Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Netherlands
fellow
Alan Cienki
2023-2024
Home institution
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Country of origin (home institution)
Netherlands
Discipline(s)
Language sciences and linguistics
Neuroscience and cognitive science
Theme(s)
Behavior & Cognition
Fellowship dates
›
Biography
- Professor of Language Use & Cognition and English Linguistics (Hoogleraar Taalgebruik & Cognitie en Engelse Taalkunde)
- Personnel Manager, English Academic Language Programme
- President (2025–27), International Society for Gesture Studies
- Founder of the Multimodal Communication and Cognition Lab ("Polimod")
at the Centre for Socio-Cognitive Discourse Studies ("SCoDis"), Moscow State Linguistic University, Russian Federation
Research Project
Modelling the dynamics of communicative resources used in interaction
Linguists and communication researchers have started to pay more attention to the varied means of communication used in face-to-face interactions, such as gestures, non-lexical sounds, and facial expressions. The recent experience of wearing face masks has highlighted the ability of speakers to alter their communication styles. However, researchers lack a model to explain the complex processes involved in switching between communication means.
Alan Cienki aims to develop a theoretical framework that will help us better understand how humans adapt their communication in response to changing conditions that may impact their audibility, visibility, and mobility.
Research Interests:
Cognitive linguistics; semantics and conceptualization; gesture studies; multimodal communication; grammar of spoken language; metaphor studies; comparative/contrastive linguistics