Overview
Our PhD research programmes will allow you to explore your own interests in English language and intercultural communication, supported by the expertise of our staff.
You’ll be allocated two supervisors, with additional staff members available if necessary. Our supervisors are experienced in most areas of English language and intercultural communication, with a strong focus on contemporary European/migrant cinema and literature, second-language acquisition, urban multilingualism, socio-linguistic theory.
You’ll conduct your research in a collaborative environment with strong links to a number of other centres in our University and the wider community. We host and take part in many research oriented events for staff and postgraduate students, including our regular Faculty and departmental research seminars and international conferences. Our seminars will give you the chance to present papers in a supportive setting.
We’re also key contributors to our Faculty's Anglia Ruskin Research Centre for Intercultural and Multilingual Studies (ARRCIMS) who organise many talks you’ll be welcome to attend, or even contribute to. These events, along with our online environment, will help you connect with other research students from a range of disciplines.
You could also benefit from financial support – we allocate a substantial sum every year towards postgraduate travel and conference expenses, as well as some bursaries.
All your subject-specific studies will be enhanced and supported by our University-wide training sessions, where you’ll gain important research expertise in areas like ethics, presentations, intellectual property and digital scholarship.
Supervision and Support
Our permanent supervisory staff are recognised experts in their field, and have produced a number of influential books, journal articles and edited collections. Our research expertise includes:
Professor Guido Rings, PD, PhD: migrant cinema and literature, questions of identity in postcolonial European narrative or film, contemporary Latin American cinema and literature, intercultural communication.
Dr Sebastian Rasinger, PhD: second language acquisition and urban multilingualism, with a particular focus on language use and its impact on linguistic development and the emergence of ethnic and cultural identity.
Dr Bettina Beinhoff, Dr Bettina Beinhoff, MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Cantab): acquisition of second/foreign language phonology, linguistic and cultural identities (especially attitudes, stereotypes and identity construction in multilingual contexts and dialect contact situations) and sociolinguistic aspects of constructed languages.
Dr Michelle Sheehan, BA (Oxon), MA, PhD, PCGE: comparative and theoretical syntax, Romance linguistics, language contact and change, philosophy of language, artificial languages.
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