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Faculty of Education and Language Studies > People Profiles > Stephen Pihlaja

Stephen Pihlaja

Research Student

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies


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Personal Website

Profile

 

Although I am originally from the US, I live in Milton Keynes, England with my wife and daughters. I hold a BA in Creative Writing from Knox College in Galesburg, IL, an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham (UK), and an MA in Research Methods (Education) from the Open University. Currently, I am in the second year of a PhD in Metaphor Theory and Computer-mediated Communication (also at the OU), supervised by Lynne Cameron and Daniel Allington. I also tutor MA students for the University of Birmingham’s TESOL/ Applied Linguistics distance programme, and teach Research Methods, Empirical Investigations of Language, and Pedagogic Grammar at Middlesex University in the MA TESOL/ Applied Linguistics course.

I have three little girls and one wife and no pets (although I suspect that's the next thing I'll get talked into).
 
In my free time, I enjoy long distance running, cycling, and spending time with my wife and daughters.

Teaching Interests

Complex Systems Theory, Lev Vygotsky, Heuristics, Positioning Theory, Discursive Psychological Analysis, Discourse Analysis, Japan, Japanese language, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Applied Linguistics, Computer Mediated Communication, Marxism, Mikhail Bakhtin, Ontology, Literature, Modernism, Pragmatism, Politics, Atheism, Fundamentalism, Ideology, Friedrich Nietzsche

Research Interests

Internet discourse, computer-mediated communication, YouTube, blogs and blogging, metaphor, religious dialogue

Current Research

 

Doctor of Philosophy (expected completion: September 2012)

Thesis title: 'Are you religious or are you saved?': The discursive construction of user groups on YouTube

Publications

Conference Item
Pihlaja, Stephen (2007). Watch out! The corpus, verb usage, and the non-native teacher of English. In: Teachers Helping Teachers: Learning Applications for a Developing Nation in the 21st Century, 25-26 August 2007, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Journal Article
Pihlaja, Stephen (2011). Cops, popes, and garbage collectors: metaphor and antagonism in an atheist/Christian YouTube video thread. Language@Internet, 8
Pihlaja, Stephen (2011). “Are you religious or are you saved?”: defining membership categories in religious discussions on YouTube. Fieldwork in Religion, 6(1), pp. 27–46.
Pihlaja, Stephen (2010). The Pope of YouTube: Metaphor and misunderstanding in Atheist-Christian YouTube dialogue. The Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue(3), pp. 25–35.
Pihlaja, Stephen (2008). "Would you like to dance with me, Miwa?": gender roles and the EFL Text. The School House, 16(1), pp. 2–9.
Pihlaja, Stephen (2008). Caught in the middle: grammar, textbooks, and the Japanese high school. The Schoolhouse, 16(3), pp. 46–55.