School of English

This page shows the staff for the University of Nottingham's School of English in the UK. Please see here for the School of Education and English in China and the School of English in Malaysia.

Image of Louise Mullany

Louise Mullany

Professor in Sociolinguistics, Faculty of Arts

Contact

Biography

I have conducted research on professional communication with a range of national and multinational organisations for the past 20 years. I am the Founder and Director of Linguistic Profiling for Professionals, an innovative research-based consultancy and business unit based in the Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics at The University of Nottingham: www.nottingham.ac.uk/lipp

I have expertise in corporate business communication and health communication, including global issues of equality, diversty and inclusion and have published extensively in these areas. Since 2003 I have worked on numerous initiatives with colleagues as part of the University's Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics. I have been the School's Director of Business and External Engagement since 2010. I have also worked with the Executive Education team of the University's Business School, delivering effective leadership communication courses as part of their High Performance Leadership Development programmes.

Expertise Summary

BA, MA, PhD Areas of expertise - business communication; health communication; sociolinguistics; discourse analysis; language and gender; equality, diversity and inclusion at work.

Research Summary

My main areas of research are sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and pragmatics. I am particularly interested in investigating professional communication and I have conducted research and… read more

Recent Publications

Current Research

My main areas of research are sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and pragmatics. I am particularly interested in investigating professional communication and I have conducted research and consultancies in a wide range of businesses, healthcare settings and organisations nationally and internationally. I am particularly interested in researching issues around equality, diversity and inclusion and how linguistics can be used to bring positive change to workplace communication practices and communication in public spaces.

I am the Founder and Director of Linguistic Profiling for Professionals, a research and business unit, using linguistics research to investigate a wide range of communication issues in the workplace including language and equality, the language of leadership, health communication and digital communication.

Current projects include the interdisciplinary EPSRC-funded STEMM Change project, where we are researching and re-writing recruitment and promotions language to enable diverse pools of candidates to be recruited and rewarded appropriately, avoiding unconscious bias and exclusion. I am also currently working on a Research England award with Dr. Lucy Jones to investigate government communications with young people and how communication strategies have changed for charities and NGOs working with members of Generation Z who are at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I have also worked on evaluating the language of misogyny hate crime in Nottinghamshire locally with Nottinghamshire, Police, The Police and Crime Commissioner and Nottingham Women's Centre and nationally with MPs and grassroots organisations, in collaboration with Loretta Trickett at Nottingham Trent University. Our work has directly fed into the recent Law Commission Review of Hate Crime (2020) and the work of the Women and Equalities Select Committee in the UK Parliament.

I have recently headed up an AHRC Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Networks award, working with academics, NGOs and charities in East Africa on empowering women and girls by setting up the Language, Gender and Leadership Network, with Dr Masibo Lumala (Moi University, Kenya) and the Institute for Social Transformation, Uganda.

I am presently supervising PhD students in the areas of professional communication, workplace communication, language and gender studies, political discourse analysis, digital communication, media discourse and language and identities. I welcome PhD applications in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and pragmatics.

