Publications

To appear and under review

To appear. O’Shannessy, Carmel. Young People’s Varieties. In Bowern, Claire, (Ed.) Oxford handbook of Australian Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

To appear. Wigglesworth, Gillian and Carmel O’Shannessy. Bilingualism. In Mohebbi, Hassan & Christine Coombe (Eds.) Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics. Springer: London and new York.

To appear. O'Shannessy, Carmel, Marlkirdi Rose, Elaine Johnson & Gracie White. 'I could still be myself as a Warlpiri person': How bilingual education achieves community development aims. In Deborah Hill and Felix K. Ameka (Eds.) Language, Linguistics and Development Practices, Palgrave McMillan.

Published

2021 Conventionalised creativity in the emergence of a mixed language – a case study of Light Warlpiri. In Aboh, Enoch O. and Cécile B. Vigouroux (Eds.) Variation rolls the dice: A worldwide collage in honour of Salikoko S. Mufwene. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

2021 Mayer, Elisabeth, Carmel O'Shannessy and Jane Simpson. (Eds.) Australian Languages Today. Special Issue of Languages.

2021 O'Shannessy, Carmel and Connor Brown. Reflexive and reciprocal encoding in the Australian mixed language, Light Warlpiri. In Australian Languages Today. Special Issue of Languages.

2021 O'Shannessy, Carmel. Code-switching as a way of speaking - from language shift to language maintenance. In Babel, Anna and Mark Sicoli (Eds.) Contact, structure, and change: A festschrift in honor of Sarah G. Thomason. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing. pp36-42.

2021 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke, & Carmel O'Shannessy. When more is more: The mixed language Light Warlpiri amalgamates source language phonologies to form a near-maximal inventory. Journal of Phonetics, 85, 101037.

2021 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke and Carmel O'Shannessy. Voice onset time and constriction duration in Warlpiri stops (Australia). Phonetica.

2021 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Mixed Languages. In Matras, Yaron and Evangelia Adamou (Eds.)Routledge Handbook of Language Contact. London & New York: Routledge. 325-348

2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel, Hilary Smith and Winanga-Li Child and Family Centre. Gamilaraay Voices. A teaching and learning resource.

2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel & Lucinda Davidson. Language contact and change through child first language acquisition. In Hickey, Raymond (Ed.) Handbook of Language Contact. New York: Wiley Blackwell. 67-91

2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel. How ordinary child language acquisition processes can lead to the unusual outcome of a mixed language. International Journal of Bilingualism.

2020 Disbray, Samantha, Carmel O’Shannessy, Gretel Macdonald & Barbara Martin. Talking together: How language documentation and teaching practice support oral language development in bilingual education programs. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.

2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Language contact in Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri. In Grant, Anthony (Ed.) Oxford Handbook of Language Contact. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel and Jane Simpson. Submission to the Senate Enquiry on education in remote and complex environments. /Submissions

2019 Angelo, Denise; O’Shannessy, Carmel; Simpson, Jane; Kral, Inge; Smith, Hilary & Browne, Emma. Well-being & Indigenous Language Ecologies (WILE): A strengths-based approach. Literature Review for the National Indigenous Languages Report, Pillar 2. Canberra: The Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-6480548-0-1.

2019 O’Shannessy, Carmel, Samantha Disbray, Barbara Martin & Gretel Macdonald. (Re)turning research into pedagogical practice: A case study of translational language research in Warlpiri. Language Documentation and Conservation. Hawai’i: University of Hawai’i Press.

2019 Simpson, Jane, Samantha Disbray & Carmel O’Shannessy (Eds.) Setting the scene: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages learning and teaching'. Babel, vol. 54, no. 1 & 2, pp. 7-10.

2019 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Why do children lead contact-induced language change in some contexts but not others? In Doron E., M. Rappaport Hovav, Y. Reshef and M. Taube (Eds.) Linguistic Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 321-335

2019 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke and Carmel O’Shannessy. A happy marriage: the stop and affricate inventory of the mixed language Light Warlpiri (Australia). In Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain & Paul Warren (Eds.) Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019 (pp. 1283-1287). Canberra, Australia: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc.

2019 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke and Carmel O’Shannessy. Voice onset time and constriction duration in Warlpiri stops (Australia). In Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain & Paul Warren (Eds.) Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019 (pp. 3612-3616). Canberra, Australia: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc.

