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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Joan Swann

Joan Swann

Professor of English Literature

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies Centre for Language and Communication


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Profile

I’m currently director of the Centre for Language and Communication at the Open University. My OU teaching covers several areas of English Language and Applied Linguistics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

My academic interests are in the area of sociolinguistics: the study of the relationship between language and social life. Under this broad heading, current teaching and research interests include:

  • the study of spoken interaction, in institutional and informal/everyday settings
  • creativity in everyday language
  • educational storytelling
  • reading group discourse – how people talk about literary reading
  • language and gender, and other aspects of identity
  • language and education, including classroom interaction
  • aspects of language and globalisation

Books include:

Seargeant, P. and Swann, J. (eds) (2012) English in the World: History, diversity, change. London: Routledge. (376pp) ISBN 978-0-415-67421-8.

Swann, J., Pope, R. and Carter, R. (eds) (2011) Creativity in Language and Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. (349pp) ISBN 978-0-230-57559-2.

Mesthrie, R., Swann, J., Deumert, A. and Leap, W. (2009; 1st edn 2000) Introducing Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. (501 pp)  ISBN 0 7486 3843 7

Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) (2009) Companion to English Language Studies. London: Routledge. (324pp) ISBN 0-415-40338-3.

Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) (2006) The Art of English: everyday creativity. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. (479pp) ISBN 1 4039 8559 6.

Swann, J., Deumert, A., Lillis, T. and Mesthrie, R. (2004) A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.  (368 pp).  ISBN 0 7486 1690 X. 

Kehily, M.J. and Swann, J. (eds) (2003) Children’s Cultural Worlds. Chichester: John Wiley in association with the Open University.  (344 pp) ISBN 0 470 84694 1. 

Coffin, C., Curry, M.J., Goodman, S., Hewings, A., Lillis, T.M. and Swann, J. (2002) Teaching Academic Writing: a toolkit for higher education. London: Routledge.  (192 pp) ISBN 0 415 26135X.

Mercer, N. M. and Swann, J. (eds) (1996) Learning English: development and diversity. London: Routledge.  (343 pp)  ISBN 0 415 13121 9.
Revised edn published as: Mercer, N., Swann, J. and Mayor, B. (eds) (2007) Learning English. London: Routledge. (296pp) ISBN 978 0 415 37687 7.

Graddol, D., Leith, D. and Swann, J. (eds) (1996) English: History, diversity and change. London: Routledge.  (394 pp)  ISBN 0 415 13118 9. 
Revised edn published as: Graddol, D., Leith, D., Swann, J., Rhys, M. and Gillen, J. (eds) (2007) Changing English. London: Routledge. (291pp) ISBN 978 0 415 37679 2.

Graddol, D., Cheshire, J. and Swann, J. (1994; 1st edn 1987) Describing Language, Open University Press.  (250 pp)  ISBN  0 335 15979 6/ 0 335 19315 3.

Graddol, D. and Swann, J. (eds) (1994) Evaluating Language  (Papers from the Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics). Clevedon: British Association for Applied Linguistics in association with Multilingual Matters.  (116 pp) ISBN 1 85359 238 2. 

Claire, H., Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) (1993) Equality matters: case studies from the primary school. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.  (210 pp)  ISBN 1 85359 180 7. 

Swann, J. (1992) Girls, Boys and Language. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.  (261 pp) ISBN 0 631 16469 3.

Graddol, D. and Swann, J. (1989) Gender Voices. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.  (214 pp) ISBN 0 631 13734 3. 

Recent articles and chapters include:

Swann, J. (in press 2012) ‘Creative interpretations: a discursive approach to literary reading’, in Jones, R. (ed) Discourse and Creativity. Pearson Education. ISBN 978 1 408 25188 1.

Swann, J. (in press 2012) ‘Everyday creativity in English’, in Allington, D. and Mayor, B. (eds) Using English: talk, text, technology. London: Routledge. ISBN 978 0 415 37682 2.

Allington, D. and Swann, J. (2011) ‘Reading and social interaction: a critical approach to individual and group reading practices’, in R. Crone and S. Towheed (eds) The History of Reading, Vol 3: Methods, Strategies, Tactics. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-24756-7.

Swann, J. (2011) ‘How reading groups talk about books: a study of literary reception’, in Swann, J., Pope, R. and Carter, R. (eds) Creativity in Language and Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-57559-2.

Pope, R. and Swann, J. (2011) ‘Introduction: creativity, language, literature’, in Swann, J., Pope, R. and Carter, R. (eds) Creativity in Language and Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-57559-2.

