Dr Christopher Shank

Senior Lecturer in Linguistics (Language Variation and Change)

c.shank@bangor.ac.uk

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Dr Christopher Shank

View Dr Christopher Shank’s profile on the Bangor Research Portal
c.shank@bangor.ac.uk

School of Languages, Literature & Linguistics

Bangor University

Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG

United Kingdom

Phone: +44  01248 38 3590

  • Professional: LSA Summer Institute - University of California, Santa Barbara, CA. USA 2001
  • MA: Master of Arts in TESOL
    School for International Training (SIT),
  • MEd: Master of Arts in Language Literacy & Sociocultural Studies – Bilingualism and Bilingual Education Specialization
    The University of New Mexico,
  • PhD: Ph.D. in Linguistics
    The University of New Mexico,
  • BA: Bachelor of Arts
    University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Classes / modules taught at Bangor:

QXL 1111 Describing Language

QXL 1116 Introduction to Semantics & Pragmatics.

QXL 1117 Introduction to Syntax & Morphology

QXL 2202 Meaning & Mind

QXL 2222 History of English

QXL 3341 UG Dissertation

QXL 3347 Language Change (for undergraduates)

QXL 3363 Language Culture & Power (for undergraduates)

QXL 3377 Corpus Linguistics Theory & Practice (for undergraduates)

QXL 4411 Foundations of Linguistics I

QXL 4431 Foundations of Linguistics II

QXL 4447 Language Change for post graduate taught students)

QXL 4463 Language Culture & Power (for post graduate taught students)

QXL 4477 Corpus Linguistics Theory & Practice for post graduate taught students

 

Master’s Thesis Supervised at Bangor:

2020      Monther Mohammad Alluhaidah. ‘A CDA Analysis of Al Jazeera’s Online Coverage of the War in Yemen Pre and Post KSA’s Qatar Crisis’.

2020      Constance Croguennec. ‘‘Life is a journey’: How do transgender and gender non-conforming people conceptualize and describe the development of their gender identity?

2020      Susan Bod. ‘Culture in ELT in Kuwait: teachers’ perspectives.

2020      Malak Ibrahim Al Zamanan. ‘Parental attitudes towards their children's participation in English language education immersion programmes in Saudi Arabia’

2019      Luis Felipe García Montaño  ‘Le he escrito hace un hora, a corpus-based descriptive analysis of the use of the ‘Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto’ in domains of the ‘Pretérito Perfecto Simple’ in spoken and written Latin American Spanish’.

2019       Elliott Aboagye ‘A sociolinguistic and Critical Discourse Analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s portrayal of the African American experience’

2019      Owen Middlemas ‘Using Coxhead and Hirsch’s (2007) Science specific word list to predict academic success in the Sciences at GCSE level: A Case study’

2019        Abdullah Azib Alghamdi ‘Major lexical changes within the Bilad Ghamd region of Saudi Arabia’

2018     Alaw Mon Griffiths. ‘Cross cultural, cross linguistic study into the perception of the term Feminist in Wales’.

2018     Ashwaq A Alsulami. ‘A sociolinguistic analysis of the use of Arabizi in social media among Saudi Arabians’

2018     Taghreed Al Thiayabat  ‘Investigating Saudi versus Jordanian undergraduate English Language Studies students’ spelling errors

2017     Justin Thompson. ‘A corpus-based analysis of negative responsives in the speech of Welsh speaking adults’.

2017     Llinos Gough ‘What does it mean to be gay in UK media? A diachronic corpus-based investigation into the representation of sexual orientation in British newspapers’.

2016     Hernando Andrés Jiménez Rocha. ‘Spanish First Person Singular Subject Pronoun Usage in Spoken Castilian Spanish: A Morphosyntactic and Pragmatic Approach’.

2015     Osama Sultan S Alruwaili   ‘Using Discourse Analysis on the Language of the Terrorist Group ISIS as a means of identifying the ideology beneath the rhetoric’.