2018 Simpson, Jane, Denise Angelo, Emma Browne, Inge Kral, Francis Markham, Carmel O’Shannessy, Danielle Venn. ‘Census data on Australian Languages’. In Sebastian Drude, Nicholas Ostler, Marielle Moser (Eds.) Endangered languages and the land: Mapping landscapes of multilingualism. ELP Publishing.

2016 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Distributions of case allomorphy by multilingual children speaking Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri. Linguistic Variation 16 (1) pp 68 - 102

2016 Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O’Shannessy (Eds). Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. Berlin: De Gruyter.

2016 O’Shannessy, Carmel and Felicity Meakins. Australian language contact in historical and synchronic perspective In Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O’Shannessy (Eds.) Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation. Berlin: De Gruyter 3-26

2016 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Entrenchment of Light Warlpiri morphology. In Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O’Shannessy (Eds.) Loss and Renewal: Australian Languages Since Colonisation.”. Berlin: De Gruyter 217-251

2016 O’Shannessy, Carmel (Ed.) Acquisition in Contact Research Topic. Frontiers in Psychology.

2015 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Multilingual children show language differentiation through indexing communities of practice. First Language 35 pp 305-326. The data used in the statistical analyses are available here.

2015 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Typological and social factors influencing a new mixed language, Light Warlpiri. In Stell, Gerald and Kofi Yakpo (Eds.) Code-switching Between Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Berlin: De Gruyter pp289 - 304

2013 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Methods in researching children’s acquisition of sociolinguistic competence. In Holmes, Janet and Kirk Hazen (Eds.) Research Methods in Sociolinguistics: A practical guide. Malden/Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell pp 304-324

2013 O’Shannessy, Carmel. The role of multiple sources in the formation of an innovative auxiliary category in Light Warlpiri, a new Australian mixed language. Language 89 (2) 328-353

2012 O’Shannessy, Carmel. The role of code-switched input to children in the origin of a new mixed language. Linguistics 50 (2) 305 - 340

2012 Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O’Shannessy. Typological constraints on verb integration in two Australian mixed languages. Journal of Language Contact 5 (2) pp 216 - 246

2012 O’Shannessy, Carmel and Felicity Meakins. Comprehension of competing argument marking systems in two Australian mixed languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15 (2) pp 378-396

2011 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Competition between word order and case-marking in interpreting grammatical relations: a case study in multilingual acquisition. Journal of Child Language 38 pp 763-792

2011 O’Shannessy, Carmel. Language contact and change in endangered languages. In Austin, Peter K and Julia Sallabank (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Endangered Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp 78-99

2011 O'Shannessy, Carmel. Young Children's Social Meaning-Making in a New Mixed Language. In Eickelkamp Ute (Ed.) Growing Up in Central Australia - Indigenous Experiences of Childhood, Youth and Transformations. New York: Berghahn Books pp 131-155

2010 Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O'Shannessy. Ordering arguments about: Word order and discourse motivations in the development and use of the ergative marker in two Australian mixed languages. Lingua 120: 7 pp 1693-1713

2009 O'Shannessy, Carmel. Language variation and change in a north Australian indigenous community. In James N. Stanford and Dennis R. Preston (Eds.) Variation in Indigenous Minority Languages, Amsterdam & Philadephia: John Benjamins pp419-439

2008 O'Shannessy, Carmel. Children's production of their heritage language and a new mixed language. In Simpson, Jane and Gillian Wigglesworth (Eds.) Children's Language and Multilingualism. London, New York: Continuum International Press pp 261 - 282

2006 O'Shannessy, Language contact and children’s bilingual acquisition: Learning a mixed language and Warlpiri in northern Australia. PhD Dissertation. Sydney: University of Sydney.

2005 O'Shannessy, Carmel. Light Warlpiri - a new language. Australian Journal of Linguistics 25 (1) 31-57

2005 Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O'Shannessy. Possessing variation: age and inalienability related variables in the possessive constructions of two Australian mixed languages. In Simon Musgrave (Ed.) Monash University Linguistics Papers: Language contact, hybrids and new varieties: emergent possessive constructions. Department of Linguistics, Monash University, Australia Vol 4, No 2 43-63

Non-traditional outputs

In prep. 2021. With Vanessa Davis, Alice Nelson, Jessie Bartlett, & Denise Foster. Little Kids' Word List. An online Communicative Development Inventory for Eastern & Central Arrernte, Western Arrarnta, Warlpiri and English.

