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Dr Mark McGlashan

BA(Hons), PGCert, MA, MRes, PhD, FHEA

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I am Lecturer in English Language & Linguistics at the University of Liverpool.

My research combines approaches from Corpus Linguistics, (Critical) Discourse Studies, Computational Linguistics, and Data Science to study a range of issues pertinent to (online) safety and security – particularly relationships between language and abuse – such as extreme misogyny and sexism, nationalism and radicalisation, safeguarding, and mis/disinformation. Much of my present work focuses on applications of corpus linguistics in safeguarding and I am currently Academic Supervisor on an Innovate UK-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership working to develop the linguistic toolchain for the online safeguarding product Senso.cloud⚡

Before joining Liverpool, I was Associate Professor of Corpus Linguistics and Discourse Studies in the College of English and Media at Birmingham City University, and I have held various research positions at Lancaster University's Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science and Security Lancaster, as well as in the WMG Cyber Security Centre at The University of Warwick. I earned an ESRC-funded PhD in Applied Linguistics from Lancaster University and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Books

Maci, S. M., Demata, M., McGlashan, M., & Seargeant, P. (Eds.) (2023). The Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003224495

McGlashan, M. & Mercer, J. (Eds.) (2023) Toxic Masculinity: men, meaning and digital media. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003263883

Maci, S. M. & McGlashan, M. (Eds.) (2024). (Critical) Discourse Studies and the (new?) normal: analysing discourse in times of crisis. Peter Lang.

Journal Special issues

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Maci, S. & McGlashan, M. (Eds.) (2023). (Critical) Discourse Studies and the (new?) normal. CADAAD Journal, 15(2). https://doi.org/10.21827/cadaad.15.2.41597

[IN PREPARATION]

Koller, V., Krendel, A., Aiston, J., & McGlashan, M. (Eds.) (in preparation, 2025) The language of the manosphere: global perspectives. Critical Discourse Studies. https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/language-manosphere-global-perspectives/

Journal articles

Published

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McGlashan, M., Clarke, I., Gee, M., Grieshofer, T., Kehoe, A., & Lawson, R. (in press, 2025) ‘COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories, discourses of liberty, and "the new normal" on social media’. Linguistic Vanguard. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2024-0121

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Maci, S. & McGlashan, M. (2024) ‘Special Issue – (Critical) Discourse Studies and the (new?) normal: Introduction'. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis across Disciplines, 15(2): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.21827/cadaad.15.2.41597

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Paterson, L. & McGlashan, M. (2024) ‘Same-sex marriage, gay marriage, or equal marriage? Category construction and exclusion by premodification in a corpus of 21st century newspaper texts’. Journal of Language and Sexuality 13(2): 129-153. https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.00034.pat

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Bogetić, K., Heritage, F., Koller, V., & McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘Landwhales, femoids and sub-humans: Dehumanising metaphors in incel discourse’. Metaphor and the Social World. https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.23005.bog

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McGlashan, M. & Krendel, A. (2023) 'Keywords of the Manosphere'. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.22053.mcg

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Brookes, G., McEnery, T., McGlashan, M., Smith, G., & Wilkinson, M. (2022) ‘Narrative evaluation in patient feedback: A study of online comments about UK healthcare services’. Narrative Inquiry 32(1): 9-35. https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.20098.bro

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Krendel, A., McGlashan, M., & Koller, V. (2022) ‘The representation of gendered social actors across five manosphere communities on Reddit’. Corpora. https://doi.org/10.3366/cor.2022.0257

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McGlashan, M. (2021) ‘Networked discourses of bereavement in online COVID-19 memorials’. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics. 26(4): 557-82. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.21135.mcg

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McGlashan, M. (2020) ‘Collective identity and discourse practice in the followership of the Football Lads Alliance on Twitter'. Discourse & Society 31(3): 307-328. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926519889128

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Hardaker, C. & McGlashan, M. (2016) ‘”Real men don’t hate women”: Twitter rape threats and group identity’. Journal of Pragmatics 91: 80-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.11.005

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McEnery, T., McGlashan, M., & Love, R. (2015) ‘Press and social media reaction to ideologically inspired murder: the case of Lee Rigby’. Discourse & Communication 9(2): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481314568545

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Sunderland, J. & McGlashan, M. (2015) ‘Heteronormativity in EFL textbooks and in two genres of children’s literature (Harry Potter and same-sex parent family picturebooks)’. Language Issues 26(2): 17-26. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/natecla/esol/2015/00000026/00000002/art00004

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Sunderland, J. & McGlashan, M. (2013) ‘Looking at picturebook covers multimodally: the case of two-mum and two-dad picturebooks.’ Visual Communication 12(4): 473-496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357212471474

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Sunderland, J. & McGlashan, M. (2012) ‘The linguistic, visual and multimodal representation of two-Mum and two-Dad families in children’s picturebooks’. Language and Literature 21(2): 189-210. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947011435863

Chapters

In press

Clarke, I. & McGlashan, M. (in press, 2025) ‘Online language (Web and Social Media)’. In: D. Biber. & R. Reppen. (Eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of English Corpus Linguistics (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

McGlashan, M. (in press, 2025) ‘Anything goes? Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in (Critical) Discourse Studies’. In: B. Forchtner & F. Zappettini (Eds.) Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies. Edward Elgar Publishing.