  • ZOTTOLA, A, JONES, L, PILNICK, A and MULLANY, L, 2021. Identifying coping strategies used by patients at a transgender health clinic through analysis of autobiographical narratives Health Expectations. (In Press.)
  • EMERSON, T, HARRINGTON, L, MULLANY, L, ATKINS, S, CHURCHILL, D, WINTER, R and RAKESH PATEL, 2020. Learning to manage rapport in GP trainee encounters: A discursive politeness approach. In: ARCHER, D, GRAINGER, K and JAGODZIŃSKI, P, eds., Politeness in Professional Contexts John Benjamins. 25-54
  • MULLANY, LJ, ed., 2020. Professional Communication: Consultancy, Advocacy, Activism Springer Palgrave.
  • MULLANY, L and TRICKETT, L, 2020. The language of 'misogyny hate crime': Politics, policy and policing. In: MULLANY, L, ed., Professional Communication: Consultancy, Advocacy, Activism Springer Palgrave. 249-272
  • LUMALA, M and MULLANY, L, 2020. Language, gender and leadership: Applying the sociolinguistics of narrative and identity in East Africa.. In: MULLANY, L, ed., Professional Communication:: Consultancy, Advocacy, Activism Springer Palgrave. 65-88
  • MULLANY, L, 2020. Rethinking professional communication: New departures for global workplace research.. In: MULLANY, L, ed., Professional Communication: Consultancy, Advocacy, Activism Springer Palgrave. 1-26
  • BROOKES, G, HARVEY, K and MULLANY, L, 2018. From corpus to clinic: health communication research and the impact agenda. In: MCINTYRE, D and PRICE, H, eds., Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda Routledge.
  • CHRISTIE, C, MULLANY, L and CHALUPNIK, M, 2017. Gender and (im)politeness. In: CULPEPER. J, HAUGH, M and KADAR, D, eds., Palgrave Handbook of Linguistic (Im)Politeness Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  • MULLANY, L. and YOONG, M, 2017. Gender and the Workplace. In: VINE, B, ed., The Routledge Handbook of Language in the Workplace Routledge.
  • MULLANY, L, BARGIELA-CHIAPPINI, F and MILLS, S, 2017. A tribute to Sandra Harris. Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture. 13(1), 1-6.
  • MULLANY, L and YOONG, M, 2016. Language, gender and identities in political life: A Case study from Malaysia. In: PREECE, S, ed., Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity Routledge. 428-442
  • BROOKES, G., HARVEY, K. and MULLANY, L., 2016. 'Off to the best start'? A multimodal critique of breast and formula feeding health promotional discourse. Gender & Language. 10(3), 340-363.
  • JONES, L. and MULLANY, L., 2016. The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A response to "A Modest Proposal" International Journal of Transgenderism.
  • SMITH, C. ADOLPHS, S. HARVEY, K. MULLANY, L., 2015. Spelling Errors and Keywords in Born-Digital Data: A Case Study Using the Teenage Health Freak Corpus. Corpora. 9(2), 137-154
  • MULLANY, L. STOCKWELL, P., 2015. Introducing English Language. Second Edition. Routledge.
  • MULLANY, L, HARVEY, K, SMITH, C. and ADOLPHS, S., 2015. "Am I anorexic?" Weight, eating and discourses of the body in online adolescent communication. Communication and Medicine. 12(2-3), 211-223.
  • MULLANY, L. J, 2012. Corpus analysis of language in the workplace. In: CHAPELLE, C., ed., Encyclopaedia of Applied Linguistics Wiley-Blackwell.
  • ADOLPHS, S, MULLANY, L., HARVEY, K. and SMITH, C., 2012. Health Communication and the Internet Available at: <http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cral/projects/thfindex.aspx>
  • ADOLPHS, S., MULLANY, L., HARVEY, K. and SMITH, C., 2012. Teenage health freak - encyclopedia Available at: <http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cral/projects/thfencyclopedia.aspx>
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2011. Discourse, gender and professional communication. In: GEE, J. and HANDFORD, M, eds., The Handbook of Discourse Analysis London: Routledge. 509-522
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2011. Frontstage and backstage: Gordon Brown, the “bigoted woman” and im/politeness in the 2010 UK General Election. In: LINGUISTIC POLITENESS RESEARCH GROUP, ed., Discursive approaches to politeness De Gruyter Mouton. 133-165
  • MILLS, S and MULLANY, L.J., 2011. Language, gender and feminism: theory, methodology and practice Routledge.
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2011. Im/politeness, rapport management and workplace culture: Truckers performing masculinities on Canadian ice-roads. In: BARGIELA-CHIAPPINI, F and KADAR, D., eds., Politeness Across Cultures Basingstoke: Palgrave. 61-84
  • LINGUISTIC POLITENESS RESEARCH GROUP, ed., 2011. Discursive Approaches to Politeness Mouton de Gruyter.
  • MULLANY, L. J. & STOCKWELL, P.J., 2010. Introducing English Language: A Resource Book for Students London: Routledge.
