Eva is a linguist specialising in the study of social interaction, which she has explored across a wide range of contexts and in five languages: English, German, Greek, Polish, and Russian. Her comparative research has identified culture-specific patterns of language use, such as those observed in making requests or apologising, and examined the underlying factors that shape them, such as differing perceptions of politeness, formality, honesty or involvement.

Through her detailed qualitative analyses of naturally occurring recorded data, she has advanced the understanding of language practices in a range of settings, from (bilingual) family interactions to academic writing sessions.

Eva’s project on public signage displayed during the Covid-19 pandemic illustrates novel strategies of customer retention and community building. It also makes a unique contribution to risk communication research by focusing on local-level implementation of containment measures.

Prior to joining King’s in 2012, Eva held positions at the Universities of Oldenburg (Germany), Portsmouth, and Surrey. From 2010 to 2018, she served first as book review editor and later as associate editor of the Journal of Pragmatics.

Research interests

Eva's research interests include:

• Social Interaction
• Cultural Diversity
• Cross-cultural Pragmatics
• Pragmatics in Language Teaching
• Im/politeness
• Linguistic Landscapes

For further details please see her Research Staff Profile.

Teaching

• Reading the City: London’s Public Signs (BA English Language and Linguistics)
• Analysing Interaction (BA English Language and Linguistics)
• Linguistic Politeness (BA English Language and Linguistics)
• Researching Linguistic Diversity (MA Language and Cultural Diversity)
• Linguistic Landscapes of London (MA Language and Cultural Diversity)
• Teaching and Learning Pragmatics (MA TESOL)

PhD Supervision

Eva is currently open to accepting new PhD students and is available to supervise projects within the following areas:

• Social Interaction
• Pragmatics
• Im/Politeness Studies
• Linguistic Landscape Studies

Find out more about Dr Eva Ogiermann on her website.