Dr Karen Grainger
Associate Professor in English Language and Linguistics
Summary
I have lectured and researched in the areas of linguistics, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis at Sheffield Hallam University since 1990. I research language use and interaction in institutional, intercultural and electronic contexts and have a particular expertise in Politeness theory. I have published in the areas of health care, intercultural communication and the debate around 'deprived' children's language skills. I have been Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Politeness Research for 10 years and have published widely in this field.
About
I teach on the BA English Language degree in the areas of sociolinguistics, cross-cultural communication and pragmatics. My teaching is informed by my research and has received positive feedback from students and peer reviewers. In my teaching career, have been Course Leader for several degrees including BA Communication Studies and MA Communication Studies. I helped develop the current BA English Language and was programme Leader for the English suite of degrees between 2012 and 2015. In terms of research, I have an international reputation in politeness theory due to editorship of the Journal of Politeness Research and the publication of a number of research articles and books which contribute to knowledge in the field. I have also made significant contributions to the field of interactional sociolinguistics in terms of methods of data analysis and data collection, particularly in the areas of institutional talk (nurses and elderly patients) and intercultural communication. Recent forays into educational sociolinguistics have helped to re-ignite a debate about non-standard language use in school policy and practice. I have successfully supervised a number of PhDs and am happy to continue to supervise projects in the areas of politeness theory, interactional sociolinguistics and educational sociolinguistics.
Politeness Theory; institutional interaction; interactional sociolinguistics; educational sociolinguistics; intercultural communication.
Teaching
Social Sciences and Arts
The pragmatics of Zimbabwean English; the discourse of elderly care; indirectness across cultures; language deficit revisited; the pathologisation of non-standard language.
English Language
BA English Language; BA English
Sociolinguistics; Pragmatics & Politeness: English Language dissertation
Research
(1) Norms and Normativity in Indirectness across Cultures. (journal paper in progress).
(2) Conceptualisations of English in UK Educational Policy’.
'Language, Education and Disadvantage: a response to the deficit model of children's language competence' Report of the BAAL/CUP Seminar, April 2011.
Linguistic Politeness Research Group
Publications
Journal articles
Grainger, K., & O'Driscoll, J. (2022). Editorial: Where we have been and where we are going. Journal of Politeness Research, 18 (1), 1-9. http://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2021-2041
Grainger, K. (2018). “We’re not in a club now”: a neo-Brown and Levinson approach to analyzing courtroom data. Journal of Politeness Research, 14 (1), 19-38. http://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2017-0039
Van Der Bom, I., Grainger, K., Paterson, L., & Peplow, D. (2017). ‘It’s not the fact they claim benefits but their useless, lazy, drug taking lifestyles we despise’: Analysing audience responses to Benefits Street using live tweets. Discourse, Context, & Media, 21, 36-45. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.11.003
Van Der Bom, I., & Grainger, K. (2015). Journal of Politeness Research: Introduction. Journal of Politeness Research, 11 (2), 165-178. http://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2015-0007
Grainger, K., Kerkam, Z., Mansor, F., & Mills, S. (2015). Offering and hospitality in Arabic and English. Journal of Politeness Research, 11 (1), 41-70. http://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2015-0003
Grainger, K. (2013). "The daily grunt": middle class bias and vested interests in the 'Getting in Early' and 'Why Can't They Read?' reports. Language and Education, 27 (2), 99-109. http://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2012.760583
Grainger, K. (2013). Of babies and bath water: Is there any place for Austin and Grice in interpersonal pragmatics? Journal of Pragmatics, 58, 27-38. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.08.008
