Current  position

Senior Lecturer in Variationist Sociolinguistics, Newcastle University

Internal roles

Postgraduate Director, taught programmes (SELLL)
Chair of the PG Board of Studies & PG Committee
Chair of the PGT Board of Examiners

External roles

member of the ESRC ​​Peer Review College
member of the ESRC Doctoral Training Partnerships Peer Review College
member of the Northern Bridge Studentship Committee
editorial board member, Ampersand
chair of the Discourse-Pragmatic Variation & Change steering committee

I am a variationist linguist investigating how language use varies across social groups and space, and how it gradually changes over time.

My main academic interests include discourse-pragmatic and morpho-syntactic variation and change; the development of discourse-pragmatic features (e.g. I don't know, and stuff, innit​); varieties of English (social, regional, ethnic, national); language use and variation in medical discourse. Click here for more information about my research.

I regularly organise and/or contribute to events for non-academic audiences which aim at raising awareness of issues relating to language variation and change, breaking down persisting prejudices against the use and users of particular linguistic forms, and promoting the discipline of linguistics in general. Click here for further information.