Dr Michael Kranert PhD (UCL), QTS, Staatsexamen
Lecturer in Sociolinguistics

I am a linguist interested in comparative discourse analysis in English and German speaking countries.
I am a linguist interested in comparative discourse analysis in English and German speaking countries. In order to analyse the influence of contextual differences on linguistic features of discourse in these countries, I use linguistic research methods such as Corpus Assisted Discourse Analysis, Political Lexicography, Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Metaphor Theory. In the interpretation stage, I discuss my findings against the background of historical and sociological insights.
My PhD-project undertook a comparison of the discourses of New Labour and the German SPD at the turn of the twenty-first century, explaining apparent linguistic and discursive differences with differences in the political cultures of Germany and the UK. The project is of significance on two levels: firstly, as a means to advance the methodology of discourse analysis, and secondly as a contrastive linguistic analysis of the two discourses.
I am working on ‘populist’ discourses in Germany and the UK as well as on Discourse in the Workplace. Some interesting documentation of the conference ‘New Discourses of Populism and Nationalism’ I organised in June 2018 can be found here.
I am a board member of DiscourseNet, an international association for discourse studies and an Associate Editor of Humanities & Social Sciences Communications. I am currently coordinating a DiscourseNet group on Corona Discourse(s).
Qualifications
- First State Examination (Teaching Degree equivalent to MA) in German and Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 2004
- Second State Examination (Teaching Qualification) in German and Philosophy, Berlin 2007
- Qualified Teacher Status for the UK granted because of the equivalence of the German Staatsexamen in June 2008
- PhD in Linguistic Discourse Analysis, UCL 2016
Appointments held
- Lecturer of Languages, Edinburgh Napier University, 2016-2018
- Part-Time Lecturer in German, Imperial College London, 2013-2016
- DAAD-Lektor, Cambridge University, 2008-2012