Dr Virpi Ylanne-thomas

Cyhoeddiad

• Date
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Ymchwil

Postgraduate supervision

I currently supervise doctoral studies on affordances of videoconferencing interactions (by Dorottya Csenge Cserzö); mitigation and facework in Prime Minister's Question Time (Areej Dawood) and media representations of feminist groups (Sophie Payne at Reading University).

In the past I have supervised PhD students on topics such as

'Functional semantic analysis of Yoruba death notices in English' (Dr Ayo Banji, 2003);

'Portraying older age in television advertisements: a comparative study between the UK and Taiwan'™ (Dr Chin-Hui Chen, 2011);

'Older workers' talk: Discursive representations of age, work and retirement identities' (Dr Sheila Gewolb, 2016).

I am particularly interested in receiving PhD proposals from students interested in carrying out research on aspects of age identity and representations of ageing and middle/old age, using qualitative methodologies.

Research interests

My research interests are in discourse and social interaction and discursive representations of age(ing) and lifespan identities. 

My research has concentrated on media representations of older people and ageing and discourses of tourist identities. 

My current research project examines news coverage of older first time parents and personal narratives of parenting at middle age. I am also involved in a project and a recipient (with colleagues) of an ESRC Impact Initiator Award looking at hospital nurse handover sessions.

Addysgu

I typically contribute to one of the Year 2 core modules, Discourse (SE1362), convene the Year 2 module Language and Gender (SE1403) and the Year 3 module Lifespan Communication (SE1327). At the MA level, I usually contribute to SET012, Qualitative Research Methods and/or to Discourse and Social Interaction.

Bywgraffiad

I gained my BA Humanities (Linguistics) from Hatfield, PGCE in TES/FL and MA in Applied Linguistics from University of Wales, Bangor and PhD from University of Wales, Cardiff.

With regard to my research, I was involved in the '˜Language and Tourism as a Global Cultural Industry' strand of the Centre's Leverhulme-funded Language and Global Communication project (2001-2006). During 2004-2007 I co-directed (with Dr Angie Williams) a three year ESRC-funded project on Images of Elders in UK Media: Perceptions and Representations which focused on print media and TV advertising, using Content Analysis and Discourse Analysis of focus group discussions as methods. An edited volume Representing Ageing: Images and Identities (2012, Palgrave Macmillan) followed up some of the themes from the research project. 

I have organised workshops and symposia around this theme, too, at the Sociolinguistics Symposium (2008), the VII European Congress of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (Bologna, 2011) and Cultural Gerontology conference (Galway, 2014). I have also carried out collaborative research on community pharmacy interactions from a Discourse Analytic point of view. My current research project examines discourses of parenting at a later age, focusing in the first instance on news media and personal narratives.

As far as my teaching is concerned, I typically contribute to one of the Year 2 core modules, Discourse (SE1362), convene the Year 2 module Language and Gender (SE1403) and the Year 3 module Lifespan Communication (SE1327). At the MA level, I usually conribute to SET012, Qualitative Research Methods.

Anrhydeddau a dyfarniadau

Research funding:

• 2017 c.£60,000 'Under the radar dynamics of on-ward management and inter-team communication in a Welsh hospital' ESRC DTP Collaborative fund, to support doctoral research (1+3) in collaboration with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board. Supervisors: T. Spilioti & V. Ylänne, with M. Aldridge & T. Bartlett (collaborated on the application).
• 2016-17. £3029 ESRC Impact Initiator grant for project Care in Organisational Discourse with colleagues Tom Bartlett, Tereza Spilioti and Michelle Aldridge-Waddon.
• Summer 2017. £1200 Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) funding for Research Assistant on a project ‘News reporting on EU referendum: Age and voting behaviour’.
• Summer 2015. £1080 CUROP funding for Research Assistant on a project ‘Discourse, lifespan identity and representations of late reproduction’.
• Summer 2014. £1020 CUROP funding for Research Assistant on a project ‘Discursive representations of parenting at an “older” age’.
• 2011-2012. £1000 from CLCR, Cardiff University, for a post-doctoral Research Assistant on a project ‘UK newspaper coverage of older first-time parents, Corpus Analysis’.
• 2004-2007. £162,033 (RES-000-23-0416) Co-applicant and co-director on a 3-year project ‘Images of elders in UK media advertisements: perceptions and representations’ (with A. Williams). Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
• 2002-2003. £3125 The British Council, British-German Academic Research Collaboration Programme. Travel grant to myself, A. Williams and C. Thimm for project ‘Mass media images of older people’.

Aelodaethau proffesiynol

Member of European Network in Aging Studies (ENAS) and North American Network in Aging Studies (NANAS).

Pwyllgorau ac adolygu

Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Ageing and Later Life (2020- ).

Member of the scientific committee of Sociolinguistics Symposium 2021, Hong Kong.

Head of the organising committee and member of the scientific committee of ALAPP (Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice) conference, Cardiff University, September 17th-19th 2018.

I regularly peer review articles for journals such as Journal of Aging Studies; International Journal of Ageing and Later Life; Ageing and Society; Text & Talk, among others.

I regularly review book proposals for e.g. Routledge and Palgrave Macmillan.

Meysydd goruchwyliaeth

Postgraduate supervision

I currently supervise doctoral studies on affordances of videoconferencing interactions (by Dorottya Csenge Cserzö); mitigation and facework in Prime Minister's Question Time (Areej Dawood) and media representations of feminist groups (Sophie Payne at Reading University).

In the past I have supervised PhD students on topics such as

'Functional semantic analysis of Yoruba death notices in English' (Dr Ayo Banji, 2003);

'Portraying older age in television advertisements: a comparative study between the UK and Taiwan'™ (Dr Chin-Hui Chen, 2011);

'Older workers' talk: Discursive representations of age, work and retirement identities' (Dr Sheila Gewolb, 2016).

I am particularly interested in receiving PhD proposals from students interested in carrying out research on aspects of age identity and representations of ageing and middle/old age, using qualitative methodologies.

I am a co-recipient of ESRC collaborative PhD funding for a project 'Under-the-radar dynamics of on-ward management and inter-team communication in a Welsh hospital'.  The deadline for applications is 1st February 2018. Please email me or encap-pg@cardiff for further information.