Mr. Rajendra Prasad

Discipline: Linguistics

Email: rajendra.prasad@usp.ac.fj

Office: 305, SPACE building, Laucala Campus

Extension number: 32315

Expertise / Activities
Linguist specialising in Fiji Hindi

Educational Background/ Qualifications

PhD Linguistics (In progress), MA Linguistics, PGD Linguistics, BEd Literature & Language

Biography

I teach Linguistics and have previously taught English for Academic Purposes and Hindi. My research interests are in the linguistic study of Fiji Baat and its historical development in the social, political, and educational fields of Fiji Indians. I am also actively researching multilingual education in Fiji and engaged in translation work.

2020, PhD candidate. I am working on a descriptive analysis of the verb morphology of Fiji Hindi. The project is on documentation of Fiji Baat, based on a corpus I am creating. The verb construction analysis will be carried out from the dissertation.

Research Interests
Currently working on building a corpus of Fiji Hindi (Language Documentation)

Awards
Winner of USP 3 Minute thesis competition

Publications

Willans, F. & R. Prasad (forthcoming). Multilingual, multimodal insights into the online learning experience: Getting in the zone. In B. Goodman & B. Seilstad (Eds.). Researching multilingually: Conceptual and methodological failures, struggles, and successes. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Prasad, R. & F. Willans (2023). Debunking ten myths about Hindi in Fiji: Taking some of the hot air out of the Mirchi FM debate. Te Reo, 66(1), 39-59. https://nzlingsoc.org/journal_article/debunking-ten-myths-about-hindi-in-fiji-taking-some-of-the-hot-air-out-of-the-mirchi-fm-debate/

Bilimoria, P., Bapat, J., Booth, A., Hughes, P. & R. Prasad (2023). Hindu Diaspora in Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific) In K. Jacobsen (Ed.) Hindu Diasporas (pp. 146–177). Oxford University Press.

Willans, F. & R. Prasad (2021). From Hindustani to (Fiji) Hindi and back to Fiji Baat? Metalinguistic reconstructions of the national variety of Hindi in Fiji. Journal of Pacific History. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00223344.2021.1914456?journalCode=cjph20

Prasad, R. (2020) Language and Law in Fiji. In: It takes an island and an ocean. Institute of Education, The University of the South Pacific, Tonga Campus, Tonga, pp. 18-28. ISBN 978-982-9173-54-6

Willans, F., R. Buadromo, T. Bryce, R. Prasad & A. Fonolahi (2020). Supporting the transition to tertiary level: How students engage with academic literacy materials embedded into a mainstream course. In S. Naidu & S. Narayan (Eds.). Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls (pp.137-163). Suva: University of the South Pacific Press.

Willans, F., A. Fonolahi, R. Buadromo, T. Bryce, R. Prasad & S. Kumari (2019). Fostering and evaluating learner engagement with academic literacy support: Making the most of Moodle. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice 16/4, available from: https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol16/iss4/5