2027 Summer Research Program

Duration: 6 weeks (11 January to 19 February 2027)
Hours of engagement: 36 hours per week (Monday to Friday) 
Delivery mode: Hybrid. All meetings will be done in person on-campus, tasks can be done on-campus or online.
Location: School of Languages and Cultures, UQ St Lucia.

This project explores the pragmatics of social interaction, i.e. how language users create meaning in their everyday ordinary conversations. It focusses on both face-to-face and online interactional contexts that are the primary sites of contemporary human communication. The overarching research questions are:

1. How do language users co-construct meaning in talk-in-interaction?
2. How are pragmatic and categorial practices indexed in social interaction?
3. In what ways can a micro-level analysis display language users’ orientations to the social order?

By joining the project, scholars will receive training in relation to the various stages of research that analyses social interaction in detail (literature search and discussion, understanding methodological approaches to data collection and analysis, data preparation for analysis, analysis and presentation of findings). Part of the project will focus on various aspects of family discourse (the current supervisor’s research project), but scholars will also have an opportunity to explore data of their interest.

The key activities include:

• Work with the literature database;
• Close reading of selected academic publications;
• In-person discussions of existing research;
• Data collection options and ethics;
• Data transcription;
• Data analysis and its presentation.

Alongside critical thinking, the research skills the scholars will gain include, but are not limited to:

• Interactional pragmatics;
• Membership categorisation analysis (MCA);
• Academic articles’ synthesis;
• Detailed data transcription;
• Abstract/proposal writing;
• Data analysis;
• Findings’ presentation at the end of the project.

The key achievements are expected to be:

• An advanced understanding of the analytical approach of interactional pragmatics/Membership categorisation analysis;
• Ability to provide a detailed analysis the data;
• Development of a research proposal relevant to the field.

Given the specifics of the project, this opportunity is suitable for:

• 2nd-3rd-year undergraduate students or Master students that have some background in language and interaction, more broadly, or pragmatics, in particular (e.g. doing at the moment or having completed SLAT3030, SLAT7899 or equivalent);
• Students who are interested in doing research (Honours or MA thesis);
• Students who pay attention to detail, have good time management skills and are available during the project period to fully engage in all the opportunities provided.

Supervisor: Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute (Senior Lecturer, Pragmatics & Discourse);

Founder of Discourse Discussion Group (DDG), chair of the International Conference on Discourse, Culture & Interaction (DCI), Co-Editor-in-Chief of Mouton Series in Pragmatics and Associate Editor in Journal of Pragmatics, Consultation Board member of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA).

Scholars will have an opportunity to work alongside the supervisor and some of the supervisor’s research students as well as be involved in the data discussion sessions/reading group that are organised by the supervisor.

This project provides a pathway to doing a (Honours/Masters) thesis with the supervisor. The scholars will also have an opportunity to present the findings of their data analysis at the 7th International Conference on Discourse, Culture & Interaction (DCI-7) at the end of 2027.

Given the focus on critical thinking and aligning with the work done in this area of research, scholars should note that all the project-related tasks will need to be done without the use of AI tools.

Students are encouraged contact the supervisor before applying to discuss their background and research aspirations, as relevant to the proposed project.

Direct enquiries to: Dr Valeria Sinkeviciute (v.sinkeviciute@uq.edu.au)