Dr Kate Steel

• Qualifications:BA (Hons), MA, MSc, PhD, FHEA
• Position:Lecturer in Linguistics
• Department:Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries, and Education (ACE)
• Telephone:+441173281904
• Email:Kate3.Steel@uwe.ac.uk
• Social media:

About me

I am an experienced linguist who specialises in the qualitative microanalysis of language and communication in a range of real-life settings. In my role as a Lecturer in Linguistics at UWE, I design, lead and teach modules across our English Language and Linguistics degree programme.

I'm also a core member of our research unit, Bristol Centre for Linguistics at UWE. My research examines the nuances of language in social interaction, with a focus on institutional (policing, law, healthcare) and corporate settings. In a key ongoing project, I am analysing police body-worn video footage to explore communication at the scene between frontline officers and victims of domestic abuse. Currently supported by the VC ECR Development Award 2023-25, this work builds on my ESRC PhD, which broke new ground in a previously hidden research setting. I work with police practitioners to translate my findings into training input, including the Avon and Somerset Police 'Domestic Abuse: Language Matters' initiative. I am also collaborating in another body-worn video study focusing on communication during police mental health callouts.

Within the conversational AI sphere, I am collaborating on the ROMI project, led by Elzware Ltd and a team of interdisciplinary experts. ROMI is a conversational agent, co-designed (with NIHR funding) to help type 2 diabetes patients access personalised support via their devices.

I welcome research collaborations and consultancy opportunities in any area that would benefit from linguistic analysis of interactional behaviour.

Area of expertise

Language in social interaction

Conversation analysis

Forensic linguistics

Institutional and professional discourse

Human-AI conversation

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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