Dr Kate Steel

• Qualifications:BA (Hons), MA, MSc, PhD, FHEA
• Position:Lecturer in Linguistics and Social Interaction
• Department:College of Arts, Technology and Environment School of Arts
• Email:Kate3.Steel@uwe.ac.uk
• Social media:

About me

I’m an experienced linguist, specialising in the microanalysis of language and communication in real-life settings. As a lecturer at UWE Bristol, I design, lead and teach modules across our English Language and Linguistics degree programme. 

My research explores the nuances of social interaction, with a focus on institutional (policing, law, healthcare), corporate and environmental contexts. My primary focus to date is a study of communication at the scene between police first responders and victim-survivors of domestic abuse. This work builds on my ESRC PhD, which broke new ground in this previously hidden research setting, with rare access to police body-worn video footage. I’ve worked closely with police practitioners and research partners to translate findings into impact, most recently contributing to the Avon and Somerset Police Domestic Abuse: Language Matters guidance, currently under review for national implementation. This work has led to a recent research collaboration with an interdisciplinary team exploring frontline police interactions with people experiencing mental health crises, also drawing from body-worn video.

In the conversational AI sphere, I have collaborated with a team of interdisciplinary experts to develop a healthcare conversational agent to support underserved communities with personalised advice. I'm now collaborating on developing a Robotics/AI system to support MS rehabilitation.

I welcome research collaborations and consultancy opportunities for linguistic analysis in any area where communication plays a critical role in shaping outcomes.

I'm an active member of UWE's Humanities Research Group and Social Sciences Research Group (Crime, Risk and Society theme). I am also a member of the International Association for Forensic and Legal Linguistics (IAFLL), International Society for Conversation Analysis (ISCA), British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), and International Ecolinguistics Association (IEA). 

Area of expertise

Language in social interaction

Conversation analysis

Forensic and legal linguistics

Ecolinguistics

Institutional and professional discourses

Human-machine interaction

Interactional space

I welcome enquiries about PhD supervision in relation to any of the above areas, including projects which focus on social interaction in different contexts.

Publications

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