Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elena Semino

@elenasemino.bsky.social

1.3K followers 550 following 44 posts

Professor in Linguistics & English Language, Lancaster University; ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science. Metaphor, narrative | corpora | cancer, pain, Covid, vaccines https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/elena-semino .. more

Videos

Elena Semino is an Italian-born British linguist whose research involves stylistics and metaphor theory. Focusing on figurative language in a range of poetic and prose works, most recently she has worked on topics from the domains of medical humanities and health communication. Her projects use corpus linguistic methods as well as qualitative analysis. .. more

Psychology 46%

Communication & Media Studies 19%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Feb 19

It seems like as good a day as any to repost links to the five metaphor-based animations we created - based on this paper journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... - about the importance of #vaccines. @sflusberg.bsky.social

First one: A castle metaphor for how vaccines work
youtu.be/DOD854panQg?...

How do vaccines work? A castle metaphor

YouTube video by Science Animated

youtu.be

1 6 18

Reposted by Elena Semino

Cambridge University Press - Linguistics @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org · 3d

A guide to corpus-based approaches to health communication

Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare by @elenasemino.bsky.social @paulari.bsky.social @lukeccollins.bsky.social & @tonymcenery.bsky.social, Out Now & #OpenAccess

#Linguistics #LangSky 🐦🐦

https://cup.org/4nXkIiq

4 12

Reposted by Elena Semino

JCaDs @jcads.bsky.social · 12d

New article by @lukeccollins.bsky.social & @elenasemino.bsky.social exploring patterns
in reports of disability experience jcads.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/10....

1 3

Reposted by Lynne Bowker, Gavin Brookes, Dariusz Galasiński

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · 15d

Our book 'Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare' is out open access! We wrote it to share what we learnt in many years of research in @corpussocialsci.bsky.social, on topics such as communication about anxiety, dementia, cancer, obesity and vaccines. cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/appl...

Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare

This book has been fun and also somewhat liberating to write. To explain this we have to tell the story of how the book came about.

cambridgeblog.org

2 22 55

Reposted by Elena Semino

Tony McEnery @tonymcenery.bsky.social · 19d

Congratulations to my colleagues @elenasemino.bsky.social @chrishartlinguist.bsky.social @vaclavbrezina.bsky.social @juditkormos.bsky.social
@jculpeper.bsky.social @paulari.bsky.social Alison Mackey & Jason Rothman for being in the Stanford/Elsevier top 2% of scientists list. I’m in good company!

1 5 16

Reposted by Elena Semino

Vaclav Brezina @vaclavbrezina.bsky.social · 21d

In conversation with @elenasemino.bsky.social on #CorpusMOOC

#healthcare #corpuslinguistics #communication

👉Find out more: edx.org/learn/social...

@corpussocialsci.bsky.social

2 6

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · 27d

We have lots of great Linguistics-related activities for our @lancslinguistics.bsky.social Open Day visitors today.

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · 27d

Thank you to all contributors to this @corpussocialsci.bsky.social event: two days of thought-provoking presentations on different issues in health communication, using different methodologies and with data from Europe, Africa, Asia and the US. See you all at the next @ic4ch.bsky.social event!

International Consortium for Communication in Health Care @ic4ch.bsky.social · Jun 4

Join us for our 5th Symposium of the International Consortium for Communication in Health Care!

📆When: 11-12 September 2025
📍At: Lancaster University, UK

Early bird registration is open until June 15th registration.lancaster.ac.uk/Registration...

More info: ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Image shows the entrance of Lancaster Castle in spring.

Image shows day 1 of the programme, which can be read in full as a PDF at https://ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Day 1: Thursday 11th of September 2025

09.30 - 10.15 Registration
10.15 - 10.30 Symposium Opening Address
10.30 - 12.00 Panel 1: Chronic and long-term health
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch
13.00 - 14.30 Panel 2: Infectious diseases and pandemics
How will we work together? Communication and Caring in the Time of Pandemics
14.30 - 15.00 Break
15.00 – 16.30 Panel 3: Vaccinations
16.30 – 17.00 Roundtable discussion

Image shows day 2 of the programme, which can be read in full as a PDF at https://ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Day 2: Friday 12th of September 2025