Grainger, K., & Jones, P.E. (2013). The 'Language Deficit' argument and beyond. Language and Education, 27 (2), 95-98. http://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2012.760582
Grainger, K., Makoni, S., & Kharraki, A. (2013). Call for Papers. Journal of Politeness Research, 9 (2), 245. http://doi.org/10.1515/pr-2013-0012
Grainger, K., Mills, S., & Sibanda, M. (2010). "Just tell us what to do": Southern African face and its relevance to intercultural communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 42 (8), 2158-2171. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.12.017
Bousfield, D., & Grainger, K. (2010). Politeness research: Retrospect and prospect. Journal of Politeness Research, 6 (2), 161-182. http://doi.org/10.1515/JPLR.2010.009
Grainger, K., & Harris, S. (2007). Special issue: Apologies introduction. Journal of Politeness Research, 3 (1), 1-9. http://doi.org/10.1515/PR.2007.001
Harris, S., Grainger, K., & Mullany, L. (2006). The pragmatics of political apologies. Discourse and society, 17 (6), 715-737. http://doi.org/10.1177/0957926506068429
Grainger, K., Jennings, M., & Masterson, S. (2005). ‘Things aren't the same, are they?’: the management of bad news delivery in the discourse of stroke care. Communication and medicine, 2 (1), 35-44. http://doi.org/10.1515/come.2005.2.1.35
Grainger, K. (2004). Verbal play on the hospital ward: solidarity or power? Multilingua: journal of cross-cultural and interlanguage communication, 23 (1-2), 39-59. http://doi.org/10.1515/mult.2004.007
Makoni, S., & Grainger, K. (2002). Comparative gerontolinguistics: characterizing discourses in caring institutions in South Africa and United Kingdom. Journal of social issues, 58. http://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00291
Grainger, K.P. (1999). Alzheimer discourse some sociolinguistic dimensions. DISCOURSE & SOCIETY, 10 (3), 444-446. http://doi.org/10.1177/0957926599010003010
Grainger, K. (1998). Reality orientation in institutions for the elderly: The perspective from interactional sociolinguistics. Journal of Aging Studies, 12 (1), 39-56. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0890-4065(98)90019-6
Grainger, K. (1993). "That's a lovely bath dear": Reality construction in the discourse of elderly care. Journal of Aging Studies, 7 (3), 247-262. http://doi.org/10.1016/0890-4065(93)90014-B
Coupland, J., Coupland, N., & Grainger, K. (1991). Intergenerational discourse: Contextual versions of ageing and elderliness. Ageing and Society, 11 (2), 189-208. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X00004001
Coupland, N., Grainger, K., & Coupland, J. (1988). Politeness in context: Intergenerational issues (Review article). Language in Society, 17 (2), 253-262. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500012793
Conference papers
Bates, C., Doherty, K., & Grainger, K. (2011). Understanding Programmers Through Discourse Analysis. In RAISE 2011, University Central Lanacashire, Preston, UK, 9 June 2011. http://www.agilenorth.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Whats-the-Sense-of-Using-Echo.pdf
Grainger, K. (2011). "The Daily Grunt":The resurgence of the deficit model of language competence in children. In Language, Education and Disadvantage, Sheffield Hallam University, 19 April 2011 - 20 April 2011.
Bates, C., Doherty, K., & Grainger, K. (2011). Facework in a pair-programming session. In Psychology of Programming Interest Group Work in Progress, Sheffield Hallam University, 18 April 2011 - 19 April 2011. http://extra.shu.ac.uk/crr/wip_ppig_2011/
Mcseveny, K., Grainger, K., & Doherty, K. (2010). I'm sooooo chuffed : face management in reports of success on an online weight loss message board. In Fifth International Symposium on Politeness, University of Basel, 30 June 2010 - 2 July 2010.
Mcseveny, K., Doherty, K., & Grainger, K. (2009). Laugh out loud : humour, confession and identity management in an online weight loss support group. In Laughter and Humour in Interaction Conference, University of Huddersfield, 24 June 2009 - 25 June 2009.
Mcseveny, K., Doherty, K., & Grainger, K. (2009). "I was in the same boat" : advicegivingand solidarity inan online weight loss community. In 1st Autumn Conference of Interpersonal Communication and Social Interaction Section of ECREA, Tampere, Finland, 21 October 2009 - 23 October 2009.
Grainger, K., Mills, S., & Sibanda, M. (2008). The Southern African concept of ‘face’ and its relevance tointercultural interaction. In 4th International Symposium on Politeness, Budapest, 2 July 2008 - 4 July 2008.