2020 Film: Kaja-warnu-jangka ‘From the bush’
Kaja-warnu-jangka ‘From the bush’ is a unique biographical tribute to two senior Warlpiri men, Jerry Patrick Jangala OAM and Henry Cook Jakamarra, who tell their own narratives of their remarkable lives over 85+ years. Dynamically bringing together previously unpublished footage, oral histories and photographs from over many years, it shows historical aspects of a remote desert community and the living endurance of traditional values of kinship and law. Expounding the themes of courageous resilience and embrace of change, it is the product of a collaboration by PAW Media Warlpiri film-maker, Maxwell Walma Tasman Japanangka and Carmel O’Shannessy. It was inspired by people in the community suggesting the need to document the two senior men’s lives. The film is mostly in Warlpiri, with subtitles in English. Length: 1hr 09 mins.

Language-based outreach: language and education resources
2020 O’Shannessy, Carmel, Hilary Smith and Winanga-Li Child and Family Centre. Gamilaraay Voices. A teaching and learning resource.

A series of audiovisual reports for teachers and community members who have not studied Linguistics, about children's Warlpiri in four communities: Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Willowra, Nyirrpi.

Jaru-kurlu: Warlpiri stories and songs from Wirliyajarrayi, Yurntumu, Lajamanu and Nyirrpi. Part of a collaboration (Warlpiri and non-Warlpiri) that recorded, transcribed and translated a book of traditional Warlpiri stories and songs.

2001 Warlpiri ngalipa-nyangu 'Warlpiri our language' (film) made with Warlpiri staff from Lajamanu CEC showcases teaching and learning methods in Warlpiri, including the rationale for the Two-Way Learning program in the school.

Language documentation
In prep. Traditional Warlpiri ceremonial songs, sung by Henry Cook Jakamarra. Consists of 13 hours of song recordings on audio and video, transcribed, translated and annotated for meanings and musical rhythm.

2011 Archived traditional Warlpiri songs at the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project Archive (ELAR). Consists of 6 hours of song recordings on audio and video, transcribed, translated and annotated.

Invited Talks

2020 ‘Common Processes, Less Common Outcome - How Children’s Language Acquisition Processes Can Lead to The Emergence of a New Language’. In Abralin Ao Vivo: Linguists Online. Oct 6, 2020. https://aovivo.abralin.org/en/lives/carmel-oshannessy-2/

2019 ‘Children’s multilingual competence is revealed in a language ecologies approach’. Keynote talk at Applied Linguistics Association of Australia and New Zealand Annual Conference. Curtin University, Perth. Nov 25-28.

2019 ‘Does a Mixed Language always have only two source languages?’ Invited seminar talk, University of Western Australia, Perth, Nov 29.

2019 ‘What kinds of languages experience do young First Nations children in Central Australia bring to school?’ Early Childhood Education Association conference, Alice Springs, June 15.

2019 With Felicity Hayes and Anne-Maria Palmer. ‘How do the sound systems of Central Australian languages differ from those of English?’ Early Childhood Education Association conference, Alice Springs, June 15

2018 ‘Bilingual acquisition and language change: a case study of Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri’. Keynote talk at Workshop on Bilingual Development. 26-27 July 2018, Macquarie University, Sydney

2018 ‘Can the roles of different age groups in rapid and dramatic change in contact language situations teach us something about language change in other situations?’ Plenary at New Ways of Analysing Variation – Asia Pacific (NWAV-AP) conference, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Feb 1

2017 ‘The language creators: Who does what when a new language emerges’. CoEDL Summer School Public Lecture. ANU, Nov 28.

2017 ‘Children, language learning, and news ways of speaking – what do they mean for children in NT schools?’ Plenary at ATESOL NT Symposium Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory Oct 6, 2017

2017 Co-chair (with Teresa McCarty and Tiffany Lee) of invited panel 'Multilingualism and Indigenous Education', at American Association of Applied Linguistics Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, Mar 18-21

2017 'From code-switching to a mixed language: Mechanisms in the development of Light Warlpiri'. Keynote speaker at workshop: 'From language mixing to fused lects'. FRIAS, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, Jan 25-27

2017 'What do children do in contact-induced language change?' Finalist in 5-Minute Linguist Competition, Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Annual Conference, Jan 5-8, 2017 Austin, Texas

2016 'Processes in the enregisterment of Light Warlpiri.' Invited speaker at workshop: Semiotic registers and variation in the Australian context.’ Australian Linguistic Society, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 6

2016 'Multilingualism and the emergence of Light Warlpiri, an Australian mixed language.' Keynote speaker at 'Bilingualism Forum', University of Illinois at Chicago, Oct 20-21.