09.30 – 11.00 Panel 4: Interactions in healthcare settings
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 12.30 Panel 4 (Continued): Interactions in healthcare settings
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
13.30 – 15.00 Panel 5: Interactions in healthcare settings and end of life
15.30 – 16.00 Roundtable discussion
16.00 – 16.20 Event Close

2 9

Reposted by Elena Semino

Barbara Geralds Institute for Storytelling and Social Impact @bgstorytelling.bsky.social · Aug 18

🎙️ Elena Semino, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University joins host Dr. Joe Bianco to discuss the subtle and surprising ways that language 🗣️ and humor 😂 shape health experiences 💙.

1 6 12

Reposted by Elena Semino

Linguistics and English Language @ Lancaster University @lancslinguistics.bsky.social · Jul 17

📢 Free Webinar Corpus Linguistics: Skills for the Future

Join @elenasemino.bsky.social & @danagablas.bsky.social as they explore how corpus methods shape healthcare communication & GenAI in language learning.

📆 22 July 2025 | 2–3pm UK time

🔗 Register free: forms.office.com/e/uppRBrE5AF

1 6

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Jun 22

International Pragmatics Conference just kicking off at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Always a great opportunity to pick up conversations with so many friends and colleagues as if no time had passed since we last met.

1 20

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Jun 17

One of my favourite events of the year. Our corpus summer schools participants are the best audience one can ever hope for #LancsSS25

CASS @corpussocialsci.bsky.social · Jun 16

💭A fascinating talk to end the first day of #LancsSS25 by Prof. Elena Semino on using corpus methods in health communication. The discussion focused on vaccination discourses in the Victorian era and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reposted by Elena Semino

CASS @corpussocialsci.bsky.social · Jun 16

1 2

Reposted by Elena Semino

CASS @corpussocialsci.bsky.social · Jun 16

✅Registration has opened for #LancsSS25! Tag us in your pictures of the week ahead!

1 2

Reposted by Elena Semino

Dr Zsófia Demjén @zsofiademjen.bsky.social · Jun 9

New short paper out in Public Health: 'A jab is not a vaccine; it's a 'shot'
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A jab is not a vaccine; it's a ‘shot’

Previous work identified a new type of vaccine scepticism on social media centred around questioning the status of the COVID-19 vaccine as a vaccine, …

www.sciencedirect.com

1 2 4

Reposted by Elena Semino

International Consortium for Communication in Health Care @ic4ch.bsky.social · Jun 4

1 4 6

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · May 21

Looking forward to speaking on metaphors and vaccines (online) twice in the next 2 days:
- International Conference of the Faculty of Linguistics and Ukrainian Association of Cognitive Linguistics and Poetics uaclipconf.com.ua
- Semmelweis Medical Linguistics Conference semmelweis.hu/szaknyelv/en...

uaclipconf

uaclipconf.com.ua

1 7

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · May 2

Just out in the BMJ: www.bmj.com/content/389/... - a (supportive) response to Samantha Vanderslott's piece 'Confronting the shortcomings of covid-19 vaccination will help us in future pandemics', based on our earlier paper on a new form of vaccine scepticism: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Better communication about vaccines could tackle scepticism

Vanderslott discusses several shortcomings of covid-19 vaccination that need to be tackled in preparation for future pandemics.1 My colleagues and I have identified an additional area of concern.2 We ...

www.bmj.com

2 5

Reposted by Elena Semino

International Consortium for Communication in Health Care @ic4ch.bsky.social · Apr 28

📬Registration is now open for the 5th Symposium of the International Consortium for Communication in Health Care (IC4CH)!

