Studying how the social, interpersonal, and discursive context of language shapes its forms and uses We are interested in studying how the social, interpersonal, and discursive context of language shapes its forms and uses. We welcome discussion of topics in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and stylistics. Research topics include language ideologies, language and identity, language shift, attitudes to language, discourse analysis, and language contact.We see the communicative and symbolic functions of language variation and use as fundamental to, not adjuncts to, a comprehensive theory of human linguistic production and comprehension. We believe that quantitative and qualitative methods complement each other in the study of linguistics, and we encourage research that explores productive ways of combining these types of data. We equally encourage research connecting descriptions of actual language use with theoretical approaches in linguistics and related disciplines.PeopleStaff working in this area include: Image Research interestsClaire CowieWorld Englishes; language contact; morphological productivity; pragmaticsLauren Hall-LewSociolinguistics; sociophonetics; phonetic methods; English variation and change; language and ethnicity; language and tourismSumin ZhaoDr Sumin Zhao is a Lecturer in Discourse Analysis, specialising in Critical and Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Her research focuses on computer-mediated and social media discourses. She also researches home-based digital literacy practices of young (multilingual) children using linguistic ethnography.Postgraduate studyPhD and MSc by Research Programmes This article was published on Wednesday 4 November 2026
