In projects that relate to this theme, language use and language learning are considered part of, and as resources for, social interaction. Projects cover a variety of genres, such as institutional settings and everyday conversation, in a variety of cultural contexts. The research methodology follows a discourse and conversation analytic approach, which considers meaning to be constructed by participants in interaction. The data analysed are recordings of naturally occurring talk. A cross-cultural study of interactional alignment in natural conversation in English, German, Japanese and Chinese. (Beatrice Szczepek Reed with Tsuyoshi Ono and Li Xiaoting, both Department of East Asian Studies, University of Alberta, Canada.)

• English as a factor in skilled migration. (Jan Hardman and Paul Roberts at the University of York, Althestan Canagarajah at Penn State University and other World University Network partners)
• Connected speech processes across final consonant – initial vowel word boundaries in German and English talk-in-interaction (Beatrice Szczepek Reed with Richard Ogden, Dept of Linguistics, York)
• Intercultural communication at the hotel reception (PhD student: Geraldine Bengsch)
• Intonation phrases as action components (MS Word , 4,177kb) (Beatrice Szczepek Reed).
• The English language and internationalisation in multinational organisations and institutions (PhD student: Dozie Ugbaja)
• The successful training of legal interpreters in the criminal justice system (PhD student: Zhiai Liu)
• Units of talk - units of action (MS Word , 4,177kb) (Beatrice Szczepek Reed with Geoffrey Raymond, Dept of Sociology, University of Santa Barbara, USA)
• A cross-cultural study of interactional alignment in natural conversation in English, German, Japanese and Chinese (Beatrice Szczepek Reed with Tsuyoshi Ono and Li Xiaoting, both Department of East Asian Studies, University of Alberta, Canada)