Profile
I studied English Language and Literature as an undergraduate in Sheffield and then trained to be an English teacher in the London Institute of Education. There I became interested in the work of Basil Bernstein on the relationship between class, language ability and educational achievement. In order to pursue this interest I trained as a linguist at University College London under Michael Halliday and then went on to the University of Birmingham to undertake doctoral research with John Sinclair. I spent the next 37 years there, before moving to Aston in 2004, to become the first professor of Forensic Linguistics in the world.
I am probably best known for my work on the analysis of spoken and written discourse and the books An Introduction to Discourse Analysis and Advances in Written Text Analysis. However, since the late 1980s I have become increasingly involved with forensic applications of linguistics. I was the Foundation President of the International Association of Forensic Linguists and the founding editor of the journal Forensic Linguistics, the International Journal of Speech Language and the Law. For the past 20 years I have acted as an expert witness in forensic linguistics and have been commissioned to prepare reports for both Prosecution and Defence in over 180 civil and criminal cases. I have given evidence on author identification in the Court of Appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as well as in lower courts in England, Germany, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland and Scotland.Among my high profile cases are the Birmingham Six Appeal, the Bridgwater Four Appeal and the Ronald Bolden trial, at the conclusion of which, in 1989, the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad was disbanded.
I have taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in forensic linguistics and language and the law for over ten years in Britain and abroad and have supervised seven doctoral students in these areas. I have planned modules for the new undergraduate degree in English Studies and MA in Applied Linguistics, both of which start in October 2006. Since 2000 I have directed an annual international summer school in forensic linguistic analysis. The 2006 summer school in forensic linguistics will take place at Aston University in mid-September.
Qualifications
- BA in English Language and Literature (Sheffield)
- MA in Linguistics (University College, London)
- PhD in English Linguistics (University of Birmingham)
Teaching
Research Interests
- Forensic Linguistics
- Language and the Law
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- The Analysis of Written and Spoken Discourse
Responsibilities
Director of Research
Membership in Professional Organisations
International Association of Forensic Linguists
Publications
Selected Publications
Books
- Towards an Analysis of Discourse, with J. McH. Sinclair, O.U.P. 1975
- An Introduction to Discourse Analysis, Longman 1977
- Discourse Intonation and Language Teaching, with D.C. Brazil and C.M. Johns, Longman, 1980
- Linguagem e Sexo, São Paulo, Atica, 1991
- Traduçao: Téoria e Prática, Florianópolis, (ed) with C.R. Caldas-Coulthard, Editora UFSC, 1991
- Advances in Spoken Discourse Analysis, (ed) Routledge, 1992
- Advances in Written Text Analysis,(ed) Routledge, 1994
- Texts and Practices: Readings in Critical Discourse Analysis, (ed) with C R Caldas-Coulthard, London, Routledge, 1996
Recent Articles
Recent Presentations
- ‘Some cultural and linguistic problems in writing academically in English at university level’ plenary address at the 15th SONAPLES conference for University Teachers, Lenguaje, Entendimiento y Cultura, Osorno, Chile, April 2004
- ‘On plagiarism, patchwriting and the problems of overseas students in British universities’, plenary address at the 24th AESLA conference, Perspectiva
- Interdisciplinar y Tecnologías Emergentes, Valencia, Spain, April 2004
- The Linguist as Detective’, talk to staff and students at the University of Roehampton, April 2005
- ‘And then….’ being the Final Sinclair Lecture, University of Birmingham, May 2005
- ‘Towards a critical discourse analysis of forensic texts’, plenary paper at the 14th CDA Symposium, hosted by the University of Athens, May 2005
- ‘On linguistic variation’, paper presented to the symposium ‘Future strategies for the applications of linguistics’, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, June 2005
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