Dr Birgul Yilmaz

I am a Senior Lecturer in Intercultural Communication in the Department of Languages, Cultures, and Visual Studies. I use ethnography and discourse analysis to investigate the intersections of language, forced migration, and social justice in humanitarian settings. 

I serve as one of the University Senators and contribute to the shaping of our academic strategy. I am a member of the Collective for Racial Justice Steering Group, working towards fostering inclusivity and equity across the University.

I hold a PhD in Linguistics from SOAS University of London, an MRes in Language, Discourse, and Communication from King’s College London, and a BA in English and Linguistics from Queen Mary University of London.

Before joining the University of Exeter in 2023, I held research and teaching positions internationally, with roles in Greece, the UK, the USA, and Hong Kong. I worked as a Lecturer in Sociolinguistics in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading and taught courses in Discourse Analysis, Language and Globalisation, Language and Migration, and Language and Gender. At Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I held a postdoctoral research position that focused on language, labour migration, and domestic workers from the Philippines. I was awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship, during which I conducted an 18-month ethnography with refugees living in two neighbourhoods in Athens. The project was hosted by UCL's IOE Department of Culture, Communication, and Media, and prior to that, by the Department of Linguistics and English Language at the University of Westminster.

At the Hellenic Open University, I worked as a field researcher and as an MA tutor in Language Education for Refugees and Migrants. As part of a large funded project (Project P.R.E.S.S.) during this time, I conducted an eight-month ethnographic fieldwork with children and adults in two refugee camps and a shelter for unaccompanied children on Lesvos Island.

In Greece, I also worked with refugee children in a UNICEF and European Commission-funded school.

I am a member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), the International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC), and the Linguistic Ethnography Forum (LEF). 

Research supervision (PhD)

I am currently co-supervising

• Vlasis Manolias at the University of Thessaly. Thesis title: Intercultural communication and intercultural competence in blended educational environments.

I serve as an external reader on

• Aram Ahmed's doctoral committee at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Thesis title: Neoliberalism and higher education: English as medium of instruction policy in Iraqi Kurdistan.

With extensive ethnographic fieldwork experience in language and migration, gained from working in sites such as refugee camps, squats, and community-based language initiatives, I welcome postgraduate and doctoral candidates interested in the following areas:

• Sociolinguistics
• Language and migration
• Intercultural communication
• Discourse analysis 
• Interactional sociolinguistics
• Forced migration and language education
• Ethnography and linguistic practice
• Language learning and teaching: refugees and migrants
• Language ideologies, attitudes and identities 
• Linguistic variation, gender, social class and religion
• Heritage language learning
• Language and precarity