Supervised two master's students from Universiti Malaya - Corpus pragmatics of hedging words - Corpus linguistic analysis of sustainability reporting in utility between global north and global south (co-supervise with Mark Ryan)

I identify myself as a sociolinguist. I have a keen interest in exploring the intricate connections between culture, media, politics, and the environment. The subjects I investigate within these intersections encompass pragmatics, conversation analysis, and corpus linguistics. My primary research methods include interactional pragmatics, which integrates pragmatic and conversation analytic approaches  (see Haugh 2015 and Haugh & Culpeper 2018), and corpus linguistics, focusing on keywords, collocation analysis, and concordance analysis (see insightful papers by  Paul Rayson 2022, Brookes & Baker, 2022).

Current Post-doc Project - Reimagining Research Practices

In this Wellcome Trust funded project, we look at the pillars of research culture: sustainability, ethics, and inclusion. We will examine the behaviour change at Lancaster University and other comparator universities. 

Strand 1: Interruption in Everyday and Political Settings

My primary research focus centres on the phenomenon of interruption (doesn’t mean I am a fan of interrupting others in real life though). The act of talking over others, a facet of interruption, unfolds as a natural interplay shaped by cultural, power, gender, and identity dynamics. My doctoral research revealed that Chinese speakers frequently employ interruptions in conversations as a means to demonstrate engagement, solidarity, and to support the positive face of their conversational counterparts. This aligns with the concept of high engagement conversational styles elucidated by Professor Tanne Deborah in her influential works on interruption within the context of New York Jews.

Currently, my exploration of interruption extends to the analysis of broadcast interviews and presidential debates within political settings. A notable example is the presidential debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden three years ago, where Trump's communication style was characterized by frequent interruptions, making it challenging for viewers to discern the substance of his messages. Trump doesn’t talk, he interrupts!

My specific interest lies in investigating alleged media bias through a meticulous examination of interruptions initiated by both interviewers and interviewees in mainstream Western media outlets. This research initiative is prompted by my observation of netizens' expressions on Chinese social media platforms (see my previous paper on how netizens adopt innovative linguistic strategies to criticise public figures, it is Top 3 most cited article in Discourse & Society in recent 3 years). There is a prevalent sentiment that Western media display a substantial bias against China. Netizens often assert that interview hosts manipulate conversations by consistently interrupting guests whose perspectives diverge from the media's negative narrative about China.To empirically test this perception, I am conducting a pilot study analysing interruptions in political interviews.

Strand 2: Sustainability Discourse

This line of research is motivated by my personal interest. I work with Mark Ryan, who is an environmental marketing researcher with extensive experience in calculating the carbon impact of fashion firms through life-cycle analysis. In the context of global warming (yes, I assume the recent stormy weather across the UK counts), major brands and corporations worldwide are responding to climate change by incorporating sustainable development practices to varying extents. These entities market their commitment to sustainability, emphasising social and environmental dimensions. However, some engage more in greenwashing than genuine commitment, as detailed in my paper currently under review. 

Moving forward, my aim is to delve into the sustainability marketing discourse prevalent in everyday life. This includes analysing green texts on product packaging that highlight the sustainability of the product or brand, exemplified by statements like "To help support our planet, this box uses more earth-friendly materials" from Clarks.

Seminars:

• LING103 Linguistics
• LING237 Pragmatics 

Lectures:

• LING237 Pramgatics on Imitation and Resonance
• LING237 Pragmatics on Multimodality and Interruption

Autumn School in Applied Linguistics and
English Language Teaching:

• Research Methods in Linguistics (quantitative and qualitative)
• English Language