Grainger, K., Doherty, K., & Mcseveny, K. (2006). "Stop Cheating": impoliteness on a weight watchers message board. In 2nd International Symposium on Politeness, Huddersfield University, 1 July 2006.
Book chapters
Grainger, K., & Xie, C. (2020). Norms and normativity in indirectness across cultures. In Advancing (Im)politeness Studies. Springer
Grainger, K. (2020). Take Care of Yourself: Negotiating Moral and Professional Face in Stroke Rehabilitation. In Archer, D., Grainger, K., & Jagodziński, P. (Eds.) Politeness in Professional Contexts. John Benjamins: http://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.311.04gra
Archer, D., Grainger, K., & Jagodziński, P. (2020). Introduction: Politeness in professional contexts. In Pragmatics and Beyond New Series. (pp. 1-22). http://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.311.01acr
Paterson, L., Grainger, K., & Peplow, D. (2017). Does money talk equate to class talk? Audience responses to poverty porn in relation to money and debt. In Mooney, A., & Sifaki, E. (Eds.) The Language of Money and Debt : a Multidisciplinary Approach. (pp. 205-231). Palgrave Macmillan: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57568-1_9
Grainger, K. (2011). 'First order' and 'second order' politeness: institutional and intercultural contexts. In Discursive approaches to politeness. (pp. 167-188). Berlin: De Gruyter Moulton: http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/128851?format=G
Grainger, K. (2010). Indirectness in Zimbabwean English : a study of intercultural communication in the UK. In Bargiela-Chiappini, F., & Kadar, D.Z. (Eds.) Politeness across cultures. (pp. 171-193). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Grainger, K. (2004). Communication and the institutionalized elderly. In Handbook of Communication and Aging Research. (pp. 479-497).
Books
Archer, D., Grainger, K., & Jagodziński, P. (Eds.). (2020). Politeness in Professional Contexts. John Benjamins. https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.311
Archer, D., Grainger, K., & Jagodziński, P. (Eds.). (2020). Politeness in Professional Contexts. John Benjamins. https://benjamins.com/catalog/pbns.311
Grainger, K., & Mills, S. (2015). Directness and indirectness across cultures. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Theses / Dissertations
Mansor, F.A. (2017). Politeness and offering in Libyan Arabic hospitality. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Grainger, K. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00053
Alzouebi, A. (2015). Teachers' and Roma students' experiences of the ESOL classroom in Yorkshire. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Ridley, D., & Grainger, K.
Kerkam, Z.M. (2015). A comparison of Arabic and English directness and indirectness : Cross-cultural politeness. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Mills, S., & Grainger, K.
Bates, C.D. (2014). Message passing: How software engineers use talk. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Doherty, K., & Grainger, K.
McSeveny, K. (2009). The management of identity and accountabilityin online weight loss discourse. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Doherty, K., & Grainger, K.
Nishimura, Y. (2008). Aspects of Japanese computer-mediated communication : linguistics and socio-cultural perspectives. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Yates, S., & Grainger, K.
Presentations
Grainger, K. (2018). Norms and normativity in indirectness across cultures. Presented at: International Symposium on Advances in (im)politeness studies, Fujian Normal University, China
Grainger, K., & Jones, P.E. (2017). Challenging the pathologisation of non-standard language. Presented at: British Association of Applied Linguistics, annual conference, Leeds University, UK
Other activities
External examiner for Aston University English programme
Postgraduate supervision
• 1 Masters by Research successfully completed: Amina Alzouebi, ' Teachers' experiences of teaching Roma students in an ESL classroom' ( 2015)
• Currently supervising: Thomas Price: 'Autism and Politeness' Mark Stott: 'Integrationism' ; Claire Ashmore: perceptual Dialectology
Student Writing' (1998)
'Interaction on a Weight Loss Message Board' (2010)
'CMC on Japanese Message Boards' (2008)
'How Software Engineers Use Talk' (2014)
'Indirectness in Libyan Arabic speakers'.2015