2015     Alaa Alahmadi ‘Exploring Vocabulary Learning Strategies of Saudi undergraduate EFL students at King Abdulaziz University and its relationship to their vocabulary size’.

2015     Javier Morras Cortes ‘Chilean Cultural models and figurative meaning extension’.

2014     Harry Bradford ‘Identifying linguistic trends in suicide notes over a 50 year period: a diachronic corpus based approach’.

2014     Qianwen Cheng    ‘A Construction Grammar Approach to the Family of Chinese caused-Motion Constructions’.

2014    Farissa Ahmad Fisol. ‘Using Style Markers for Authorship Identification’.

2014    Gareth Monk ‘A corpus linguistic authorship analysis of the Eddie Gilfoyle case’

2013    Alexander Cornford   ‘The Language of Food Advertising: How is food represented in advertising and how does it affect choice?’

2012    Abtesam Alshallam ‘Negation errors in Arabic learners of English’.

2012     Thomas Beakes ‘Examining the impact Ideology in discourse’

2012     Hannah Coustick ‘Bias in media/discourse with respect to gender and education’

2012     Jonathan Hughes  ‘Discourse analysis and public opinion’

Current PhD Student Supervision – as 1st Supervisor

Mr Atheer Abdulhadi Ras Aljubouri.  ‘Representation of Iraqis in Hollywood Films in pre and post US led intervention in Iraq:  A Critical Discourse Study’.

Ms. Shailaja Bakshi. ‘Examining Lexico-Grammatical Argument Structure Patterns in Native and Non-Native Varieties of South Asian English:  A Corpus Based Analysis of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan English.

Mr Osama Sultan S Alruwaili. ‘Understanding ISIS’s Ideology, Goals & Propaganda techniques: A Critical Discourse Analysis of ISIS Recruitment Techniques and Tactics Targeting British Muslim Youth’. 

As 2nd supervisor:

Mr Alaa Othman A Alahmadi.  'Exploring the effect of lexical inferencing and lexical translation on Saudi undergraduate EFL students’ vocabulary retention'.

Ms Maram Alamri. ‘Exploring the encoding of motion in verbs in English by L1 Arabic-speaking learners of English’.

Mr Alessandro Arioli.  ‘"Mutual intelligibility among Gallo-Italic, Occitan, Franco-Provençal and Tuscan geolects as a heuristic addressing issues in the classification of Romance languages".

I have a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I also hold two Masters degrees; an MA (MPhil) in Language Literacy & Sociocultural Studies with a Bilingualism and Bilingual Education Specialization, also from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Arts in TESOL from the SIT Graduate Institute, Brattleboro, VT. Finally, I have a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where I majored in 3 subjects: International Relations, Political Science, and History

In addition to my academic degrees I also completed a 3-year post-doc with Professor Hubert Cuyckens, as a member of the Functional Linguistics Leuven (FLL) Research Unit, in the Department of Linguistics at KU Leuven in Leuven, Belgium.  Our research was conducted as part of a larger  Grammaticalization and (Inter) Subjectification) GRAMIS project  which was funded by the Belgian national research programme. 

My research interests and expertise are in the field of language variation, use and change in both monolingual and bilingual contexts.  I approach language and cognition from a usage-based / functionally oriented perspective and I utilize qualitative, corpus-based, quantitative and ethnographic  methodologies in my research. 

As a corpus-linguist I study language variation, use and change, primarily within the domains of syntax, semantics and epistemic expression, in both synchronic and diachronic contexts.   I also work in the field of bilingualism and multilingualism where I specialize in bilingual and multilingual identity construction, (re) construction, and concomitant issues related to identity, voice, power, representation and performativity.  I am also part of an interdisciplinary collaboration with Public Health Wales – Cardiff where I am researching healthcare delivery, communication and outcomes for the Deaf community in Wales and conducting the first comprehensive research on and survey of the use, linguistic features and geographical distribution of Welsh dialect(s) of British Sign Language.   Finally, I also use (CDA)  Critical Discourse Analyses and Multimodal methodologies to investigate issues of power, inequality, racism, sexism  and the impact of linguistic and cultural hegemony, in the domains of political discourse, journalism, social media, EFL methodology, etc. 

