Lia Litosseliti

Senior Lecturer in Linguistics

Qualifications

PhD Linguistics (Lancaster), MA Language Studies (Lancaster), BA Hons English Language & Literature (Athens)

Current internal roles

• Senior Lecturer in Linguistics (with teaching responsibilities for the PGDip/MSc and BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy programmes)
• Programme Director for BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy
• Supervisor of PhD and MSc students in the areas of gender and language, the discursive construction of identities, and critical perspectives on research methodologies
• Learning Development Fellow

Research interests & activities

I am interested in mapping out the terrain of three interdisciplinary research areas below (though currently I am concentrating especially on the first two):

a. GENDER AND LANGUAGE; THE DISCURSIVE CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER IDENTITIES

See, for example:

• Litosseliti, L. (2006) 'Gender and Language Theory and Practice', London: Hodder Arnold  

This book investigates theoretical and applied perspectives on gender and language. Shortlisted for the BAAL book prize (2007) and the IGALA book prize (2008).  Click on the link for a brief description, table of contents and reviews. Additional review can be found in the European Journal of Women's Studies (2007) http://ejw.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/14/2/171?rss=1

PLEASE NOTE this book is available for purchase as LSI POD title and therefore can be ordered from a bookshop (who will place the order with the wholesaler Bertrams, www.bertrams.com, +44(0)8704296600).

Also:

• Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.) (2002) Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity. 'Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture' Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins
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• Harrington, K., Litosseliti, L., Sauntson, H., and Sunderland, J. (eds.) (2008). Gender and Language Research Methodologies. Basingstoke: Palgrave 

Within this area of interest also fall collaborative activities on Gender and Language in African Contexts and Methodological Approaches to Gender and Language. Hosted and co-organised research seminars in these areas include:

• British Association of Applied Linguistics/ 'Gender & Language' SIG seminar: 'Language and Gender in African Contexts II' , City University, UK, 14 November 2008 (Hosted).
• British Association of Applied Linguistics/ Joint 'Gender & Language' and 'Language in Africa' SIG seminar: 'Language and Gender in African Contexts', University of Leeds, UK, 17 November 2007  (Co-organised).
• British Association of Applied Linguistics/ Cambridge University Press (BAAL/CUP) research seminar: 'Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Gender and Language Study' , University of Birmingham, UK, 18-19 November 2005  (Co-organised).

b. RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES; FOCUS GROUPS

See, for example:

• Litosseliti, L. (ed.) (2010) Research Methods in Linguistics,  London: Continuum.
• Litosseliti, L. (2003) Using Focus Groups in Research. London: Continuum.

The links above provide brief descriptions, tables of contents and reviews of these books.

c. ARGUMENTATION

See, for example:

• SCALE project (2001-2003)
  *SCALE (Internet-based intelligent tool to Support Collaborative Argumentation-based LEarning in secondary schools): 5th Framework European Commission project No IST-1999-10664, in six participating countries.
• Litosseliti, L. (1999) Moral Repertoires and Gendered Voices in Argumentation. PhD thesis, Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University, UK [awarded forthwith].

Research Projects

'Gendered Discourses in Speech and Language Therapy'
Pump-priming Grant, Research Sustainability Fund, City University London
(in progress)

I am currently leading this project which brings a discourse analytic perspective to the gender imbalance in the speech and language therapy profession (where men account for 1-2% of SLTs). Interviews and focus groups were conducted with SLTs, recent SLT graduates, SLT teachers, and careers advisors in London, with a theoretical/ methodological focus on discourses that 'represent, reconstitute, maintain and contest gendered social practices' (Litosseliti, 2006). There is scope to extend this work by examining other 'female-dominated' and 'male-dominated' professions, and I am happy to supervise new PhD students with an interest in this particular area.

Publications

Authored Books

• Litosseliti, L. (2006). Gender and Language: Theory and Practice. London: Hodder Arnold. 
• Litosseliti, L. (2003). Using Focus Groups in Research. London: Continuum.

Edited and Co-edited Books

• Atanga, L.,Ellece, S., Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (in prep.) Gender and Language in African Contexts: Tradition, Struggle and Change. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Litosseliti, L. (ed.) (2010). Research Methods in Linguistics. London: Continuum.
• Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.) (2002). Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity. 'Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture' Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Harrington, K., Litosseliti, L., Sauntson, H., and Sunderland, J. (eds.) (2008). Gender and Language Research Methodologies. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Special Issues in Peer-reviewed Journals

• Atanga, L, Ellece, S., Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.) (to appear) Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan African Contexts: Research Agendas [A Special Issue] Gender and Language: xx.

Papers in Peer-reviewed Journals

• Atanga, L, Ellece, S., Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (to appear). Gender and Language in Sub-Saharan African contexts: A valid field of study? (part of a Special Issue). Gender and Language: xx.
• Kerr J., Hilari K. and Litosseliti L. (2010). Information needs after stroke: what to include and how to structure it on a website. A qualitative study using focus groups and card-sorting.  Aphasiology, 24 (10).
• Litosseliti, L. (2006). Gender and Language: Theoretical and methodological approaches. Language Teaching, 40 (1).
• Marttunen, M., Laurinen, L., Litosseliti, L. and Lund, K. (2005) Argumentation skills as prerequisites for collaborative learning among Finnish, French and English secondary school students. Educational Research and Evaluation, 11(4), 365-384.
• Litosseliti, L., Marttunen, M., Laurinen, L. and Salminen, T. (2005). Computer-based and face-to-face collaborative argumentation at secondary school in the UK and in Finland. Education Communication Information, 5(2),131-146.
• Litosseliti, L., Hirsch, L., Cornillon, J. and Saeedi, M. (2004). A collaborative tool for argumentation-based learning: examining face-to-face and computer-based approaches in a UK secondary school. Educational Innovation in Economics and Business, IX, 195-219.
• Hirsch, L., Saeedi, M., Cornillon, J., and Litosseliti, L. (2004). A structured dialogue tool for argumentative learning. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 20(1), 72-79.

