His research and teaching interests are primarily in semantics, pragmatics, and sociolinguistic variation in dialects of English as well as Belizean Kriol. Will did his PhD in linguistics at Yale University working with Larry Horn. His last name, Salmon, appears in the Old Testament, in the book of Joshua, in the story of the battle of Jericho. Salmon was a spy in this battle, and he was given shelter by a harlot named Rahab, whom he later married. The name also appears in the New Testament, in the book of Matthew, in the long lineage of begats stretching from Abraham to Jesus.