I am prepared (and have supervised) MA and PhD level qualitative, quantitative and ethnographically orientated research projects in the  following areas: using spoken and written corpora to explore synchronic and diachronic texts in terms of language variation, use and  change (in English as well as other languages), comparing and contrasting World Englishes,  sociolinguistic variation, language contact and change, functional and descriptive approaches to grammar, polysemy, epistemicity, inter-subjectivity, conceptual metaphor & metonymy, multimodal analysis, and critical discourse analysis (CDA).  I have also supervised projects that look at aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism with respect to the issue of bilingual and multilingual identity, identity construction and (reconstruction), performativity and research questions that have explored the interrelationships between language, culture, power, gender, and language use.  Finally, I have also supervised projects that have looked at TEFL methodology, critical pedagogy, and linguistic imperialism and cultural hegemony on EFL students.

 

2025

2022

2020

2019

2018

2016

2014

2009

2005

2023

  • BU-IIA Funded Project: Developing a community-based research consortium to identify health disparities, inequalities & inequities faced by the Deaf BSL using community in Wales.

    The primary objective of this project, and the investigative consortium, is to develop a Pan-Wales network, in coordination with and led by Deaf community leaders and local partners, to identify people, assets, and services and to collect personal experiences, and improve participation and involvement with respect to five subject areas (or research hubs) that impact the health and wellbeing of the Deaf community in Wales: (1) law and equality, (2) public health, (3) mental health, (4) interpreting services, and (5) language and communication.

    In collaboration with: Dr Anouschka Foltz, Associate Professor in English Linguistics, Institute of English Studies, University of Graz, Austria; Dr Julia Terry, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Wales; Dr. Rob Wilks, Senior Lecturer in Law, Faculty of Creative Industries, University of South Wales, Wales (BSL user); Dr. Sara Rhys-Jones, Clinical Psychologist, Swansea Bay UHB - Learning Disabilities (BSL user); Louise Sweeney, Chief Executive Officer, Wales Council for Deaf People, Pontypridd, Wales; Sarah Thomas, Managing Director, Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound (COS), Colwyn Bay Wales; Paul Redfern, (retired BDA) Chair, All Wales Deaf Mental Health, and Wellbeing Group (BSL user); Michelle Fowler-Powe, Access and Inclusion Advocacy Coordination, British Deaf Association. (BSL user); Rebecca Mansell, Chief Executive Officer, British Deaf Association (BDA); Roger Hewitt, retired, British Society for Mental Health and Deafness (BSMHD) (BSL user); Helen Green MSc, MPH, Programme Manager, Public Health Wales, Cardiff ; Anne Silman, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Bangor, Gwynedd.

    Funding awarded through the Bangor University Innovation and Impact Award (Research Wales Innovation Funding). Value = £34,347

    1 Aug 2023 – 31 Jul 2024

    Activity: Other (Contributor)

2020

  • Languages (Journal)

    Languages (ISSN 2226-471X) is an international, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed open access journal on interdisciplinary studies of languages, and is published quarterly online by MDPI.

    2020

    Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)

2019

  • It Makes Sense Conference (and Deaf Mental Health)

    Health and Wellbeing for Deaf Communities in Wales: Scoping for a Wales-Wide Survey

    28 Nov 2019

    Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Invited speaker)
  • Gwerrdon (Journal)

    Defnydd hanesyddol a chyfoes o mynd i yn y Gymraeg: Astudiaeth o ramadegoli fel newid iaith. [Historical and contemporary use of mynd i ‘go to’ in Welsh: A study of grammaticalization as language change.]

    23 Sep 2019

    Activity: Publication peer-review (Editorial board member)
  • Sentence processing and the that/zero complementizer alternation: Investigating grammatical complexity and predictive processing

    The main aim is to find out how native English speakers read and understand sentences in English, specifically with respect to the mental state complement-taking verbs think, guess, know and believe. The goal of this project is to explore the question ‘is the presence or absence of the complementizer ‘that’ (i.e. complementizer alternation) a case of grammatical complexity or simplification?

