Dr Kate Steel

Qualifications:

BA (Hons), MA, MSc, PhD, FHEA

Position:

Senior Lecturer in Linguistics; Programme Leader, BA (Hons) English Language and Linguistics

Department:

College of Arts, Technology and EnvironmentSchool of Arts

Telephone:

+441173281904

Email:

Kate3.Steel@uwe.ac.uk

Social media:

About me

I am a linguist specialising in the microanalysis of language and communication in complex high-stakes settings, with expertise in helping public-facing organisations interact more effectively and sensitively with vulnerable clients.

As a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for English Language and Linguistics at UWE Bristol, I design and lead modules, supervise student research and oversee delivery and strategic development across the degree. My research, grounded in interactional sociolinguistics and conversation analysis, examines social interaction in institutional and corporate contexts. My ESRC-funded doctoral work broke new ground in forensic linguistics, drawing on rare access to police body-worn video footage to examine frontline officers’ communication with domestic abuse victim-survivors during first response call-outs. I continue to build on this work, contributing to police training, policy and national guidance, and am now extending the scope to examine frontline mental health crisis call-outs.

Alongside my academic work, I provide consultancy where linguistic analysis can address real-world communicative challenges. In the technology sector, I have consulted on the NIHR-funded design of a healthcare AI system for underserved communities across Bristol, I'm currently collaborating in a medical robotics project for MS rehab, and I am now Research Advisor for an AI assurance company, helping ensure automated systems produce fair outcomes for vulnerable people across regulated sectors.

I welcome opportunities for research collaboration or consultancy, particularly where linguistic insight can drive social impact.

Area of expertise

Interactional sociolinguistics

Conversation analysis

Forensic and legal linguistics

Human-machine communication

Professional discourses

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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