2016 'When does an age-group lead contact-induced language change?' Invited speaker at 'Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Emergence of Modern Hebrew'. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel July 4-6

2015 'Ergative case-marking in Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri'. Featured speaker at Workshop: “Variation and asymmetries in case-marking" School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, Australian National University, July 31

2015 'The roles of children and adults in language creation and differentiation: a case study of Light Warlpiri and Warlpiri'. Centre for Language Sciences (CLaS) at Macquarie University, Sydney. April 22.

2015 'Processes in the stabilisation and autonomy of Light Warlpiri, an emerging mixed language'. School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. May 8.

2015 'Social practice and language differentiation'. Inaugural seminar, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Canberra. March 20

2015 'React locally: How language creation can be a response to global language pressures'. Humanities Research Centre Seminar Series 2015, Australian National University, Canberra. March 17

2015 'Light Warlpiri as an autonomous system'. In private symposium: How language evolves. Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California San Diego, San Diego, Feb 21

2015 'Contact languages and Light Warlpiri'. In public symposium: How language evolves. Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, University of California San Diego, San Diego, Feb 20

2013 “Evidence against intentionality in the emergence of Light Warlpiri, a mixed language in northern Australia”. Intentional language change workshop, University of Leiden, The Netherlands, Sep 27-28

2013 “Age and contact-induced linguistic change”. Workshop on Diachronic Linguistics, LSA Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, June 30

2013 “Contact language typology and type of innovation: Light Warlpiri as a case study”. School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, June 7

2013 “Multiple sources and innovation in Light Warlpiri”. College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, May 31

2013 “What can we learn from younger speakers in endangered language contexts? – a case study of Light Warlpiri speakers”. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra, May 28

2012 “The role of multiple sources in the creation of novel formal categories in a new mixed language: Light Warlpiri as a case study” Workshop on Language, Variation and Change, University of Chicago, Dec 3

2012 “Structural innovation and retention of code-switching patterns in Light Warlpiri, a new mixed language in northern Australia” Workshop: ‘Code-switching at the crossroads between structural and sociolinguistic perspectives’, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Freiburg, Germany June 7-8

2012 "The role of multiple sources in the development of an innovative auxiliary system in Light Warlpiri, a new mixed language in north Australia" Colloquium, University of Michigan, Feb 17

2011 "A case study in multilingual language acquisition" Language acquisition in the Bismarck Islands (Papua New Guinea): Towards a Research Plan Research Centre for Linguistic Typology, La Trobe University, Melbourne March 4-5

2009 “Bilingualism and creativity: new structures” Invited speaker at Mellon workshop on “Bilingualism and Mind”, Syracuse University, October 7-8

2008 "Can Child Directed Speech lead to a new language?" Colloquium speaker at Syracuse University, Linguistics Department, Dec 5

2008 "Coding a register: how a language register has led to the formation of a new code" Colloquium speaker at Michigan State University, Linguistics Department, October 23

2008 Invited workshop presenter (lecture, readings and study guide - video linkup) for Department of Employment, Education and Training, Schools Division, Northern Territory, Australia, October 5

2008 "Language contact and acquisition: learning a new mixed language and Warlpiri" Keynote speaker at Symposium About Language and Society, Austin (SALSA) University of Texas at Austin, April 11-13

2008 "Language contact and acquisition: learning a new mixed language and Warlpiri" Colloquium speaker at University of Indiana, Bloomington, Indiana, Feb 1

2007 "Language contact and acquisition: learning a new mixed language and Warlpiri" Central Australian Linguistics Circle, Alice Springs, Australia April 20

2006 "Language contact and acquisition: learning a new mixed language and Warlpiri" Top End Linguistics Circle, Darwin, Australia August 23

2007 “Language change and variation in northern Australia: a new mixed language emerges.” Colloquium. University of Michigan. February 1

2006 “Testing the productive skills of Indigenous children in a linguistically complex community: some methodological issues.” 28th Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium. University of Melbourne, June 28

2006 “Language contact in northern Australia – a new mixed language arises”. Nijmegen Bilingualism Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, April 11

2006 O'Shannessy, Carmel “Language contact in northern Australia – a new mixed language arises”. University of Tilburg, The Netherlands, February 9

2006 [Invited poster] “Which types of code-switching can lead to new mixed languages?” Conference: Linguistic and psycholinguistic approaches to code-switching and language switching. Hosted by Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands May 22

More talks within the University of Michigan: Michigan Research Community UROP 2011, 2013; UM Honors Students 2013