  • MULLANY, L., 2010. Gendered identities in the professional workplace: negotiating the glass ceiling. In: LLAMAS, C. and WATT, D., eds., Language and identities Edinburgh University Press. 179-191
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2010. Gender and interpersonal pragmatics. In: GRAHAM, S. L and LOCHER, M., eds., The Handbook of Interpersonal Pragmatics Mouton de Gruyter. 225-250
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2009. Gender studies and business discourse.. In: BARGIELA-CHIAPPINI, F., ed., The Handbook of Business Discourse. Edinburgh University Press. 213-225
  • MULLANY L. J. (ED.), 2009. Special Issue Guest Editor: Politeness in Health Care Settings Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture. 5(1),
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2009. Applying politeness research to health care communication Journal of Politeness Research: Language, Behaviour, Culture. 5(1), 1-10
  • HARVEY, K., CHURCHILL, D., CRAWFORD, P., BROWN, B., MULLANY, L., MACFARLANE, A. and MCPHERSON, A., 2008. Health communication and adolescents: what do their emails tell us? Family Practice. 25, 1-18
  • MULLANY, L., 2008. Negotiating methodologies: making language and gender relevant in the professional workplace. In: HARRINGTON, K., LITOSSELITI, L., SAUNTSON, H. and SUNDERLAND, J., eds., Gender and language research methodologies Palgrave.
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2008. "Stop hassling me!": Impoliteness, power and gender identity in the professional workplace.. In: BOUSFIELD, D and LOCHER, M., eds., Impoliteness in Language Mouton de Gruyter. 231-255
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2007. Gendered discourse in the professional workplace Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • LLAMAS, C. and MULLANY, L. J. & STOCKWELL, P.J., eds., 2007. The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics London: Routledge.
  • MULLANY, L. J., 2007. Speech communities. In: LLAMAS, C, MULLANY, L and STOCKWELL, P., eds., The Routledge Companion to Sociolinguistics Routledge. 84-92.
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2006. Girls on tour: politeness, small talk, and gender in managerial business meetings Journal of Politeness Research. 2(1), 55-77
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2006. Narrative constructions of gender and professional identities. In: OMONIYI, T. and WHITE, G., eds., The Sociolinguistics of Identity London: Continuum. 157-172
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2006. Language and gender in the workplace (with L. Litosseliti). In: LITOSSELITI, L., ed., Gender and Language: Theory and Practice London : Hodder Arnold.
  • HARRIS, S, K. GRAINGER and L. MULLANY, 2006. The pragmatics of political apologies Discourse & Society. 17(6), 715-737
  • BROWN, B, CRAWFORD, P and MULLANY, L, 2005. Clinical governmentality: A critical linguistic perspective on clinical governance discourse in health care organisations Journal of Applied Linguistics. 2(3), 299-324
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2005. Review of Mills' "Gender and Politeness" Journal of Politeness Research. 1(2), 291-295
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2004. An examination of the discourse strategies of female and male chairs in managerial business meetings. In: GOUVEIA, C., SILVESTRE, C. and AZUAGA, L., eds., Discourse, Communication and the Enterprise: Linguistic Perspectives Lisbon : ULICES (University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies).
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2002. 'I don't think you want me to get a word in edgeways do you John?': Re-assessing (im)politeness, language and gender in political broadcast interviews. English Studies Working Papers on the Web: Sheffield Hallam University. 3,
  • MULLANY, L.J., 2000. The application of current language and gender theory to managerial meeting discourse The Nottingham Linguistic Circular. 15, 1-13
  • MULLANY, L.J., 1999. Linguistic politeness and sex differences in BBC Radio 4 broadcast interviews Leeds Working Papers in Linguistics and Phonetics. 7, 119-142
  • SMITH, C., ADOLPHS, S., HARVEY, K. and MULLANY, L, Spelling Errors and Keywords in Born-Digital Data: A Case Study Using the Teenage Health Freak Corpus. Corpora. 9 (2), (In Press.)
  • JONES, L, The problematic case of gender-neutral pronouns: A response to "A Modest Proposal"

School of English

Trent Building
The University of Nottingham
University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5900
email: english-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk