Dr. Helen Kelly Holmes
Responsibilities
- Lecturer in Sociolinguistics/New Media
- Irish Social Sciences Platform Graduate Education Coordinator
- Assistant Dean of Research
Qualifications
BBS (Limerick), PhD (Aston)
Research Interests
All of my research areas fall under the broad heading of sociolinguistics, the reflexive relationship between language and society, particularly in the areas of public and media language. My specific interest is in the interrelationship between the media, markets and languages.
Selected Recent Publications
“Global marketing and language” In Coupland, Nikolas (ed.) Handbook of Language and Globalization, Oxford and New York: Wiley- Blackwell, 2010: 476-490.
“Language trends: Reflexivity in commercial language policies and practices”, Applied Linguistics Review, 2010, 1(1): 67-84.
“Rethinking the macro–micro relationship: some insights from the marketing domain”, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2010, 202: 25-40.
(with Máiréad Moriarty and Sari Pietikäinen) “Convergence and divergence in Basque, Irish and Sámi media language policing”, Language Policy, 2009, 8(3): 227-242.
(with Gerlinde Mautner eds.) Language and the Market. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2010, 288 pp.
Current postgraduate research supervision
- Sara Buggy, ‘Mediating the self: A study of social networking as a site for constructing and performing identity among young Irish adults’. (PhD)
- Laura Costelloe (co-supervision with Professor Angela Chambers) ‘Analysing media discourse on French urban violence using Critical Discourse Analysis: tackling the issue of context’ (PhD – Government of Ireland Research Fellow)
- Aoife Lenihan, ‘New Media, Language Policy and Minority Languages’ (PhD – Government of Ireland Research Fellow)
- Joan O’Sullivan, ‘The role of language ideologies in the exploitation of accent and dialect in Irish radio advertising – a longitudinal study’ (PhD).
- Matthew Wallen (co-supervision with Roland Tormey), ‘The teaching of English as an additional language in Irish primary schools’ (PhD)
Conference
Language (?) in the media (?): Rethinking the field. (4th International Language in the Media Conference), University of Limerick, 6-8 June 2011.
Other research information
Other appointments: Adjunct Professor/Docent in Discourse Studies, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
Current Projects: Knowledge Interfaces (PI, Professor Angela Chambers) funded by the Higher Education Authority, 2007-2011. I am a member of the ‘Changing Communications’ cluster (led by David Atkinson) of this project, which is part of the Irish Social Sciences Platform.
Current Projects: Northern Multilingualism (PI, Professor Sari Pietikäinen, University of Jyväskylä) funded by the Finnish Academy, 2008-2010. Máiréad Moriarty is the post-doctoral fellow for this project is. Sari, Máiréad and I are looking at the area of multilingualism, authenticity and commercial discourses, particularly in relation to tourism.
Co-editor, with Sue Wright, of Language and Globalisation book series published by Palgrave-Macmillan.
Co-editor, with Sari Pietikäinen of the new Language& textbook series published by Palgrave-MacMillan. Please contact me if you are interested in submitting a proposal or you want to know more about the series.
Other information
I also manage the UL Orchestra which is for staff, students and members of the wider community. If you are interested in joining, please email: universityoflimerickorchestra@hotmail.com. Visit the ULO website to find out more.