Research

Over the past decade, I have authored and edited books and journal articles in various fields of linguistics that are concerned with language as an institutionalised social practice. I take a particular interest in style as a theoretical concept as well as a perspective that can be applied to a wide range of communicative contexts involving the diffusion and transformation of knowledge. Epistemologically, my thinking is inspired by dialogical theories and theories of social change (Bakhtin, Marková, Linell, Moscovici).

Current book project:

I am currently writing a theoretical monograph about performance style and contradiction, i.e. about the ways we position ourselves relative to ‘others’ in situations when we are cognitively challenged. This monograph idea is strongly inspired by works of Mikhail Bakhtin on dialogicality and by a research group within social psychology (cf. Marková, Dialogicality, 2003). Work on this monograph is ongoing.

Current editorship:

I am co-editing two major volumes on questions related to linguistic diversity, which have emerged from my project involvement with the network LINEE. For these books, I have written two theoretical chapters on how language planning – in a broad sense the negotiation of meaning on the subject of language – can be gainfully studied focusing closely on conversational episodes between interactants. The volumes are due to appear in 2012. Then I have embarked on launching an e-journal that will provide a forum for research on dialogical linguistics (Journal of Dialogical Linguistics). The first issue is planned for June 2012.

	Linguistic Diversity in Europe: Trends and Discourses (Berlin/New York: de Gruyter Mouton, 2012): This book, which emerges in the context of the European research network LINEE (Languages in a Network of European Excellence), is concerned with European multilingualism both as a political concept and as a social reality. It features cutting-edge studies by linguists and anthropologists who perceive multilingualism as a discursive phenomenon which can be revealed and analyzed through empirical fieldwork. The book presents a fresh perspective of European multilingualism as it takes the reader through key themes of social consciousness – identity, policy, education, economy – and relevant societal levels of organization (European, national, regional).
Picture forthcoming	Ideological Conceptualisations of Language in Discourses of Linguistic Diversity (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2012)
	I am in the process of launching a journal of dialogical linguistics. JDL is intended as an independent and interdisciplinary not-for-profit online publication for researchers engaged in dialogical enquiry. It is peer-reviewed with the aim of providing readers with original papers, research reports and book reviews that make a new contribution to the theory and application of dialogical linguistics. Planned first issue: June 2012.

Previous book publications:

Historical Corpus Stylistics: Media, Technology and Change (London: Continuum 2008): This monograph approaches performance style in media genres by discussing the performance of genre external and internal factors over time which underlie and motivate the stylistic development of print media.

From the Margins to the Centre: Irish Perspectives on Swiss Culture and Literature (Oxford: Peter Lang 2007). This edited volume offers fresh insights into Swiss culture and literature from an Irish perspective. It brings together articles by writers and scholars from various academic fields including cultural studies, linguistics and literature. The book is a reflection of the multifaceted interests of Irish academics in Switzerland as a cultural space in the heart of Europe.