Sociolinguistics, Variation and Change

Our sociolinguistics researchers have particular interests in perceptions of and attitudes towards spoken language variation, language change, and the social meanings of linguistic forms. They focus on the ways in which linguistic variation and language choices affect and are affected by attitudes within wider society. Our researchers employ a range of theoretical and methodological paradigms developed in the fields of corpus linguistics, social cognition, social psychology and variationist sociolinguistics. 

Current projects include The Northern English Project and Dr Robert McKenzie’s British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship exploring Explicit and Implicit Language Attitudes and Accent Discrimination in England.

Membership

Robert McKenzie

Phillip Wallage

PhD students

Andrea Canavosio

Chaglar Davutoglu

Rachid Khoumikham

Houssem Sid

Sylvia Spanou

Suhang Xiao

Xiafon Zhao