Language Variation, Identity and Interaction

Understanding language in use

This cluster focuses on how we use language to do things with words: how we construct our distinct identities through language, how we form and maintain relationships, and how we use both verbal and non-verbal communication to build actions and social institutions together. We investigate language from the perspective of: linguistic variation and change, particularly regional varieties of British English and modern Arabic dialects; conversation analysis, particularly grammar and embodiment in interaction, and second language acquisition, particularly first language attrition.