The University of Sheffield
Department of Germanic Studies

Dr Regina WeinertDr Regina Weinert

From 1 February 2012 Regina Weinert will take up her new post as Chair in Linguistics at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle

email : r.weinert@sheffield.ac.uk

I am originally from Hamburg, but moved to Scotland after leaving school. I studied in Edinburgh, first for an MA in Linguistics, and subsequently for a PhD in Second Language Acquisition. I have lectured in German, German Linguistics and General Linguistics at the Universities of Edinburgh and Hull. In Edinburgh I also worked as a Researcher at the Human Communication Research Centre, a government funded Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC). I joined the University of Sheffield in 1996.

Teaching Responsibilities

I contribute to postgraduate MA courses and supervise Ph.D. and M.Phil. research students in linguistics. Recent theses include work on second language phonetics (Robert Mayr), the form and function of time-critical utterances in football commentaries (Torsten Müller), an analysis of directing conversations in radio-play productions (Andrea Milde, discussions of word meaning in intercultural conversations (Jane Woodin) and generic pronouns (Anna Linthe).

Research Interests

My research spans theoretical linguistics, general linguistics and theoretical and descriptive German and English linguistics as well as language acquisition. My recent work involves a comprehensive analysis of spoken language syntax, pragmatics and discourse and includes word order, dependent clauses and presentatives.

I am interested in the nature of linguistic generalisations, both in adult language and in language acquisition. The spoken data also keeps drawing me into deixis, pronouns and modality.

In 2006/2007 I held a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for work on The Relationship between Syntax, Deixis and Discourse in Spoken Language.

During 2009/2010 I was awarded a Senior Ikerbasque Research Fellowship at the University of the Basque Country for research into native and non-native spoken English. Current projects involve the analysis of because/cos-clauses, if-clauses and focusing constructions.

Publications

Books

Miller, J. and Weinert, R. (1998/2009). Spontaneous spoken language. Syntax and Discourse. Oxford University Press.

Weinert, R. (2007). Spoken Language Pragmatics. Analysis of form-function relations. London/New York: Continuum.

Details

Research Articles

Weinert, R. (forthcoming). Postmodifying verb-second clauses vs relative clauses in spoken German. Functions of Language, 20.1.

Weinert, R., Basterrechea, M. and García Mayo, M.P. (2012). Spoken language grammar in context: A usage-based approach. In M.P. García Mayo, M. J. Guitierrez-Mangado and M. Mártinez Adrián (eds.). Contemporary perspectives on second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Weinert, R. (2012). Syntax, deixis and discourse-pragmatics in spoken German and English complement clauses. Folia Linguistica 46.1

Weinert, R. (forthcoming). Investigation native and non-native spoken language syntax. Adverbial clauses and the case of if. In C. Pérez Basanta (ed). New insights into the study of conversation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Weinert, R. (2011). Demonstrative vs personal and zero pronouns in spoken German. In M. Schröter and N. Lange(eds.). Alltagssprache und Deutsch als Fremdsprache. GFL, Special Issue. 71-98.

Weinert, R. (2010). Formulaicity and usage-based language: linguistic, psycholinguistic and acquisitional manifestations. In D. Wood (ed.), Perspectives on formulaic language. Acquisition and communication. London/New York: Continuum. 1-20.

Weinert, R. (2010). Review of Roberta Corrigan, Edith A. Moravcsik, Hamid Ouali & Kathleen M. Wheatley, eds. 2009. Formulaic Language. Volume 2. Acquisition, loss, psychological reality, and functional explanations. (Typological Studies in Language 83.) Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Folia Linguistica 44, 248-258.

Weinert, R. (2005). Creativity and formulaicity in second language acquisition. Learning with data. In J.Partridge (ed.) Getting into German: Multidisciplinary Linguistic Approaches. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, Series Language and Linguistics. 245-263.

Weinert, R. (2004). Relative Clauses in spoken English and German – Their structure and function. Linguistische Berichte, 197, 3-51.

Miller, J. and Weinert, R. (2002). Lengua hablada, teoría lingüística y adquisición del lenguaje. In E. Ferreira (ed.) (In)dependencia entre el analysis de la oralidad y la escritura. In the Series: Lenguaje, Escritura, Alfabetization. Barcelona/Buenos Aires:Gedisa. 77-110. Published in Portuguese (Sao Paulo: Artmed Editora).

Weinert, R. (2000). Satzbegriff, Einheiten und Verknüpfung in gesprochener Sprache. Syntax oder Diskurs? In L.Jäger & Luise Springer (eds) Die Medialität der gesprochenen Sprache. Sprache und Literatur [SuL] 84, 31. 75-96.

Weinert, R. (1999). Da in spoken German. Deixis, discourse and modality. In R. Kavanagh (ed.) Mutual Exchanges, Sheffield-Münster Colloquium I, Peter Lang. 217-230.

Weinert, R. (1998). Discourse organisation in the spoken language of L2 learners of German. Linguistische Berichte, 176. 459-488.

Weinert, R. (1995). The role of formulaic language in second language acquisition: A review. Applied Linguistics 16.2. 180-205.

Weinert, R. and Miller, J. (1996). Cleft constructions in spoken language. Journal of Pragmatics, 25. 173-206.

Weinert, R. (1995). Focusing constructions in spoken language: Clefts, Y-movement, thematization and deixis in English and German. Linguistische Berichte, 159. 341-369.

Miller, J. and Weinert, R. (1995). The function of LIKE in spoken language. Journal of Pragmatics, 23. 365-393.

Weinert, R. (1995). The role of formulaic language in second language acquisition: A review. Applied Linguistics 16.2. 180-205.

Weinert, R. (1994). Some effects of a foreign language classroom on the development of German negation. Applied Linguistic,s 15.1. 76-101.

Weinert, R. (1992). The role of meaning and context in language and language learning. ReCall, Journal of the CTI Centre for Modem Languages, University of Hull, Volume 4.

Anderson, A.H., M. Bader, E.G. Bard, E. Boyle, G. Doherty, S. Garrod, S. Isard, J. Kowtko, J. McAllister, J. Miller, C. Sotillo, H. Thompson, and R. Weinert (1991). The map task dialogues: a corpus of spoken English. Language and Speech, 34.4. 351-366. The corpus has been published on CD-ROM.

Weinert, R. (1987). Processes in classroom second language development - the acquisition of German negation. In R. Ellis (ed) Second language acquisition in context. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall. 83-99.