📆When: 11-12 September 2025
📍At: Lancaster University, UK

For more event information (registration, programme, speakers, abstracts, etc.) see ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Image shows day 1 of the programme, which can be read as a PDF at https://ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Symposium Programme
Day 1: Thursday 11th of September 2025

09.30 - 10.15 Registration
10.15 - 10.30 Symposium Opening Address
10.30 - 12.00 Panel 1: Chronic and long-term health
Sex differences on a forum about anxiety
Paul Baker (Lancaster University, UK)
Shared decision making, health literacy and management of heart failure: an analysis of patients’ interactions through their hospital journey.
Susy Macqueen, Diana Slade and Suzanne Raine (Australian National University)
Communicating dementia: Comparing AI-generated stereotypes to experience-led discussions
Emma Putland and Gavin Brookes (Lancaster University, UK)
12.00 - 13.00 Lunch
13.00 - 14.30 Panel 2: Infectious diseases and pandemics
How will we work together? Communication and Caring in the Time of Pandemics
Elizabeth A. Rider (Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, USA)
The mental health of university graduates in a post-COVID world: A mixed-methods sociolinguistic approach
Olga Zayts-Spence, Paul W.C. Wong, David Matthew Edmonds (University of Hong Kong)
Challenges and Opportunities in Participatory Surveillance for Dengue Prevention: A Sri Lankan Case Study
Prasad Wimalaratne (University of Colombo, Sri Lanka) and May O. Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
14.30 - 15.00 Break
15.00 – 16.30 Panel 3: Vaccinations
Post-pandemic challenges in communication about vaccines
Elena Semino (Lancaster University, UK)
Enhancing the value and wider benefit of research into Coronavirus Discourses: A Pan-London Immunisation Campaign
Svenja Adolphs, Emma McClaughlin and Sara Vilar-Lluch (University of Nottingham and Cardiff University, UK)
The problem with ‘side effects’
Zsófia Demjén (University College London, UK)
16.30 – 17.00 Roundtable discussion

Image shows day 2 of the programme, which can be read as a PDF at https://ic4ch.wordpress.com/activities/

Day 2: Friday 12th of September 2025

09.30 – 11.00 Panel 4: Interactions in healthcare settings
Intercultural moments in emergency calls: Issues of access, accommodation, and attitude
Jennifer Watermeyer and Rhona Nattrass (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa)
(In)equality, (in)visibilised diversity and exclusion: the ideological framing of language in NHS interpreting and translation guidelines.
Emma Brooks (University College London, UK)
Medical consultations with older adult patients in a multicultural setting: Dynamics of doctor-patient communication and the impact of companions
May O. Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
11.00 – 11.30 Break
11.30 – 12.30 Panel 4 (Continued): Interactions in healthcare settings
Enhancing Patient Engagement in Oncology-Specific Genetic Counselling: A Conversation Analytic Approach
K.K. Luke (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
How REACHE equips asylum seeker and refugee doctors for safe and effective practice in the NHS
Hayley Poulson (Refugee and Asylum Seekers Centre for Healthcare Professionals Education (REACHE Northwest), Salford Royal Hospital, UK)
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch
13.30 – 15.00 Panel 5: Interactions in healthcare settings and end of life
The EMPATHY Protocol: Modern Support in Challenging Moments of Patient Care
Aldona Katarzyna Jankowska (Nicolaus Copernicus University Torun, Poland)
The taboo of communication about assisted dying
Nancy Preston (Lancaster University, UK)
How to Talk about Dying? Lessons Learned from a Swiss Framework for Teaching Compassionate Communication about the End of Life
Sibylle Felber (University Hospital Bern and University of Bern, Switzerland)
15.30 – 16.00 Roundtable discussion
16.00 – 16.20 Event Close

5 6

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Apr 11

Grateful to Linguistics at Georgetown for inviting me to give a talk but it looks like they arranged for Lancaster weather for my visit

1 15

Reposted by Elena Semino

Linguistics and English Language @ Lancaster University @lancslinguistics.bsky.social · Apr 8

We are excited to be at Campus in the City this week!

❗️Come and see a wide range of activities, from a language escape game to ultrasound imaging of the tongue during beatboxing!

➡️ Fri 11 April at More Music in Morecambe

#sparkyourcuriosity #CITC2025

4 8

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Apr 5

I am deeply grateful to Aalborg University for a doctorate honoris causa and wonderful hospitality this week. Looking forward to collaborations with the Communication, Language and Discourse Research Group.

