I have now retired and am not taking on any new PhD students. My main research interests are: - Social pragmatics, especially the interrelationship between language use and the management of interpersonal relations (face theory, politeness theory, rapport management theory). - Intercultural interaction, including cross-cultural pragmatics, intercultural discourse, and the interface between culture, language and behaviour. - Intercultural adaptation and change, including issues of identity and hybridity, culture shock, intercultural competence and development. - Culture and pedagogy.

My educational background is in both psychology and linguistics, and throughout my career I have worked at the interface of the two disciplines. My first teaching experience was in Hong Kong, where I taught English language to sixth-form (pre-university) students, as well as to adults taking evening classes at a British Council language school. Later I spent 7 very happy years working at Shanghai Jiaotong University, training teachers of English language from colleges and universities in the eastern region of China. After completing my PhD at Lancaster University, I lectured at the University of Luton for 10 years and established the first MA in Intercultural Communication in the UK. In 2002 I started managing the major inter-governmental eChina-UK Programme on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and found it a transforming experience. I joined the University of Warwick in September 2007.