Swann, J. (2010) ‘Transcribing Spoken Interaction’, in Hunston, S. and Oakey, D. (eds) Introducing Applied Linguistics: concepts and skills. London: Routledge.

Swann, J. (2010) ‘Global Englishes’, in Gupta, S. and Katsarska, M. (eds) English Studies on This Side: post-2007 reckonings. Plovdiv: Plovdiv University Press.

Mesthrie, R. and Swann, J. (2009) ‘From variation to hybridity’, in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) Companion to English Language Studies. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-40338-3.

Swann, J. and Allington, D. (2009) ‘Reading groups and the language of literary texts: a case study in social reading’, Language and Literature. 18 (3): 247-64. ISSN 0963 9470.

Allington, D. and Swann, J. (2009) ‘Researching literary reading as social practice’, Language and Literature. 18 (3): 219-30. ISSN 0963 9470.

Swann, J. (2009) ‘Doing gender against the odds: a sociolinguistic analysis of educational discourse’, in Eppler, E. and Pichler, P. (eds) Gender and Spoken Interaction. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-230-57402-5

Swann, J. (2009) ‘Stories in performance’, in Maybin, J. and Watson, N.J. (eds) Children’s Literature: Mapping the Field. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0230-22713-2.

Swann, J. and Maybin, J. (2008) ‘Sociolinguistic and ethnographic approaches to language and gender’ in Harrington, K., Litosseliti, L., Sauntson, H., and Sunderland, J. (eds) Gender and Language Research Methodologies. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. Introductory paper and section editing. ISBN 0 230 55068 1.

Swann, J. (2007) ‘Designing “educationally effective” discussion’, Language and Education 21 (4): 342-59. ISSN 0950–0782.

Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (2007) ‘Everyday creativity in language: textuality, contextuality and critique’, Applied Linguistics 28 (4): 497-517. ISSN 0142 6001.

Mayor, B.M., Hewings, A., North, S., Swann, J. and Coffin, C. (2007) ‘A linguistic analysis of Chinese and Greek L1 scripts for IELTS Academic Writing Task 2’ in Taylor, L. and Falvey, P. (eds) IELTS Collected Papers: research in speaking and writing assessment (Studies in Language Testing, Vol 19). University of Cambridge ESOL/ Cambridge University Press: 250-313.

Swann, J. (2007) ‘English voices’, in Graddol, D., Leith, D., Swann, J., Rhys, M. and Gillen, J. (eds) Changing English. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 37679 2.

Swann, J. and Sinka, I. (2007) ‘Style shifting, code switching’, in Graddol, D., Leith, D., Swann, J., Rhys, M. and Gillen, J. (eds) Changing English. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 37679 2.

Swann, J. (2006) ‘The Art of the everyday’, in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) The Art of English: everyday creativity. Basingstoke, Hants, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1 4039 8559 6.

McRae, S. and Swann, J. (2006) ‘Putting on the style’, in Maybin, J. and Swann, J. (eds) The Art of English: everyday creativity. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1 4039 8559 6.

Swann, J. (2006) ‘Text and performance’, in Goodman, S. and O’Halloran, K. (eds) The Art of English: literary creativity. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1 4039 8560 X.

Swann, J. (2003) ‘Schooled language: language and gender in educational settings’, in Holmes, J. and Meyerhoff, M. (eds) The Handbook of Language and Gender. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0 631 22502 1.

Swann, J. (2002) ‘The intersection of verbal, visual and vocal elements in an oral narrative’, in Blayer, I. and Sanchez, M. (eds) Storytelling: interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives. Peter Lang. ISBN 0 820 45125 8.

Swann, J. (2002) ‘Yes, but is it gender?’, in Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds) Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam: Benjamins. ISBN 9 027 22692 X.

Mayor, B.M. and Swann, J. (2001) ‘English Language and Global Teaching’, in Lea, M. and Nicoll, K. (eds) Distributed Learning: social and cultural approaches to practice. London: Routledge Falmer. ISBN 0 415 26808 7.

Swann, J. (2001) ‘Recording and transcribing talk in educational settings’, in Candlin, C.N. and Mercer, N. (eds) English Language Teaching in its Social Context. London: Routledge. ISBN 0 415 24122 7.

McKinney, C. and Swann, J. (2001) ‘Developing a sociolinguistic voice? Students and linguistic descriptivism’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5(4): 576-90. ISSN 1360 6441.

Teaching Interests

I’ve produced Open University multi-media, supported open learning materials on several aspects of English language and applied linguistics, including variation and global diversity in English; language in interaction, including bilingual interaction; language and creativity; storytelling; and linguistic description and analysis.