Presentations

2021 O’Shannessy, Carmel, V. Davis, D. Foster, J. Bartlett, A. Nelson. 'Little kids word list'. Knowledge Intersections Symposium. Charles Darwin University, Sep 21

2019 O’Shannessy, Carmel, Kirsten Culhane, Siva Kalyan, Emma Browne. ‘Language maintenance and change in morphophonology four Warlpiri communities.’ Australian Linguistics Society Annual Meeting. Macquarie University, Dec 2-5, 2019

2019 O’Shannessy, Carmel & Connor Brown. ‘A description of reciprocity and reflexivity in Light Warlpiri’, Australian Linguistics Society Annual Meeting. Macquarie University, Dec 2-5, 2019

2018 Simpson, Jane, Denise Angelo, Emma Browne, Inge Kral, Francis Markham, Carmel O’Shannessy & Danielle Venn. ‘Census data on Australian Languages’. Annual conference of the Foundation for Endangered Languages. Reykjavik, Iceland

2019 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke and Carmel O’Shannessy. Warlpiri and Light Warlpiri stops and affricates. Australian Languages Workshop, University of Melbourne, March 15-17

2018 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke and Carmel O’Shannessy. Obstruent distinctions in Light Warlpiri. Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) annual conference, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Dec 10-12, 2019

2018 ‘How different are young children’s language processing mechanisms in contact-induced language change?’ International Congress of Linguists 20 Capetown, South Africa, 2-6 July

2018 ‘Multilingual language use and ideologies across generations: a case study of language change and continuity’. International Congress of Linguists 20, Capetown, South Africa, 2-6 July

2017 O'Shannessy, Carmel & Samantha Disbray 'Planning and teaching oral language in Warlpiri school programs'. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, March 18-21

2017 'Code-switching helps to maintain traditional language use'. International Conference on Language, Documentation and Change (ICLDC) University of Hawai’i at Manoa, March 2-5 2017

2017 'What children do and don't do in contact-induced language change'. Meeting of Society of Pidgin and Creole languages (SPCL), at Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Annual Conference, Jan 5-8, 2017 Austin, Texas

2016 'What children do and don't do in contact-induced language change'. Australian Linguistic Society (ALS) annual conference, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 6

2016 O'Shannessy, Carmel & Samantha Disbray 'Planning and teaching oral language in Warlpiri school programs'. Multilingual Repertoires and Multilingual Discourse Workshop, Western Sydney University, Oct 26-28, 2016

2016 'Code-switching as a way of talking – from language shift to language maintenance'. Australian Languages Weekend, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Kioloa, NSW. March 5

2015 Bundgaard-Nielsen, Rikke, Carmel O'Shannessy & Brett Baker, "A marriage of necessity: Light Warlpiri obstruent perception". Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference, University of Western Sydney, NSW. Dec 7-11

2015 Valentic, Gabrielle & Carmel O'Shannessy. "The influences of teacher multilingual linguistic response on Spanish-English bilingual student linguistic identity. From home to school workshop, Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference, University of Western Sydney, NSW. Dec 7. Via skype.

2015 'Indexing a community of practice drives language differentiation and stabilisation'. Australian Languages Weekend, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian National University, Kioloa, NSW. March 7

2015 'Informed pedagogy in the light of Fishman’s five questions'. In symposium: Language pedagogy and practice in Indigenous Australia: Learning observations from infancy to teenhood. International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i. Feb 26 - Mar 1

2014 “Reduced variation in Light Warlpiri”. In workshop ‘Australian languages in contact since colonisation’, Australian National University, March 5-6

2013 “Social and cultural factors in the emergence of Light Warlpiri, a new mixed language in Australia”. In panel ‘Youth language, hybridity, and new publics in diverse global contexts’. American Anthropological Association annual conference, Chicago, Nov 20-23

2013 “Distributions of morphology in a new mixed language, Light Warlpiri” NWAV, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Oct 17-20

2013 “Retention and innovation in Light Warlpiri, a new mixed code in northern Australia”, in colloquium: ‘Child multilingual acquisition in remote Indigenous Australian communities’, 9th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Nyanyang Technological University, Singapore June 10-13

2013 “What younger speakers have to teach us: a case study of Light Warlpiri speakers” International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation, University of Hawai’i, Feb 28 – Mar 3

2013 “The role of multiple sources in the creation of novel formal categories: Light Warlpiri as a case study” Society of Pidgin and Creole Languages, Linguistic Society of America Annual Conference, Boston, Jan 4-7