Four honorary doctors and the Rektor on stage at Aalborg University

1 2 27

Reposted by Elena Semino

Paula P Sobrino @paulapsobrino.bsky.social · Apr 4

Happy 5th-anniversary #ReframeCovid initiative! People collaboratively compiled non-belic metaphors to frame the pandemic. But how do they *really* impact our decision-making? @iraideia.bsky.social & I have just published a study on this - here's a thread with the results if you only have 5 mins:

2 10 24

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Mar 20

I have written a piece for @theconversationuk.bsky.social about our study on a new form of vaccine scepticism: people questioning the status of some vaccines as vaccines, starting during the pandemic
theconversation.com/its-not-a-va... @lancslinguistics.bsky.social @corpussocialsci.bsky.social

‘It’s not a vaccine, it’s a shot’: uncovering a new trend in vaccine scepticism

The COVID pandemic triggered a new kind of vaccine scepticism shared by people who normally take up vaccines – here’s why that’s a problem.

theconversation.com

1 5 17

Reposted by Elena Semino

BAAL Health & Science SIG @baal-health-sig.bsky.social · Mar 18

Super-excited for our upcoming workshops: in person this Friday 21/3 @lancslinguistics.bsky.social and online on Tuesday 25/3. Plenaries by @elenasemino.bsky.social & @fmfederici.bsky.social + wonderful presentations! Please join us baalhealthsci.wordpress.com/2025/02/04/2...

2025 Workshop series: Inequalities, inclusion and innovation

This year’s workshop series has a particular interest in discussing concerns around social justice, health inequalities, language diversity and inclusion. The event will span two days (schedu…

baalhealthsci.wordpress.com

4 6

Reposted by Karin Tusting, Elena Semino

Linguistics and English Language @ Lancaster University @lancslinguistics.bsky.social · Mar 12

We are delighted to have been ranked 3rd in the world for Linguistics by the QS World Subject Rankings 2025!

🔗 www.topuniversities.com/university-s...

🔗 www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/lancast...

An image displaying the ranking of Lancaster's Linguistics department as 3rd in the world by the QS World Subject Rankings 2025.

1 9 34

Reposted by Brian Ward, David Gadd, Nicola Carr , and 9 more Brian Ward, David Gadd, Nicola Carr, Andrew Thacker, Diane Watt, David McGowan, Elena Semino, Adrian Streete, Martin Willis, Jennifer Thomson, Catherine Spooner, Rebecca Langlands

The English Association @englishassociation.bsky.social · Mar 7

REF2029: concerns about the implications of decoupling | The English Association : Please read this important joint letter we have written (on behalf of us, our chair @jennyrichards.bsky.social ) along with @ies-sas.bsky.social & @univeng.bsky.social
englishassociation.ac.uk/ref2029-conc...

REF2029: concerns about the implications of decoupling | The English Association

We support the teaching, learning, and enjoyment of English at all levels of education, from early years to further and higher education and beyond.

englishassociation.ac.uk

1 81 91

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Feb 24

We show how experiences with #COVID-19 #vaccines have resulted in questions and concerns about what a vaccine actually is. This is a new form of vaccine skepticism that will need to be addressed.

1 3

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Feb 24

New paper from Questioning Vaccination Discourse project (Quo VaDis www.lancaster.ac.uk/vaccination-... ) in Vaccine X:

"It's a shot, not a vaccine like MMR": A new type of vaccine-specific scepticism on Twitter/X during the COVID-19 pandemic.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

‘It's a shot, not a vaccine like MMR’: A new type of vaccine-specific scepticism on Twitter/X during the COVID-19 pandemic

While it is well-known that vaccine hesitancy can be vaccine-specific, little is known about how people spontaneously evaluate different vaccines in c…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 4 8

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Feb 19

And finally, a fire drill metaphor for why vaccine-induced immunity is safer than immunity through infection.
youtu.be/fWBatEctOvw?...

Is 'natural immunity' better than vaccine immunity? A fire drill metaphor

YouTube video by Science Animated

youtu.be

Elena Semino @elenasemino.bsky.social · Feb 19

A raincoat metaphor for why to take a vaccine even if it doesn't always prevent infection.
youtu.be/3FR4CjCPu3s?...

Why get a vaccine if it isn’t 100% effective? A raincoat metaphor

YouTube video by Science Animated

youtu.be