I am a full-time PhD candidate at the University of Warwick doing research for the Centre for Applied Linguistics. I'm also a member of the Working and Communicating Across Cultures (WACC) research group and the Migration, Identity and Translation Network (MITN), which both specialise in intercultural and professional communication research. My past projects have involved recruiting research participants from multinational corporations ranging from engineering and information technology companies to businesses operating in the hospitality industry.

When I'm not working on my PhD project, I enjoy being outdoors and going on trips with Warwick Mountains Society and/or practice Capoeira!

Current Research

Currently I'm working on a cross-disciplinary project which is supervised by Professor Jo Angouri and Dr Daniel Dauber. My fieldwork adviser is Professor Rebecca Piekkari from Aalto School of Business, Finland.

My research centres on the lived experience of the multilingual workplace; what opportunities and challenges are associated with employees’ daily realities. I am particularly interested in identifying various sensemaking strategies when (non-native) employees try to integrate into their work community.

Keywords: organizational ethnography; workplace discourse; migration; language & power; professional identity.

My doctoral project was awarded funding from three prestigious and competitive research bodies: the Economic Social and Research Council (UK), the Foundation for Economic Education (Liikesivistysrahasto, Finland), and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Finland).

Previous Degrees

• MA in Cross-Cultural Communication & International Business Management (Distinction), Newcastle University, UK
• BA in Public Relations and Communications (GPA 4.52/5.00 - One of highest GPAs in the group), Tallinn University, Estonia

Other Academic Certificates

• The Postgraduate Award in Social Science Research (Distinction), ESRC Doctoral Training Centre

• Associate Fellow Status of the Higher Education Academy (Merit)

Institutional Visit

• Victoria University of Wellington, July 2018, New Zealand

Research groups: Language in the Workplace & VUW Discourse Analysis (The School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies); Centre for Labour, Employment and Work (Victoria Business School, the School of Management)

Publications

Journal Articles

• Angouri, J. and Humonen, K. (forthcoming). 'Negotiating centres and peripheries in multilingual professional settings'. [Special issues on Negotiating Transnational Work: Rethinking Repertoires and Interactional Analysis]. Journal of Sociolinguistics.

Book Chapters

• Humonen, K. and Angouri, J. (forthcoming). '"[They] thought I didn't know how to be a chef because I didn't speak Finnish." The construction of professional roles in multilingual kitchen context.' In Angouri, Kerekes and Suni (eds.), Migrants in Working Life. Multilingual Matters.
• Angouri, J. and Humonen, K. (in prep.). Methodological implications of studying multilingualism in the workplace [tentative title, manuscript in preparation]. In Lecomte, Gaibrois, Beeler and Vigier (eds.). Understanding the Dynamics of Language and Multilingualism in Professional Contexts: Advances in Language-Sensitive Management. Edward Elgar.

External peer reviews

• International Journal of Multilingualism

Conferences

• 35th EGOS (European Group for Organizational Studies) Colloquium. July 2019, Edinburgh
• Sociolinguistic Symposium 22. June 2018, Auckland
• Language, Translation, and Migration: Conference and Public Summit. May 2018, Coventry
• International Gem&L Conference on Language and Management. July 2017, Copenhagen
• iMean5: Language and Change. April 2017, Bristol
• Leadership & Diversity in Organisations. September 2016, Canterbury
• 19th Warwick Postgraduate International Conference in Applied Linguistics. June 2016, Coventry
• ESRC PGR Conference. June 2016, Liverpool
• Interconnections Between Culture and Behaviour: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. February 2016, Coventry

Teaching Experience

As part of the HEA programme, I have delivered seminars in the following MSc modules: Management Across Cultures, Marketing Across Cultures, Globalisation and Researching the Workplace. I have also taught Intercultural Pragmatics for UG students.

In addition, I have tutored students across Warwick University as a PG Mentor at different events and workshops (in liaison with the Community Engagement Team).

Kristina Humonen

Contact

k.humonen@warwick.ac.uk

Room 1.100, Social Sciences Building