Frederike
Schram
Links
Areas of expertise
Biography
I am a postdoctoral researcher in Digital Language Studies at the School of Languages and Translation Studies. In September 2026, I defended my dissertation, which examined the use of Low German by commercial Instagram users, in the Doctoral Programme in Languages and Translation Studies (Utuling, major Digital Language Studies) at Turun yliopisto. My dissertation project was funded by Eino Jutikkala Fund (2022), Emil Öhmann Foundation (2023, 2024, 2025), and Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation (2026).
I graduated from the international joint-degree programme in Sociolinguistics and Multilingualism in 2020, studying at Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, Kaunas, Lithuania, and Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany, and Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm, Sweden.
I did my bachelor's degree in Finnish Philology and Scandinavian Studies at Universität Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, in 2017. During my studies, I spent an Erasmus semester at Turun yliopisto (2016).
Research
In my research, I focus on the use of Low German in various online spaces. My research interests lie in the diverse uses of regional or minority languages in contemporary and globalised societies. I am particularly interested in their use in new domains such as social media platforms as well as in contexts in which the symbolic function of languages is in the foreground, e.g., the employment of regional or minority languages in marketing or for purposes of identity construction.