Professional communication research
Our professional communication research explores how spoken and written language is used in workplaces, to develop relationships and achieve institutional objectives.
There's a growing need for professionals in the workplace to exchange information and build relationships quickly, despite differences in languages and culture – and our research is identifying ways to build these communication skills and implement them effectively.
The results of our work can have a positive impact in the lives of people, professionals and society. For example, we're researching the type of language that helps build positive relationships when working in teams. We're also exploring issues such as how doctors can encourage patients to follow specific procedures, or how written product information can be made clearer for consumers.
Our staff are members of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators, and the Materials Development Association. They have expertise in materials evaluation and writing, technical communication and intercultural communication.
Our research covers the following topics
- Learning materials evaluation
- Language needs analysis
- Language for specific purposes
- Discourse analysis
- Sociolinguistics
- Pragmatics
- Technical communication
- Intercultural communication
Methods
Our researchers in professional communication use quantitative research methods, such as corpus analytics, to develop lexical profiles for professional documents.
We also make use of qualitative research techniques, including discourse analysis and grounded theory, to examine face-to-face interactions in healthcare settings.
Publication highlights
Our work is regularly published by leading academic journals and presented at industry conferences, including MATSDA (Materials Development Association Conference), and COMET Conference on Communication, Medicine and Ethics.
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Fitzgerald, P., McCullagh, M., Wright, R. (2021) "English for Medicine in Higher Education Studies: 2nd Edition Course eBook", English for Specific Academic Purposes
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Fitzgerald, P., McCullagh, M. (2021) "English for Medicine in Higher Education Studies: 2nd Edition Teacher’s eBook", English for Specific Academic Purposes
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Tran, Q. P., Watkins, P. (2022) "Humour in the pre-sessional classroom: Don't make me laugh", IATEFL Conference Selections
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Watkins, P., Belleti Figueira Mulling, A. (2022) "Reading in self-access material: What can we learn from self-instructed learners and their reported experience?", The Reading Matrix
Our members
Discover our areas of expertise
Professional communication is one of our six areas of expertise within our Linguistics research area. Explore the others below.
Corpus linguistics
We're looking at huge datasets of natural language – often many billions of words – to explore how language is used in different regions, genres and situations.
Translation
We're exploring how texts are translated and the practices around the translation of texts, including professional training, the use of technologies, and non-professional translation communities.
Discourse analysis
We're researching how ideas, concepts and people are represented through language, and exploring how language is used in real-life contexts.
Sociolinguistics
Through our work in sociolinguistics, we're studying the ways in which language can affect, and is affected, by social phenomena.
Teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL)
We're focusing on the learning and teaching of English as a second or foreign language, in primary, secondary and adult learning contexts.
Interested in a PhD in Languages and Linguistics?
Browse our postgraduate research degrees – including PhDs and MPhils – at our Languages and Linguistics postgraduate research degrees page.