Research, scholarship and knowledge exchange

The School of Languages and Applied Linguistics is one of the UK’s largest, most dynamic and internationally active departments in the area of Applied Linguistics and Language Studies. Our research in languages and applied linguistics deals with language as a social practice in various contexts, notably language in education and higher education, in the workplace and the professions, in politics and the media, and in various cultural environments. Some of our specific areas of focus include:

• Language as a social and cultural practice (including discourse analysis, conversational interaction, sociolinguistics, sociopragmatics, media and technology, literacies, narrative and literary analysis, translation and interpreting, interculturalism). Our publications in this area tackle topics such as, amongst other aspects, explorations of social work writing, literary and intercultural heritage, shifts in the language of mourning, (im)politeness in conversational interactions, political storytelling, modelling cognitive phenomena with artificial intelligence, and language and inclusiveness.
  Some of our recently funded projects include:
  • English as a medium of instruction, UKRI 2020-21 
  • Mobile Conversations in Context (MoCo), British Academy 2021-22 
  • Emotion management and translation, Higher Education Innovation Fund 2020-21 
  • Lexical thresholds and profiles across CEFR levels in the Aptis test, British Council 2021 
  • Historical, linguistic and discourse perspectives on face management processes and (im)politeness, Spanish Research Council PR87/19 
     
• Language education and learning (including online language teaching, teacher training, digital pedagogies, education policies, language acquisition, assessment and testing, classroom interaction, phonology, and phonetics). Our publications in this area tackle topics such as marginalisation in virtual exchanges, academic literacy and tuition strategies, the teaching of pronunciation in the language curriculum, peer interaction in language MOOCs, attitudes to language learning, and other aspects.
  Some of our recently funded projects include:
  • Diasporic identities and the politics of language teaching, AHRC 2016-2021 
  • Open World Learning: establishing modern methods for online learning, Leverhulme 2015-2021 
  • MOOC2Move: LMOOCs for university students on the move, European Commission 2018-2021 
  • The Impact of Virtual Exchange on Student Learning in Higher Education, Erasmus + 2018-2020 
  • Marginalization and Underrepresentation in Virtual Exchange: Causes and Remedies, Stevens Initiative 2020-2021 

We are also involved in a number of projects and initiatives linked to recent and current events, such as‘Researching public understanding of COVID-19 restrictions’, an initiative looking into how language shed light on ideas of “right” and “wrong” when interpreting Government guidelines on social distancing and face-coverings. Another example of responsive research is our collaboration with the Deaf Action charity on a knowledge exchange project to establish the needs of deaf people and their communities to produce new OU British Sign Language curriculum.

Academics in the School belong to the following research groups: the Open Languages Research Group (OLRG), the Applied Languages and Linguistics Research Group (ALLRG), and the Language, Literature and Politics Research Group.

Through the Graduate School, our staff supervise more than 20 PhD and EdD students, who form a vibrant multidisciplinary community and constitute a central part of our activities. To learn more, please visit our Study with us page.

To learn more about our global development research, visit the Global Development Centre website.