Book chapters

• Edley, N. and Litosseliti, L. (2010). 'Contemplating interviews and focus groups'. In Litosseliti, L. (ed.) Research Methods in Linguistics. London: Continuum. pp. 155-179.
• Sunderland, J. and Litosseliti, L. (2008). Current Research Methodologies in Gender and Language Study: Key Issues. In Litosseliti, L., Sauntson, H., Segall, K., and Sunderland, J. (eds.) Language and Gender Research Methodologies. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Litosseliti, L. (2007). Going back to basics: The Discursive Construction of Moral Panics. In Sauntson, H. and Kyratzis, S. (eds) Language, Sexualities and Desires: Cross-Cultural Perspectives. pp. 204-22. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Litosseliti, L. (2006). Constructing Gender in Public Arguments: the Female Voice as Emotional Voice. In Baxter, J. (ed.) Speaking Out: The Female Voice in Public Contexts. pp. 40-58. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Litosseliti, L. (2002). The Discursive Construction of Morality and Gender: Investigating Public and Private Arguments. In Benor, S., Rose, M., Sharma, D., Sweetland, J. and Zhang, Q. (eds.). Gendered Practices in Language. 45-63. Stanford: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University.
• Sunderland, J. and Litosseliti, L. (2002). Theorising Relationships between Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity: an Introduction. In Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.) Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Litosseliti, L. (2002). Head to Head: the Construction of Morality and Gender Identity in Newspaper Arguments. In Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.) Discourse Analysis and Gender Identity. Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, Vol. 2. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
• Litosseliti, L., Marttunen, M., Laurinen, L. and Salminen, T. (2002). Computer-based and face-to-face collaborative argumentation: Analysing secondary school students' interaction in the UK and in Finland. Educational Technology, Sociedad de la Information Series, Vol 1, pp. 360-5.
• Litosseliti, L. (2001). Language, Culture and Gender Identities: Examining Arguments about Marriage. In Stroinska, M. (ed.) Relative Points of View: Linguistic Representations of Culture. 119-140. London/ New York: Berghahn.
  
  

Other

Baughan, P., Duncan, N., Dymiotis-Wellington, C., Halsall, S., Litosseliti, L., and Vielba, C. (2008). 'Promoting good academic practice through the curriculum and project work'. Access via the Higher Education Academy website, here

Papers in International Conference Proceedings; Working papers in the Centre for Language in Social Life, Lancaster University; Book reviews; UK press & online

Selected conference presentations

I have presented my research in numerous conferences in the UK and Europe, North and South America, Asia, New Zealand, and in developing countries. They have included:

• IGALA 6, Sixth Biennial International Gender and Language Association Conference, 18-20 September 2010, Tsuda College, Tokyo, Japan ('Men need not apply: Gendered discourses in speech and language therapy'; also joint paper with Jo Angouri: 'Life here is difficult for women: The discursive construction of gender norms in male dominated workplaces').
• IGALA 5, Fifth Biennial International Gender and Language Association Conference, 3-5 July 2008, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand ('Gendered discourses in advertising').
• IGALA 4, Fourth Biennial International Gender and Language Association Conference, 8-10 November 2006, University of Valencia, Spain ('Gender and language and the scope for a feminist politics').
• Annual BAAL / IRAAL conference (British Association of Applied Linguistics and Irish Association of Applied Linguistics), 7-9 September 2006, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland ('Gender and language: theoretical and methodological approaches'; with Dr Jane Sunderland) .
• 12th International Conference on Learning, 11-14 July 2005, University of Granada, Spain ('Learning in focus groups').
• 7th conference of EARLI's JURE (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction), 5-9 July 2004, Istanbul, Turkey (Invited talk: 'Using Focus Groups in Research').
• IGALA 3, Third Biennial International Gender and Language Association Conference, 5-7 June 2004, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA ('Constructing gender in public arguments').
• 10th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, 26-30 August 2003, Padova, Italy ('Collaborative argumentation at secondary school').
• 9th International EDiNEB (Educational Innovation in Economics & Business) conference, 19-21 June 2002, Guadalajara University, Mexico ('Computer-based and face-to-face collaborative argumentation').
• IGALA 2, Second Biennial International Gender and Language Association Conference, 12-14 April 2002, Lancaster University, UK ('Gendered discourses in argumentation: examples from education and the mass media'). 
  

External roles and memberships

• Vice-President/ President Elect of the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA) (2010-2016); Advisory Council member of IGALA (2000-2011). www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/organisations/igala/Index.html
• Editorial Board member of the Gender and Language  journal (2006-present)  

http://www.equinoxjournals.com/GL/index

• Referee for the ESRC and SSHRC; also for the Journal of Gender Studies; International Journal of the Sociology of Language; Current Issues in Language Planning; Gender and Language; Journal of Applied Linguistics; International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Manuscript reviewer for Edinburgh University Press, Hodder Arnold, and Continuum publishers.
• PhD External Examiner/ External Adviser/ Consultant (e.g. Queen Mary University of London, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK, the Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education)
• Visiting Lecturer (e.g. University of Granada 2007-2010, University of Houston Downtown 2006, Lancaster University 2007, Oxford University 2007, Istanbul 2004, 2009)
• Member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) and the International Association for Applied Linguistics (AILA)
• Member of BAAL Gender and Language Special Interest Group (GaL SIG), BAAL Language in Africa Special Interest Group (LiA SIG) and the Gender and Language in African Contexts Group.  

E-mail: l.litosseliti@city.ac.uk