[1][2][3] She has a BA and MA in Modern Languages (French and German) from Girton College and a D.Phil.
Her doctoral thesis was "Vaugelas and the development of the French language: theory and practice".
She became a Fellow of Murray Edwards College (formerly New Hall) in 2001, and was appointed Professor of French Philology and Linguistics in 2005.
[1] Her research interests include standardisation and codification, linguistic ideology and policy, variation and change.
She is Principal Investigator on the multi-disciplinary multi-institution MEITS project: Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies.,[5] funded by the AHRC under its Open World Research Initiative (2016-2020).