Prof Thora Tenbrink

Professor in Linguistics / Director of College Research Institute

t.tenbrink@bangor.ac.uk

+44 1248 382263

0000-0002-7986-1254

Prof Thora Tenbrink

View Prof Thora Tenbrink’s profile on the Bangor Research Portal

I am Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Research Institute at the College of Arts, Humanities and Business. My main focus is on discourse analysis, used specifically to understand how people think. I am author of “Cognitive Discourse Analysis:  An Introduction” (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and "Space, Time, and the Use of Language" (Mouton de Gruyter, 2007), co-editor of three books on linguistic representation and dialogue, and have published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles in areas of language, cognition and communication. In recent years my focus has moved from space (understanding spatial locations and relationships) to place (meaningful relationships to spaces), especially in relation to climate change.

I have always enjoyed interdisciplinary and international collaboration, within areas of cognitive or social science and beyond. Currently I am involved in SellSTEM, an international network of collaborative research led by Dublin, and in various Wales-wide endeavours and projects that address people's views on, and engagement with, environmental concerns. At Bangor, I founded and am now Director of the Places of Climate Change Research Centre, an extensive interdisciplinary network of researchers addressing place-based aspects of climate change threats, mitigations and engagement. 

Thora Tenbrink is Director of the Research Institute in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Business.

Email: t.tenbrink@bangor.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)1248 38 2263

Location:

Room 306, 39 College Road,

Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK

  • DPhil: Localising objects and events: Discoursal applicability conditions for spatiotemporal expressions in English and German
    Bremen University, 2005

I have taught modules across many areas of Linguistics as well as some in Cognitive Science. 

Within Linguistics, my main current teaching focus is related to methodology, in particular concerning the use of language but also spanning other fields. This comprises Functions of Discourse (which introduces discourse analysis on the basis of Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar), Cognitive Discourse Analysis, Research Methods in Linguistics, and Language and Communication. My teaching covers fundamental areas in Linguistics (e.g., in Foundations of Linguistics) but also draws on wider insights from Cognitive Science.

I am happy to supervise postgraduate projects in all of the areas mentioned above, in particular those that employ discourse analysis and/or address topics in areas of cognitive linguistics, communication, functional grammar, and more - just get in touch to explore!

I'm interested in how we use language, and what this tells us about our thoughts (concepts and thought processes). For this purpose I developed an empirical method, Cognitive Discourse Analysis (CODA: Tenbrink, 2015, and 2020, Cambridge University Press). Typically this means giving speakers a particular task to do in which they express their thoughts in some way, and record what they say in response. The linguistic data are then analysed by looking in detail at how language is used to express thoughts. Insights can be related to previous research on how language relates to thought - for example from theoretical cognitive linguistics or other related fields.

Much of my research has focused on how we understand and talk about our spatial environments, for instance when we try to find our way to a destination, or explain how to find an office in a complex building. More recently my focus has turned to notions of place (rather than space): how do we express in language what places mean to us, how do we relate to them, and in what ways might this be affected by the effects of (or mitigations against) climate change?  

For more information, please consult my website, knirb.net. 

I welcome enquiries from students interested in pursuing a PhD related to cognitive discourse analysis and communication.

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

  • PublishedCued by what we see and hear: Spatial reference frame use in language
    Coventry, K. R., Andonova, E., Tenbrink, T., Gudde, H. & Engelhardt, P., 13 Aug 2018, In: Frontiers in Psychology: Cognition. 9, 1287.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedDynamic strategy selection in collaborative spatial tasks
    Galati, A., Panagiotou, E., Tenbrink, T. & Avraamides, M. N., Aug 2018, In: Discourse Processes. 55, 8, p. 643-665
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedFictive Motion in the Context of Mountaineering
    Egorova, E., Tenbrink, T. & Purves, R. S., 2018, In: Spatial Cognition and Computation: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 18, 4, p. 259-284
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
  • PublishedNatural language and geography
    Tenbrink, T., 27 Apr 2018, Handbook of Behavioral and Cognitive Geography. Montello, D. (ed.). Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary › peer-review
  • PublishedObject orientation in dialogue: A case study of spatial inference processes
    Schole, G., Tenbrink, T., Andonova, E. & Coventry, K. R., 2018, Spatial Cognition XI : 11th International Conference, Spatial Cognition 2018, Tübingen, Germany, September 5-8, 2018, Proceedings. Creem-Regehr, S., Schöning, J. & Klippel, A. (eds.). Springer, p. 92-106 (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence; vol. 11034).
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review
  • PublishedSculptors, architects, and painters conceive of depicted spaces differently
    Cialone, C., Tenbrink, T. & Spiers, H., Mar 2018, In: Cognitive Science. 42, 2, p. 524-553
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

  • PublishedSpatial directionals for robot navigation
    Winterboer, A., Tenbrink, T., Moratz, R., Dimitrova-Vulchanova, M. (ed.) & Zee, E. V. (ed.), 29 Nov 2012, Motion Encoding in Language and Space. Oxford University Press, p. 84-101
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedThe Role of Structure and Function in the Conceptualization of Directions
    Klippel, A., Tenbrink, T., Montello, D. & Dimitrova-Vulchanova, M. Z. (ed.), 29 Nov 2012, Motion Encoding in Language and Space. Oxford University Press, p. 102-120
    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
  • PublishedVisual versus verbal location information on the iPhone
    Juhasz, O. E., Tenbrink, T. & Grueter, B., 20 Apr 2012, In: Kunestliche Intelligenz. 26, 2, p. 183-186
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

2010

2023

  • Global Issue, Local Action: The GwyrddNi Community Assemblies on the Climate

    28 Jun 2023

    Activity: Oral presentation (Speaker)
  • Warning to beach goers about the threat of tidal cut off

    Initial findings of a UK and Irish survey of public understanding of the tide, found that 38% of the British public were unaware that the tide typically comes in twice a day. A surprising 15% of the public have some experience of being cut off by the tide.

    Bangor University and RNLI press releases, aiming to warn people about tidal cut off around the extreme tides over Easter weekend were picked up by several TV and radio outlets.

    BBC Wales news (audio) MediaView (tveyes.com)

    S4C News (video) MediaView (tveyes.com)

    ITV News (video uploaded here)

    BBC Radio Cymru (interview with Prof Thora Tenbrink)

    5 Apr 2023

    Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

EU Project: Enhancing spatial ability to help close the gender gap in STEM Press release

Consortium member of EU project 956124: SellSTEM, EU H2020-MSCA-ITN-2020 Consortium initiated by Dr. Gavin Duffy, Dublin. Title: Spatial thinking in STEM learning: Training a new generation of researchers to increase enrolment and gender balance in STEM learning by addressing deficits in spatial ability among children in Europe. Duration: January 2021 - December 2024.