Many of my recent contributions have been to undergraduate English Language modules that take a broadly social approach to the subject - see for instance:  E301 The Art of English,  EA300 Children’s Literature, and a new module U214 Worlds of English. These modules form part of several OU degrees, including BAs in Humanities, English Language and Literature and Language Studies.

In my teaching I’m particularly interested in writing for internationally diverse groups of students who are likely to have different experiences of, and views about the English language.

I am currently supervising, or have recently supervised, doctoral students carrying out research in the following areas: humour/play in educational discourse, particularly with respect to international students; advertising on Ghanaian radio stations; English language teaching in China;  intercultural communication; language and gender in the workplace; student argumentation; disciplinarity in academic writing.

Research Interests

I’m interested in the sociolinguistic study of language use in both everyday and institutional settings. A long-term interest is in language and gender, particularly in educational contexts: how children may construct different gendered identities, and how such identity work is embedded in interpersonal and curricular activity.

Children’s management of interactional resources shows them to be relatively creative language users, and this has sparked a broader interest in language and creativity: how spoken and written language are used creatively in everyday settings, and the relationship between such everyday linguistic creativity and literary language. A related interest is in oral storytelling in educational and other contexts, in particular in the multimodal analysis of story.

Allied to research on creativity are several linked projects on everyday literary reception, with a particular focus on reading groups. Reading groups are something of a contemporary cultural phenomenon, at least in many Anglophone contexts, and they also allow researchers to capture interpretive activity ‘on the hoof’: how readers interpret and evaluate the books they have read, and how such interpretations/evaluations are bound up with the intricate co-construction of reader identities. A developing strand of interest is in reading groups in schools, and how such extra-curricular literary reading may contribute to children’s development as readers.

Current Research

Recent funded projects include:

Transitions and Transformations: exploring creativity in everyday and literary language

A seminar series funded by the AHRC, 2007 (£15,000); co-investigators Professor Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham and Professor Rob Pope, Oxford Brookes University.

The Discourse of Reading Groups

Funded by the AHRC, 2007-8 (£107,903); co-investigator Dr Kieran O’Halloran, research associate Dr Daniel Allington, Open University.

Consultancy to evaluate a programme of school reading groups

Consultancy for Liverpool Find Your Talent and The Reader Organisation, 2009-10; with Dr Daniel Allington, Open University.

Evaluations of the shadowing scheme associated with the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway children’s book awards

Funded by the Carnegie UK trust: scoping study, 2011 (£4,000); main study, 2012 (£23, 173;OUshare £13,213); carried out in association with the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA); with Professor Teresa Cremin, Open University.

Evaluation of the Helicopter Technique of Storytelling and Story Acting in nursery and reception classes

Funded by Esmée Fairbairn (£45,000); carried out in association with MakeBelieve Arts; with Professor Teresa Cremin (PI), Dr Rosie Flewitt, Dr Dorothy Faulkner and Natalia Kucirkova, Open University.

 