    To this end, two self-paced reading tasks using the software package E-Prime were designed whereby participants will read sentences one word at a time, on a computer monitor, and answered comprehension questions about the sentences. The objective of this study is to increase our understanding of how native English speakers understand and process sentences containing complement clauses versus those without in English. An example of this are the sentences ‘He thinks that this dog is going to run away’ versus ‘He thinks this dog is going to run away’ where the latter sentence omits the complementizer or contains the ‘zero form’. In addition to examining complementizer alternation (i.e. that/zero) we will also test for the potential impact that additional constituents in either the matrix clause, complement clause or between the matrix and complement clause have with respect to processing time (see attached doc). Both tasks have been specifically designed to test the literature, and its concomitant claims, on structural aspects and impact on complementizer alternation patterns with respect to outstanding psycholinguistic questions regarding the issue of processing and grammatical complexity or simplification.

    22 Aug 2019

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
  • 52nd Annual Meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea. Leipzing, Germany

    Sentence processing and the that/zero complementizer alternation: Investigating grammatical complexity and predictive processing

    21 Aug 2019 – 24 Aug 2019

    Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
  • Corpus Linguistics 2019 (CL 2019) Conference, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales.

    Using a diachronic multivariate corpus-based analysis and the SCOTUS Law Corpus to (re)-examine the impact of verb type, structural factors, and formality of register on that/zero complementizer alternation patterns

    25 Jul 2019

    Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)

2018

2017

2016

2014

2013

2020 - Santander Mobility Grant to work with Professor Ronice Müller de Quadros at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) in Brazil and learn more about the best research practices she has developed for working with Deaf communities.

Awarded £970.00 

2020 - Open Access Publication fee grant for article to appear in the Frontiers in Public Health from the University of Graz, Austria. Co-author and applicant lead Dr Anouschka Foltz, University of Graz, Austria.

Awarded £1,000 

2018 - Public Health Wales - Scoping Study: Health and Deafness in Wales Survey.  Co-lead Dr Anouschka Foltz, University of Graz, Austria.

Principle objectives: 1) To develop and pilot an appropriate tool/method to collate views on factors influencing health of d/Deaf populations in Wales.  2) To complete a literature review on the health and care needs of the d/Deaf communities in the UK and Wales. 3) To complete a small qualitative study to explore (1) the barriers and enablers to staying healthy in d/Deaf communities, and (2) potential actions for different professional groups (e.g. local authority, schools, employers, planning, health promotion materials, health service (pharmacy, GPs, hospital care)).                                                                                   

Awarded £10,000   

2018- Wales School for Social Care Research - Capacity Building Small Grants Award.

Co-PI with Dr Anouschka Foltz, University of Graz, Austria and Sarah Matthews, Chief Exec, Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound, Colwyn Bay, Wales

Principle objectives: Developing and evaluating the effectiveness of parenting classes in BSL: Developing culturally-sensitive learning materials.

                                                                                                                        Awarded £9,979   

Education

Ph.D. in Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. USA

Dissertation Title: “The Relationship between Metaphorical Language Use and Transitivity:  A Usage-Based Corpus Linguistic Case Study of Four English Verbs of Tactile Perception: Touch, Hold, Handle and Feel”. 

Master of Arts in Language Literacy & Sociocultural Studies – Bilingualism and Bilingual Education Specialization, Department of Language Literacy Sociocultural Studies, College of Education, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM. USA

Thesis Title: “Flemish (Dutch) and Walloon (French) Identity Construction with Respect to Bilingual Education in Belgium”.

Master of Arts in TESOL. School for International Training, Brattleboro, VT. USA

Thesis Title: “From Culture Shock to Assimilation: A Case Study of EFL Lecturers in Kwangju, South Korea”.

Bachelor of Arts  Majors (3) : International Relations, Political Science, and History. University of Wisconsin – Madison, WI. USA

Thesis Title:  “Denmark and NATO membership: Present and Future Challenges”