![Paul Meara](https://profiles-cardiff.imgix.net/attachments/1798?w=200&h=200&auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=90")
Professor Paul Meara
Honorary Professor, Centre for Language and Communication Research
School of English, Communication and Philosophy
Overview
Research Interests
Vocabulary Acquisition, Mental Lexicons, Simulations of Lexical Processes, Bibliometrics.
Selected Publications
Connected words: word associations and second language vocabulary acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 2009.
'The Bibliometrics of Vocabulary Acquisition: An Exploratory Study.' RELC Journal 43(2012), 7-22.
Research
Paul's current research is mainly concerned with bibliometrics, and the way bibliographic tools can be used to make sense of messy research fields. He is also working on Boolean Network models of mental lexicons, with a view to simulating features of real lexicons such as vocabulary loss and attrition.
His research is documented in greater detail on his web site.
This site contains a very large bibliographic data base, a set of computer programs for vocabulary researchers, and a small virtual library. The site also contains details of the lognostics research grant program.
Biography
Paul read Modern Languages at Cambridge University and Experimental Psychology at Sussex University. He was awarded a DPhil at York University in 1980.
He was a founder member of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Birkbeck College London, and Professor in the Department of English at Swansea University until his retirement in 2009.
Paul was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Linguists in 2010, and elected to the Academy of Social Sciences in 2012.
Since 2008 he has represented the Sketty division on Swansea City Council.