Applied Linguistics and TESOL

Our researchers have a strong and sustained interest in applications of ideas from linguistics in a wide range of professional contexts, including policing, the law, education, healthcare, and literary, critical and creative work.

Recent and current projects have focused on: the pervasiveness of metaphor and embodied cognition in education and society; language and linguistics in schools; the role of technology in second language learning; the application of ideas from pragmatic stylistics in the practice and teaching of creative and professional writing; the stylistic analysis of texts in a range of media, including multimodal aspects; the investigation of health discourse as well as the storytelling of personhood, identity and wellbeing from the approaches of narrative and critical discourse analysis; authorship analysis, native language identification, and assuming identities online in the context of undercover investigations against child sex offenders. Dr Rola Naeb’s work on the EU-Speak project develops modules to support language learning for learners with low literacy levels. Nicci MacLeod’s UKRI-supported project, with colleagues at Northumbria, Sunderland, De Monfort and Fair Trials, on ‘Supporting the interviewing and legal representation of crime victims and suspects using digital communications methods: Is it “remotely” possible?’ explores the impact of digital communication in the justice system, in partnership with policing and justice organisations in the UK and overseas.

Dr Rola Naeb is also one of the six experts working on the New Council of Europe’s Reference Guide for the Linguistic integration of adult migrants and she is President of the international organization LESLLA (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults). Professor Billy Clark is a founder of the Integrating English project which advocates a view of English as diverse and unified and offers resources to support school teachers and students, and works with the UK Linguistics Olympiad committee. Dr Sarah Duffy is Vice-President of the UK Cognitive Linguistics Association.