Alison Wray (born 1960)

FAcSS The Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) is an award granted by the Academy of Social Sciences to leading academics, policy-makers, and practitioners of the social sciences. Fellows were previously known as Academicians and used the ...

is a

Research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

and

Communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She is known for her work on

formulaic language Formulaic language (previously known as automatic speech or embolalia) is a linguistic term for verbal expressions that are fixed in form, often non-literal in meaning with attitudinal nuances, and closely related to communicative-pragmatic contex ...

Career

Wray has been teaching at

since 1999. She has also taught at

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

York St John University , mottoeng = They may have life and have it more abundantly , established = , type = Public , administrative_staff = 618 , chancellor = Reeta Chakrabarti , vice_chancellor = Professor Karen Bryan , student ...

, University College of Ripon and York St John. Her BA (1983) and

D.Phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(1988) degrees (both in Linguistics) are from the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

. Besides her work on formulaic language, Wray is interested in language profiling,

evolution of language The origin of language (spoken and signed, as well as language-related technological systems such as writing), its relationship with human evolution, and its consequences have been subjects of study for centuries. Scholars wishing to study th ...

and psycholinguistic theory. She also investigates language patterns in people with dementia. Her book, ''The Dynamics of Dementia Communication'' (Wray 2020) won the 2021 Book Prize of the British Association for Applied Linguistics and was runner up in the American Association for Applied Linguistics Book Award 2021-22.

Bibliography

*''Formulaic Language: Pushing the Boundaries'' (2008) *''Formulaic Language and the Lexicon'' (2002) *Wray, Alison (ed.) (2002). ''Transition to Language''. Oxford University Press UK. *''The Dynamics of Dementia Communication'' (2020) Oxford University Press.

References

External links

* Alison Wray's homepage: http://cardiff.ac.uk/encap/contactsandpeople/profiles/wray-alison.html
Understanding the Challenges of Dementia Communication (Youtube video)Dementia - The "Communication Disease" (Youtube video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wray, Alison Living people Applied linguists Women linguists Linguists from the United Kingdom Linguists from Wales Academics of Cardiff University Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Alumni of the University of York 1960 births