I supervise research in digital discourse, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), and social semiotics, with a particular interest in how people negotiate interpersonal meaning (tenor) in online contexts. I welcome projects that explore how language, paralanguage, and multimodal resources are used to build social relations in digital environments.

My current research focuses on AI discourse, especially the language of Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots and how humans interact with these systems. I’m particularly interested in supervising projects that investigate the linguistic, social, or ethical dimensions of human–AI communication.

I support both traditional and interdisciplinary projects that use corpus-based, discourse-analytic, or mixed-methods approaches. My supervision style is collaborative and supportive, with an emphasis on developing strong theoretical grounding and robust analytical methods.

Completed PhD Students

• Dr Lorenzo Logi
  Thesis: Impersonation, Expectation and Humorous Affiliation

• Dr Olivia Inwood
  Thesis: A Discourse-Analytic Approach to the Study of Information Disorders: How Online Communities Legitimate Social Bonds When Communing Around Misinformation and Disinformation

• Dr Giselle Newton
  Thesis: Everyday Belongings: Exploring Australian Donor-Conceived Adults’ Social, Linguistic and Digital Practices Across Private and Public Domains

• Dr Awni Etaywe
  Thesis: Language as Evidence: A Discourse Semantic and Corpus Linguistic Approach to Examining Written Terrorist Threatening Communication

• Dr Jiani Chen
  Thesis: Corporate Crisis Communication on Twitter: Exploring the Role of Affiliation in Image Repair Strategies

• Nida Tahseen
  Thesis: Comparing Australian Newspaper Commentaries: An Evaluative Approach to Studying Argumentative Media Discourse on the Representation of Women

Completed Honours Students

• Olivia Inwood
  Thesis: Understanding the Values Enacted in Blockchain Technologies by Applying Social Semiotics and the Walkthrough Method

• Giselle Newton
  Thesis: Affiliation in Discourse About Contraception on Reddit: How Do Users Bond Around Health Values?