Elena Semino
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elenasemino.bsky.social
Elena Semino
@elenasemino.bsky.social
1.3K followers 550 following 45 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
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elenasemino.bsky.social
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
elenasemino.bsky.social
New openaccess paper in Digital Health with Anna Cermakova et al.: "In my experience …": The use of the word "experience" in peer online forums for mental health.

The study is part of the NIHR-funded project 'Improving Peer Online Forums', led by Fiona Lobban: www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-and-m...
‘In my experience …’: The use of the word experience in peer online forums for mental health - Anna Lindroos Cermakova, Elena Semino, Karin Tusting, Neil Caton, Matthew Coole, Zoe Glossop, Steven Jone...
Objective Peer support online forums potentially offer accessible and inexpensive access to information and support through shared lived experience, including i...
journals.sagepub.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Elena Semino
cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org
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
October 6, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Elena Semino
jcads.bsky.social
New article by @lukeccollins.bsky.social & @elenasemino.bsky.social exploring patterns
in reports of disability experience jcads.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/10....
September 28, 2025 at 1:44 PM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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
September 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
tonymcenery.bsky.social
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!
September 21, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
vaclavbrezina.bsky.social
In conversation with @elenasemino.bsky.social on #CorpusMOOC

#healthcare #corpuslinguistics #communication

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

@corpussocialsci.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 11:58 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
We have lots of great Linguistics-related activities for our @lancslinguistics.bsky.social Open Day visitors today.
September 13, 2025 at 8:15 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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!
ic4ch.bsky.social 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
September 12, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Elena Semino
bgstorytelling.bsky.social
🎙️ 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 💙.
August 18, 2025 at 1:08 PM
elenasemino.bsky.social
Just received the final proofs of this book, based on @corpussocialsci.bsky.social research on health communication. It will be out *open access* later this year. @paulari.bsky.social @gavinbrookes.bsky.social @lukeccollins.bsky.social @tonymcenery.bsky.social

www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare
Cambridge Core - Medicine: General Interest - Applying Corpus Linguistics to Illness and Healthcare
www.cambridge.org
July 17, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
lancslinguistics.bsky.social
📢 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
July 17, 2025 at 9:04 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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.
June 22, 2025 at 3:20 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
One of my favourite events of the year. Our corpus summer schools participants are the best audience one can ever hope for #LancsSS25
corpussocialsci.bsky.social 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.
June 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
corpussocialsci.bsky.social
✅Registration has opened for #LancsSS25! Tag us in your pictures of the week ahead!
June 16, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
zsofiademjen.bsky.social
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
June 9, 2025 at 1:17 PM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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
May 21, 2025 at 10:40 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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
May 2, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
ic4ch.bsky.social
📬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
April 28, 2025 at 2:16 PM
elenasemino.bsky.social
Grateful to Linguistics at Georgetown for inviting me to give a talk but it looks like they arranged for Lancaster weather for my visit
April 11, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Elena Semino
lancslinguistics.bsky.social
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
April 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Elena Semino
paulapsobrino.bsky.social
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:
April 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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
April 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
elenasemino.bsky.social
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
March 20, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
baal-health-sig.bsky.social
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
March 18, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Elena Semino
lancslinguistics.bsky.social
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.
March 12, 2025 at 11:12 AM