Svenja Adolphs
Professor of English Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts
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Biography
I hold an MA in English Language for Literary Studies and a PhD in Applied Linguistics (both from the University of Nottingham). Between 2011 and 2015 I was Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange (now Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor) for the Faculty of Arts and Associate Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies which supports research and KE across the faculties of Arts and Social Sciences. Other major previous roles at Nottingham include Head of English Language and Applied Linguistics, Director of the Centre for Research in Applied Linguistics and Interim Academic Director of the Midlands 3 Cities AHRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership. Between 2017 and 2022 I served as Head of School of the School of English at the University of Nottingham.
I have previously served as a member of AHRC Council (2014-2018) and of the ESRC's Capability Committee, Strategic Advisory Network and Grants Assessment Panel. I also served as a member of AHRC's Advisory Board, and represented the AHRC within HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area).
Teaching Summary
I teach across a wide range of areas in English Language and Applied Linguistics and across all levels including 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate, MA level, and research skills for PhD students.… read more
Research Summary
Areas of expertise - applied linguistics (especially in the area of health communication); discourse analysis; pragmatics; corpus linguistics; multimodality, digital humanities, e-language,… read more
I welcome applications for PhD study in the following areas: applied linguistics (especially health communication and health inequalities); discourse analysis; pragmatics; corpus linguistics; multimodality, digital humanities, e-language, sociolinguistics; language and location; language and identity. In terms of linguistic units of analysis, I have particular interests in phraseology, multi-word expressions and discourse structure.
I have extensive experience of supervising PhD students with over 30 successful completion. Most of my former PhD students have moved into academic positions in the UK and abroad (e.g. Dawn Knight and Mike Handford who are now both Professors at Cardiff University and Gila Schauer who is Professor at Universitaet Erfurt in Germany).
Given the interdisciplinary nature of much of my research, my PhD students have received funding for their doctoral research from AHRC, ESRC and EPSRC, as well as through international scholarships. I regularly co-supervise with colleagues in other faculties, mainly based in Computer Science and Health Sciences.
I have a particular interest in research skills training development and in ensuring that doctoral students receive excellent generic and subject specific training to enable them to develop and thrive as researchers. I have been closely involved in the development of research skills training practice and policy at local, regional and national level.
I teach across a wide range of areas in English Language and Applied Linguistics and across all levels including 1st, 2nd and 3rd year undergraduate, MA level, and research skills for PhD students. Previous modules that I have either developed from scratch, convened and/or taught include: Language in Context (covering phonetics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, and applications of language description), Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, Skills in Corpus Analysis, Language and Society, Discourse Analysis, English Language Teaching modules, New Language: English in the Computer Age.
PhD supervision: I welcome applications for PhD study in the following areas: applied linguistics and ELT; discourse analysis; pragmatics; corpus linguistics; multimodality, English language and digital humanities, e-language, language and location, health communication.
For further information please use the 'PhD supervision' tab above.
Current Research
Areas of expertise - applied linguistics (especially in the area of health communication); discourse analysis; pragmatics; corpus linguistics; multimodality, digital humanities, e-language, sociolinguistics; language and location; language and identity. In terms of linguistic units of analysis, I have particular interests in phraseology, multi-word expressions and discourse structure.
A specific focus of my research is on developing frameworks and methods that enable us to account systematically for how our language varies from one context to another, and according to dynamic changes in the environment, in channels of communication and the social context of human interaction. I am particularly interested in how individuals and groups perform their identity by making different linguistic choices in across a range of contexts. Our work on the Teenage Health Freak project (see below) with my colleagues Louise Mullany, Kevin Harvey and Cat Smith is a good example of how these different strands of research have been combined and brought to bear on questions directly related to language and identity. We continue to work closely with health professionals and other end users to ensure that this research can be used to inform current practice and policy related to issues in health communication. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I led a project that examined the use of linguistic evidence to inform effective public health messaging.
Together with Dawn Knight and Ron Carter, and in collaboration with our colleagues in the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, I have worked extensively on multi-modal representations of spoken discourse through the development of video corpora funded mainly through an ESRC project which explores new forms of digital records for e-social science (see below). I have recently started to explore how this work might be applicable to research on sign language, as well as in cross-cultural contexts.
Some of my recent research projects can be found here.