Dr. Priscille Ahtoy — Sociolinguist
PARINGALANG combines rigorous social sciences research with grounded intercultural experience — from Mauritius to Canada, the United Kingdom to France. Consulting, training and research-action for organisations that genuinely want to change.
Priscille
Ahtoy
Doctorate in Language Sciences · DYNADIV · Univ. of Tours
01 — Lived interculturality
Many talk about interculturality. Few have inhabited it. I grew up in Mauritius, in a plurilingual daily life where Mauritian Creole, French, English, Hindi, Tamil, Hakka, Telugu and other languages coexist. I taught at North American universities, trained executives in international banks, directed the training centre at the French Institute of Mauritius, and contributed to British cultural life. Each of these anchorings taught me what no textbook says: diversity isn't decreed, it's practiced.
Birth and schooling in a plurilingual, pluricultural society. Teaching at the Mauritius Institute of Education, the Open University of Mauritius and the University of Mauritius, in International Baccalaureate schools and within the AEFE network (Agency for French Education Abroad). Director of the training centre at the French Institute of Mauritius.
Origins · 2015 — 2018Teaching at the University of Western Ontario and Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada. French language didactics, immersion in bilingual and multicultural Canada.
Multiple yearsSeveral long stays and cultural engagement in Gloucester through the Cheltenham Trust Fund and at the Playhouse Theatre. Immersion in British cultural and associative networks.
Multiple staysResearch lecturer at DYNADIV Lab, University of Tours. Head of the APPRODIV Master's programme. Associate researcher at LAAB (UVSQ Paris-Saclay). Founder of PARINGALANG.
TodayMy journey is not a collection of countries on a CV. It is an intimate sociolinguistics: what it actually feels like to juggle between codes, accents, gazes, misunderstandings. That is the experience I bring to every intervention.
02 — Expertise
PhD in Language Sciences (Tours, 2021). Linguistic insecurity, plurilingualism, Indian Ocean francophonies, linguistic discrimination, power relations and domination.
From kindergarten to university, across three continents. Head of the APPRODIV Master's programme at the University of Tours. AEFE network, IB Schools, universities in Canada, Mauritius and France.
Interventions in companies, hospitality, banks, language schools — Four Seasons, Sheraton, Orange, Crédit Agricole, Barclays, Bank of India. Intercultural management and mental health impact.
Speaker on podcasts, radio, scientific conferences, public festivals (Pint of Science Tours), exhibitions and educational events in school districts.
Equality officer (Faculty of Letters & Languages, Univ. of Tours). "Entrepreneurial spirit" referent at PEPITE Centre-Val de Loire. Member of the DELF/DALF jury.
Elected member of the Council of the Francophone Sociolinguistics Network (RFS). Member of the organising committee of DYNADIV conferences and of Pint of Science Tours.
03 — Outreach & interventions
Academic conferences are where we think, debate and move the field forward. Public events are where we reach people, share knowledge, give meaning. I move from one to the other — sometimes in the same week — because both matter equally.
04 — Career path
Tours · France
Consulting, training and research-action in applied sociolinguistics. Interventions in companies, local authorities and educational institutions.
DYNADIV (EA 4428) · University of Tours
SODILANG Department. Research: linguistic insecurity, glottophobia, plural francophonies, teacher training. Associate researcher at LAAB (UVSQ Paris-Saclay).
University of Tours
Thesis defended November 2021: "Linguistic insecurity in French in a plurilingual setting (Mauritius): social mobilities and conflicts of legitimacy" · Supervisor: Didier de Robillard (Tours) · Co-supervisor: Arnaud Carpooran.
French Institute of Mauritius
Pedagogical and strategic management of language and intercultural training, international partnerships.
Mauritius · Canada · France
Mauritius Institute of Education, Open University of Mauritius, University of Western Ontario, Memorial University of Newfoundland. French as a foreign language teaching and didactics.
Mauritius · UK · France
AEFE network, IB Schools, corporate training (Four Seasons, Sheraton, Orange, Crédit Agricole, Barclays, Bank of India), cultural engagement Cheltenham Trust Fund.
05 — Publications
Non-exhaustive list available: Please consult the academic portals linked in the footer (HAL, IdRef, Canal-U, University of Tours).
06 — Our services
01
Understanding · Analysis · Diagnosis
Becoming aware of biases, frozen social representations and mechanisms behind discrimination. Understanding, analysing, diagnosing in order to propose tailored solutions.
02
Training · Sharing · Interaction
Evolving everyday practices. Decoding insidious discriminatory behaviour. Taking internal tools, communication tools and life narratives into account for greater inclusion.
03
Assessment · Evaluation · Recommendations
Ensuring effective implementation: reflective approach based on lived experience feedback, medium- to long-term recommendations. Making diversity a lever for performance and creativity.
A world where human diversity is respected a little more each day, where every person can express themselves in the language of their choice… is a world that progresses, that rises. — Amin Maalouf, The Imbalance of Our World
— Let's work together
PARINGALANG operates in France and abroad, in French- and English-speaking contexts. First exchange always free to understand your needs.