2012 “Development of an innovative auxiliary paradigm in Light Warlpiri, a new mixed code in northern Australia”, NWAV, University of Indiana, Bloomington, Oct 25-28, 2013

2012 “Morphosyntactic innovation and continuity in a new mixed code” Linguistic Society of America (LSA) Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, Jan 5-7

2011 "Innovative distributions of case-marking in a new mixed language" International Symposium on Bilingualism, University of Oslo, Norway June 15-18

2011 With Felicity Meakins "Typological constraints on verb integration in Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri" Rethinking Contact-Induced Change, University of Leiden, The Netherlands June 8-11

2011 "Innovative structures form in a new mixed language" New ways of analysing variation - Asia Pacific Conference, University of Delhi, India Feb 23-26

2010 "Innovation and creativity in a new mixed language". Central Australia Linguistics Circle, Alice Springs, March 26, 2010

2007 “A new mixed language arises in northern Australia.” Michigan Linguistics Society. Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI. November 10.

2007 “A new mixed language arises in northern Australia.” Language contact and morphosyntactic variation and change workshop at Association for Linguistic Typology Conference. Paris, Research Ministry. September 20-24

2007 “The emergence of a new mixed language in northern Australia and children's bilingual acquisition.” Central Australian Linguistic Circle, Charles Darwin University, Alice Springs, April 19

2007 McConvell, Patrick and Carmel O’Shannessy “Interaction of ethnographic and other methods in investigating language change among Australian indigenous children” Linguistic Ethnography Seminar: Linguistic ethnographies of children and youth. Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid (Spain) 14 April

2006 “The emergence of a new mixed language in northern Australia and children's bilingual acquisition.” Top End Linguistic Circle, Summer Institute of Linguistics, Darwin, NT, August 4

2006 O'Shannessy, Carmel and F. Meakins. “Comprehending Ergative Marking and Word Order in Light Warlpiri and Gurindji Kriol” Workshop on contact languages, Australian languages workshop, Pearl Beach, Australia, March 17

2005 O'Shannessy, Carmel and Felicity Meakins. "The 4-M Model and two Mixed Languages in Australia". Language Contact and Acquisition Workshop. Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway Aug 1-5.

2005 [poster] “Language separation and children’s simultaneous acquisition of two optional ergative languages”. 10th International Congress for the study of Child Language, Berlin, July 25-29

2005 McConvell, P, F. Meakins, and C. O'Shannessy. "Functional competition between elements from different source languages in two Mixed Languages in Australia". Conference: Creole language structure: between substrates and superstrates. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 3-5 June

2005 McConvell, P, F. Meakins, and C. O'Shannessy. “Aboriginal Child Language Acquisition Project (ACLA)”. Invited talk presented to Psychology and Acquisition group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 1 June

2005 “Acquisition of word order and case marking in a multilingual context”. Aboriginal Child Language Acquisition workshop, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, April 18, 2005

2004 “In an environment with variable multilingual input, what kinds of regularity are there?” Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, October 26.

2004 Disbray, S, McConvell, P, Meakins, F, Moses, K, O'Shannessy, C, Simpson, J, Wigglesworth, G. “What languages are Aboriginal children learning?” ACLA Project, Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Islander Studies Annual Conference, Canberra, 18 October

2004 McConvell, Patrick, Felicity Meakins and Carmel O'Shannessy. “Gurindji Kriol and Light Warlpiri”. International Working Symposium: Language contact, hybrids and new varieties: Emergent possessive constructions, Monash University,
Melbourne 3-4 September

2004 Meakins, Felicity and Carmel O’Shannessy. 2004 “Shifting Functions of Ergative Case-marking in Light Warlpiri and Gurindji Kriol”. Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference, University of Sydney, 13-15 July

2003 “How Lajamanu children learn Warlpiri and Lajamanu Mixed Speech”, Central Australian Language Acquisition project workshop, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education, Alice Springs, Australia, July 1

2003 “Initial impressions of a newly emerging language variety in Central Australia”, Linguistics Workshop, University of Osnabruck, Germany, April 26

2002 “Children’s speech in Lajamanu”, University of Sydney Linguistics Seminars, University of Sydney, Australia (May 31)

2002 “Children’s speech in Lajamanu”, Australian Linguistic Institute (Indigenous Languages Program), Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (July 15)

2001 “Lajamanu Children’s Speech”, Australian Linguistic Society Annual Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, September

2001 O'Shannessy, Carmel and White, Gracie. "Lajamanu Children’s Speech", Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Canberra, November