Dr Johann Unger
Senior Lecturer in Critical Discourse StudiesResearch Overview
I am currently interested in two main research areas:
- Language and digitally mediated politics, and particularly political resistance
- Language policy and the politics of language
Research Interests
My research to date has been in the following areas:
- Language Policy
- Minority Languages
- Scots
- Discursive representations of minority languages
- Discourse sociolinguistics
- Critical discourse analysis
- Academic writing
- Language and gender
- Cartoons, fairy stories and sexist stereotypes
- Dialect speech (re)presentation in fiction and non-fiction
- Dialect and non-standard orthography
- Political resistance and new media
Current Teaching
In 2022-23 I am contributing to teaching on the following modules:
Undergraduate
- LING102 - English Language Part I
- LING103 - Linguistics Part I
- GEN.101 - Gender Studies Part I
- LING204 - Discourse Analysis: Looking at Language in Use
- LING232 - Understanding Media
Postgraduate
- LING440 - Critical Discourse Studies
Additional Information
PhD Supervision Interests
I am particularly interested in supervising students in the areas of online political resistance, critical discourse analysis and language policy, also more broadly in the areas related to my other research interests (see 'Research Interests' on my staff profile). I am currently supervising or co-supervising students working on: Anti-feminist discourse in online forums; Accounts of sexual harassment among sex-workers; Language policy and ideologies in Pakistan; Attitudes towards migrants on Twitter in Saudi Arabia; Persuasion and manipulation in TED talks
Selected Publications
Researching Language and Social Media: A Student Guide
Page, R., Barton, D., Lee, C., Unger, J., Zappavigna, M. 28/02/2022 2nd ed. London : Routledge. 216 p. ISBN: 9780367640088, 9780367640095. Electronic ISBN: 9781003121763.
Book
Language testing in the ‘hostile environment’: The discursive construction of ‘secure English language testing’ in the United Kingdom
Harding, L., Brunfaut, T., Unger, J.W. 1/10/2020 In: Applied Linguistics. 41, 5, p. 662–687. 26 p.
Journal article
Digitally mediated communication
Unger, J.W. 7/04/2020 In: Researching Discourse. London : Routledge ISBN: 9781138551084. Electronic ISBN: 9780367815042.
Chapter
Discursive approaches to language policy
Barakos, E., Unger, J.W. 22/11/2016 London : Palgrave Macmillan. 299 p. ISBN: 9781137531339. Electronic ISBN: 9781137531346.
Book
The interdisciplinarity of critical discourse studies research
Unger, J. 4/02/2016 In: Palgrave Communications. 2, 4 p.
Comment/debate
The discursive construction of the Scots language: education, politics and everyday life
Unger, J.W. 10/2013 John Benjamins. 178 p.
Monograph
All Publications
Countermapping Urban Palestine
01/01/2024 → 31/07/2024
Research
Gender, Language and Animation Resource
22/06/2022 → …
Other
CLAE II: Critical Literacies and Awareness in Education
01/09/2019 → 31/12/2022
Research
Graphic Futures
17/10/2017 → 30/06/2018
Research
The Author and the world: New interdisciplinary approaches to authorship
06/01/2014 → 05/01/2016
Research
Catalyst Project: 'Success in Activist Tweets'
02/07/2012 → 28/09/2012
Research
Political Resistance Online Research Project
01/03/2011 → 31/12/2021
Other
Language Lab
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Countermapping Urban Palestine
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture (Journal)
Editorial activity
Journal of Cultural Mediation (Journal)
Editorial activity
Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture (Journal)
Editorial activity
Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture (Journal)
Editorial activity
- Authors and the World
- DisTex - Discourse and Text Research Group
- Institute for Social Futures Fellow
- Lancaster Literacy Research Centre
- LIP - Language, Ideology and Power Group