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Biography I am a Lecturer in English Language, teaching across the English Language programme at Salford. I primarily teach modules that explore language in use, particularly the political and historical influences on the English language.

My research interests include health communication, corpus linguistics, (critical) discourse analysis and pragmatics. My recent research has focussed on how the UK press represent issues concerning mental illness and how this can be said to affect society’s view of mental illness. My research also explores how the words we use to talk about mental health and illness have changed over time. My research in this area is reported in my 2022 monograph, 'The Language of Mental Illness: Corpus Linguistics and the Construction of Mental Illness in the Press' (published by Cambridge University Press).

I am also interested in the application of research in linguistics, particularly through public engagement initiatives and public linguistics. In 2018, I edited a book related to this topic with Dan McIntyre for Routledge entitled 'Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda'. In 2022, I co-authored 'The Babel Lexicon of Language', an entertaining and accessible introduction to the key terminology involved in the study of language (published by Cambridge University Press). A further co-edited book 'Communicating Linguistics: Language, Community and Public Engagement' was published in 2023 with Routledge.

I am an Editorial Assistant for the popular language magazine Babel, where I write the regular feature ‘Language in the News’. I am a book reviews editor for Language and Literature (SAGE) and I am a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield, UK.
Research Interests Broadly speaking, my research interests centre around language in use. My research explores the way that people use language for particular effects, e.g. to influence or to manipulate. My research specialisms include: health communication, (critical) discourse analysis, corpus linguistics and stylistics.

In addition to my own research, I have conducted consultancy work for public, private and third-sector organisations.
PhD Supervision Availability Yes
PhD Topics Corpus linguistics, health communication, critical discourse analysis, pragmatics, stylistics, applied linguistics