Publications

Authored Book
Mesthrie, Rajend; Swann, Joan; Deumert, Ana and Leap, William (2009). Introducing Sociolinguistics (2nd Edition). Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press.
Swann, Joan; Deumert, Ana; Lillis, Theresa and Mesthrie, Rajend (2004). A dictionary of sociolinguistics. Endinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Coffin, Caroline; Curry, Mary Jane; Goodman, Sharon; Hewings, Ann; Lillis, Theresa and Swann, Joan (2003). Teaching Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education. London, UK: Routledge.
Book Chapter
Swann, Joan (2012). Everyday creativity in English. In: Allington, Daniel and Mayor, Barbara eds. Communicating in English: Talk, Text, Technology. London: Routledge, pp. 179–208.
Swann, Joan (2012). Creative interpretations: discourse analysis and literary reading. In: Jones, Rodney ed. Discourse and Creativity. Pearson Education, pp. 53–71.
Allington, Daniel and Swann, Joan (2011). The mediation of response: a critical approach to individual and group reading practices. In: Crone, Rosalind and Towheed, Shafquat eds. The History of Reading, Vol. 3: Methods, Strategies, Tactics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 80–96.
Swann, Joan (2011). How reading groups talk about books: a study of literary reception. In: Swann, Joan; Pope, Rob and Carter, Ronald eds. Creativity in Language and Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 217–230.
Pope, Rob and Swann, Joan (2011). Introduction: creativity, language,literature. In: Swann, Joan; Pope, Rob and Carter, Ronald eds. Creativity in Language and Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 217–230.
Swann, Joan (2010). Global Englishes. In: Gupta, S. and Katsarka, M. eds. English Studies on This Side: Post-2007 Reckonings. Plovdiv: Plovdiv University Press.
Swann, Joan (2010). Transcribing spoken interaction. In: Hunston, Susan and Oakey, David eds. Introducing applied linguistics: Concepts and skills. London: Routledge, pp. 163–176.
Swann, Joan (2009). Stories in performance. In: Maybin, Janet and Watson, Nicola eds. Children's Literature: Approaches and Territories. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Swann, J. (2009). Doing gender against the odds: a sociolinguistic analysis of educational discourse. In: Eppler, Eva M. and Pichler, Pia eds. Gender and Spoken Interaction. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mesthrie, R. and Swann, J. (2009). From variation to hybridity. In: Maybin, Janet and Swann, Joan eds. The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies. London, UK: Routledge.
Swann, J. and Maybin, J. (2008). Sociolinguistic and ethnographic approaches to language and gender. In: Harrington, K.; Litosseliti, L.; Saunston, H. and Sunderland, J. eds. Gender and Language Research Methodologies. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mayor, Barbara; Hewings, Ann; North, Sarah; Swann, Joan and Coffin, Caroline (2007). A Linguistic analysis of Chinese and Greek L1 scripts for IELTS Academic Writing Task 2. In: Taylor, Linda and Falvey, Peter eds. IELTS Collected Papers: Research in speaking and writing assessment. Studies in language testing (19). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 250–315.
Swann, J. (2007). English voices. In: Graddol, David; Leith, Dick; Swann, Joan; Rhys, Martin and Gillen, Julia eds. Changing English. London, UK: Routledge.
Swann, J. and Sinka, I. (2007). Style shifting, code switching. In: Graddol, David; Leith, Dick; Swann, Joan; Rhys, Martin and Gillen, Julia eds. Changing English. London, UK: Routledge.
Swann, Joan (2006). Text and performance. In: Goodman, Sharon and O'Halloran, Kieran eds. The Art of English: Literary Creativity. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Swann, J. (2006). The art of the everyday. In: Maybin, J. and Swann, J. eds. The Art of English: Everyday Creativity. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
McRae, S. and Swann, J. (2006). Putting on the style. In: Maybin, J. and Swann, J. eds. The Art of English: Everyday Creativity. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Swann, Joan (2003). Schooled language: language and gender in educational settings. In: Holmes, Janet and Meyerhoff, Miriam eds. The Handbook of language and gender. Blackwell handbooks in linguistics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 624–644.
Goodman, Sharon and Swann, Joan (2003). Planning the assessment of student writing. In: Coffin, Caroline; Curry, Mary Jane; Goodman, Sharon; Hewings, Ann; Lillis, Theresa and Swann, Joan eds. Teaching Academic Writing: A Toolkit for Higher Education. London, UK: Routledge, pp. 73–100.
Swann, Joan (2002). The intersection of verbal, visual and vocal elements in an oral narrative. In: Blayer, Irene Maria F. and Sanchez, Monica eds. Storytelling: Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspectives. UK: Peter Lang.
Swann, Joan (2002). Yes, but is it gender? In: Litosseliti, Lia and Sunderland, Jane eds. Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis. Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 43–67.
Mayor, Barbara and Swann, Joan (2001). English language and global teaching. In: Lea, Mary R. and Nicoll, Kathy eds. Distributed learning: social and cultural approaches to practice. UK: Routledge.
Swann, Joan (2001). Recording and transcribing talk in educational settings. In: Candlin, Christopher and Mercer, Neil eds. English Language Teaching in its Social Context. London, UK: Routledge.
Conference Item
Swann, Joan (2009). How reading groups talk about books. In: The Readers Voice Convention, 4th April 2009, Jesus College, Oxford.
Journal Article
Swann, Joan and Allington, Daniel (2009). Reading groups and the language of literary texts: a case study in social reading. Language and Literature, 18(3), pp. 247–264.
Allington, Daniel and Swann, Joan (2009). Researching literary reading as social practice. Language and Literature, 18(3), pp. 219–230.
Maybin, Janet and Swann, Joan (2007). Everyday creativity in language: textuality, contextuality and critique. Applied Linguistics, 28(4), pp. 497–517.
Swann, Joan (2007). Designing 'educationally effective' discussion. Language and Education, 21(4), pp. 342–359.
Maybin, Janet and Swann, Joan (2007). Introduction: Language creativity in everday contexts. Applied Linguistics, 28(4), pp. 491–496.
McKinney, Carolyn and Swann, Joan (2001). Developing a sociolinguistic voice?: Students and linguistic descriptivism. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 5(4), pp. 576–590.
Other
Allington, Daniel and Swann, Joan (2009). Special issue of Language and Literature: Literary reading as social practice. Sage, UK.