Research output per year
Research output per year
Aston Triangle
B4 7ET Birmingham
United Kingdom
Accepting PhD Students
PhD projects
I am interested in supervising projects that engage in study of language as it relates to: religion, online communication, community organisation and community development, and identity. I am also interested in supervising projects related to English language education, specifically in TESOL or ESOL contexts.
Stephen Pihlaja (email) is a linguist and discourse analyst who teaches and researches language use in interaction around religious issues. Originally from the USA, Stephen has lived and taught in Japan, Malaysia, and the UK. His first monograph, entitled Antagonism on YouTube was published by Bloomsbury in 2014 and his second book, Religious Talk Online was published in 2018 on Cambridge University Press. His newest books Talk about Faith: how conversation and debate shape belief (CUP, 2021), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Religion (2023) and Narrative and Religion in the Superdiverse City (CUP, 2024) investigate how language about religion is shaped by cognition and interaction between people.
My work focuses on the dynamics of discourse, or language in use, particularly as it relates to religious identity. I analyse discourse to understand how people present themselves and their beliefs to diverse audiences, and how technology changes not just the presentation of belief, but how and what people believe. To do this, I employ different methods of discourse analysis to investigate categorisation, narrative, and positioning in interaction.
Section Editor: Open Linguistics (from 2024)
Chair: Poetics and Linguistics Association (2022-2024)
Chair of the Board of Governors: St Michael's Primary School, Bartley Green (from 2020)
Book Reviews Editor: Journal of Language and Discrimination (2018 to 2023)
Treasurer: Poetics and Linguistics Association (2020 to 2021)
Secretary: University Council of General and Applied Linguistics (2015 to 2019)
Membership Secretary: Poetics and Linguistics Association (2013 to 2019)
Tayyiba Bruce. Thesis Title: A corpus-assisted discourse study of representations of Islam and Catholicism in two right-leaning British news websites (2018) (Lead, Birmingham Newman University)
Kulwant Singh (EdD), Ongoing. Thesis Title: The role of faith and spirituality in early years: a Sikh perspective (External, Birmingham Newman University)
Celine Quinn, Ongoing. Thesis Title: The ethical and sociological implications of true crime content and the sensationalisation of brutal crimes and stories (External, Birmingham Newman University)
Siya Zheng, Ongoing. Non-native English-speaking defendants’ comprehension of English-medium trials in Chinese Mainland: A Corpus-based Analysis.
Thúy Nga Nguyễn, Ongoing. Empowering L2 English Learners: A Longitudinal Study of ChatGPT as a Self-Regulated Learning Tool in Academic Writing.
British Association of Applied Linguistics
Poetics and Linguistics Association
SFHEA, HEA
Award Date: 1 Sept 2015
PhD, Open University
Award Date: 17 Dec 2012
MRes, Open University
Award Date: 1 Dec 2009
MA, University of Birmingham
Award Date: 1 Dec 2007
BA
Award Date: 14 Sept 2003
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference output › Chapter
Pihlaja, S. (Consultant) & Thompson, N. (Advisor)
Activity: Consultancy types › Consultancy