I am Professor of Literacy Studies in Linguistics and English Language, School of Social Sciences and Co-Director, Lancaster Literacy Research Centre.

My most recent ESRC funded research project is 0-3-year-old children's language and literacy learning at home in a digital age aka  Toddlers Tech and Talk (ES/W001020/1 ) June 2022-December 2024. See my publications for our growing set of journal papers and follow these links for our summary report and our policy brief.

Since 2002 I have been involved with the A Day in the Life umbrella programme, initially created by C.A. Cameron and myself.  It has given rise to numerous projects around the globe making use of our methodology. 

I have recently completed a co-authored book from the ESRC funded project Research Mobilities in Primary Literacy Education, (ES/W000571/1) January 2022  - March 2024. This is available open access. 

I belong to a number of organisations including the Literacy Research Association (where I am an Area 12, International, panel chair); UK Literacy Association, the UK Literacy Association, the British Association of Applied Linguistics and the Royal Historical Society.

Journals

I am co-editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy and on the editorial/advisory boards of several journals including Reading Research Quarterly, Literacy Research: Theory, Method, Practice, Thinking Skills and Creativity and Research in Education.

Professional Associations and External Examining

Member of: American Educational Research Association; the (US based) Literacy Research Assocation, the British Association of Applied Linguistics; the UK Literacy Association and the Royal Historical Society. I have acteed as an External Examiner for PhDs, including at the Universities of Auckland, Durham, Manchester Metropolitan University, New Brunswick,  Open University, Oslo and Wollongong. I have previously acted as an external examiner for the MA Education: Technology, Creativity and Thinking at Exeter University, the MA in Creativities, Literacies and Learning at the University of Nottingham and undergraduate courses in linguistics, language and communication at York St John University. 

I am exploring and expanding the boundaries of literacy studies. 

I work with contemporary and historical topics. My main current interest concerns the activities of  very young children in the home with digital media especially as related to language and literacy.  A particular focus of interest is the part played by Conversational Assistants (also known as digital voice assistants or smart speakers).  I have an extremely longstanding interest in young children's use of phones.

I aim to expand understandings of the relationship of literacy with communication in all modes, finding the discipline of Literacy Studies most helpful, with its diverse methodologies and topics.  I am currently, with Uta Papen, developing an edited textbook on Research Methods in Literacy Studies. 

A lasting project of mine is the Edwardin Postcard Project.  The main collection is now part of Lancaster Digital Collections. 

Some years ago I was  Co-Investigator in two  ESRC projects relating to deaf multiliteracies in India, Ghana and Uganda. I was formerly Co-Chair of Working Group 1 Children in Homes and Communities in the COST IS1640 Action The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigiLitEY), a member of the management committee and leader of the Day in the Digital Life of children aged 0-3 research strand.

I am the director of the Edwardian Postcard project, having  held a FASS impact award and completed an AHRC Creative Exchange mini project.  We are constructing a more interactive website and engaging in other activities to connect with family and local history audiences as well as museums and e-heritage users. I am currently completing a monograph. 

See also the Day in the Life project website for my involvement with a continuing international programme of inter-generational research. 

My (2014) book, Digital Literacies, consolidates empirical and theoretical interests in recent work including on Twitter as a professional practice and online ethnography.  Earlier, my research on children and teenagers learning in formal and informal settings including in virtual worlds featured in this book and its associated  ESRC seminar series. 

 I review proposals for several different international funding councils and occasionally chair panels. The following are a sample of my past roles. 

Member, AHRC Peer Review College, June 2014 - December 2021.

Co-editor, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2007-present.

I was co-chair Working Group 1 (Digital Literacy in Homes and Communities) of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Programme The Digital Literacy and Multimodal Practices of Young Children (DigiLitEY) June 2017 - April 2019 and led the "Day in the Digital Lives of Children 0-3" research strand of WG1.

Assessor for Learning Technologies Design for Impact SBRI competition with Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK). 2014

Honorary Research Associate, School of Graduate Studies, University of New Brunswick, Canada. (2011-2014)

Assessment and Qualifications Authority HE expert panel member advising on GCSE ‘A’ level: English Language and English Language & Literature. 2012-2014

Evaluator, Digital Futures in Teacher Education (DeFT) project - Sheffield Hallam & Sheffield Universities.  (2011-2012)

External consultant, Mixed Reality Interactions Across Contexts of Learning (MIRACLE) project, InterMedia, University of Oslo. (2010-2014)

Please  contact me on Teams or by email [email protected] to arrange an appointment.