Dr. Vignon’s research interests focus on French Linguistics in general including but not limited to Language Contact, Sociolinguistics, Phonetics, Translation, Second Language Acquisition, Francophone Studies, and Language Identity in Francophone Africa.

He is working toward the publication of his second book L’art de parler Français : la phonétique à l’œuvre while finishing the translation of his first book What if Africa Dared, a geo-linguistic investigation in the quest for social justice for ordinary Africans. His long-term agenda for robust research and publication will continue to be inspired by the goal of empowering African societies through linguistics.

With his cumulative experiences stemming from graduate work, prior curricula, training and his personal multilingual, multicultural background, Dr. Vignon teaches a variety of French courses (both undergrad and graduate) involving theoretical and sociolinguistic approaches to linguistic and sociolinguistic topics: language change, language standardization, language planning, Romance languages and their history, language contact — leading to borrowing, code-switching, code-mixing, etc., and to the creation of contact languages (pidgins and creoles) — language inferiority and colonization, language attitudes, language and identity, etc. as well as Business and Geopolitics courses.

As a member of the teaching team at UA, one of his highest priorities is to constantly think of new and creative ways to attract students to the program and to increase its visibility campus-wide, in the state and nation, and internationally. In this same vein, he seeks to conform to the University of Alabama’s strategic plan, both in the classroom on campus, by recruiting for his proposed UA in Benin study abroad program as well as for UA in France. Also, given his international and multifaceted professional background, he is a useful partner in negotiating internship possibilities and immersion exchanges with universities in Francophone countries, opportunities that would go far to enhance students’ applied learning experiences and professional positioning.

He also serves as a Member of a Doctoral dissertation committee, the MLC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, the Non-Tenure Track Renewable Contract (NTRC) Faculty Committee as well as serving as an expert reviewer for the scholarly journal, Estudios Románicos.

Monographs:

• Vignon, M. (2022). Et si l’Afrique osait? Savane du continent, Bibliothèque Nationale du Bénin.

Selected Articles:

• Vignon, M. (2021). “Identité langagière et culturelle Vodou selon ses origines ouest-africaines.” DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16679527.
• Vignon, M. (2021). “Intercultural Linguistic Globalization and 21st Century Teaching Practices.” DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16671133.
• Vignon, M. (2021). “Politique linguistique rwandaise : Avenir du français dans le trilinguisme officiel kinyarwanda-français-anglais.” DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.16689343.

Dissertations:

• Vignon, M. (2020). In Search of the United States of Africa: A Linguistic Approach. ProQuest.
• Vignon, M. (2017). Les Etats-Unis d’Afrique dans le Manifeste du Cinquantenaire : Une Prise de Conscience (Master’s thesis). Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ.