also left to show their support for her. They said her work was "of the highest quality." After leaving, she started teaching at NYU, where she stayed until she retired.

Studying Languages Around the World

Bambi Schieffelin has done a lot of research in Papua New Guinea. She often worked with Steven Feld, who studies music from different cultures. Together, they created a dictionary for the Kaluli language.

She has also looked at how young people use language when they send instant messages and text messages. She paid special attention to how they use the word like. She has also written about how children learn to talk about where they get their information or knowledge from.

Books and Publications

• Miki Makihara & Bambi Schieffelin, eds. 2007. Consequences of Contact: Language Ideologies and Sociocultural Transformations in Pacific Societies. This book is about how ideas about language change societies in the Pacific. ISBN: 9780195324983
• Bambi B. Schieffelin, Kathryn A. Woolard, and Paul V. Kroskrity, eds. 1998. Language Ideologies. This book explores different ideas people have about language. ISBN: 9780195105629
• Bambi B. Schieffelin. 2005. The Give and Take of Everyday Life. This book looks at how language is used in daily life. ISBN: 9780521386548

More Information

• Schieffelin's home page at NYU.

See also

In Spanish: Bambi Schieffelin para niños