McGlashan, M., Aiston, J., Koller, V., & Krendel, A. (in press, 2024) ‘Misogyny and The Red Pill (MANTRaP): applications and impact of linguistic research on online misogyny’. In: Brookes, G., Curry, N., & Love, R. (Eds.) Applications of Corpus Linguistics. Cambridge University Press.

Published

Larner, S. & McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘How children talk about domestic abuse in the home: insights for practitioners’. In: Taylor, J., Bates, E., & Callaghan, J. (Eds.) Children and adolescent’s experiences of violence and abuse at home: current theory, research and practitioner insights. Routledge. pp. 146-164. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003124634-16

Maci, S., Demata, M., Seargeant, P., & McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘The various dimensions of disinformation: an introduction’. In: Maci, S., Demata, M., McGlashan, M., & Seargeant, P. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation. London: Routledge. pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003224495-1

McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘(Mental) health in the manosphere’. In: Brookes, G. & Chałupnik, M. (Eds.) Masculinities and Discourses of Men’s Health. Springer. pp. 189-218. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38407-3_8

McGlashan, M. & Clarke, I. (2023) ‘Online Discourses of Toxic Masculinity’. In: McGlashan, M. & Mercer, J. (Eds.) Toxic Masculinity: men, meaning and digital media. London: Routledge.

McGlashan, M. & Mercer, J. (2023) ‘Toxic Masculinity: an introduction’. In: McGlashan, M. & Mercer, J. (Eds.) Toxic Masculinity: men, meaning and digital media. Routledge. pp. 1-7.

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McGlashan, M. (2022) ‘Linguistic and visual trends in the representation of two-mum and two-dad couples in children’s picturebooks’. In: Moya-Guijarro, A. J. & Ventola, E. (Eds) A Multimodal Approach to Challenging Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003145875-14

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Baker, P. & McGlashan, M. (2020) 'Critical Discourse Analysis'. In: Adolphs, S. & Knight, D. (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of English Language and the Digital Humanities. London: Routledge. pp. 220-241. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003031758-13

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Mackenzie, J., Coffey-Glover, L., Payne, S., & McGlashan, M. (2020) 'Disco Divas and Heroic Knights: A critical multimodal analysis of gender roles in "create the world" LEGO cards'. In: Caldas-Coulthard, C. R. (Ed.) Innovations and Challenges: women, language and sexism. London: Routledge. pp. 60-76.

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McGlashan, M. (2013) ‘The branding of European nationalism: perpetuation and novelty in racist symbolism. In: Wodak, R. & Richardson, J. (Eds.) Analysing Fascist Discourse: European fascism in talk and text. London: Routledge.

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McGlashan, M. & Sunderland, J. (2011) ‘Stories featuring two-Mum and two-Dad Families’. In: Sunderland, J. Language, Gender and Children’s Fiction. London: Continuum. pp. 142-172.

Software/resources

Kehoe, A., Gee, M., Lawson, R., McGlashan, M., & Tkacukova, T. (2021). TRAC:COVID – Trust and Communication: A Coronavirus Online Visual Dashboard. Available online at https://traccovid.com
McGlashan, M., Gee, M., Kehoe, A., Lawson, R., & Tkacukova, T. (2021) TRAC:COVID Case study 2: misinformation, authority, and trust. Working Paper. Birmingham City University, Birmingham. https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/12011/
Tkacukova, T., Gee, M., Kehoe, A., Lawson, R., & McGlashan, M. (2021) Government management of the COVID-19 communication and public perception of the pandemic. Working Paper. Birmingham City University, Birmingham. https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/11960/

Reviews

McGlashan, M. (2021) 'Book review: Egbert, J, Larsson, T, & Biber, D. 'Doing Linguistics with a Corpus: Methodological Considerations for the Everyday User’. Discourse Studies 23(4): 560-2. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456211027995a
McGlashan, M. (2019) 'Book review: Zappavigna, Michele, Searchable talk: hashtags and social media metadiscourse'. Discourse & Communication 13(4): 461-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481319842460

Acknowledgements

Marchi, A. (2024) 'Presenting the special issue of JCaDS in honour of Alan Partington'. Journal of Corpora and Discourse Studies, 7: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.18573/jcads.31
Barton, D. (2018) 'The roles of tagging in the online curation of photographs'. Discourse, Context and Media, 22: 39-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.06.001 |

Preprint

Michel, M. and Smith, B. (2017) ‘Measuring lexical alignment during L2 chat interaction: An eye-tracking study’. In: Gass, S. M., Spinner, P., Behney, J. (Eds.) Salience in Second Language Acquisition. Taylor and Francis, pp. 244-267.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315399027-13 | Preprint

Keynotes

McGlashan, M. (2024) ‘Corpus Linguistic Approaches to Safeguarding Studies: Theory, Method, and Application’. 4th International Conference EnTRetextos, The University of Valencia, Spain, 23-25/10/2024.
McGlashan, M. (2021) ‘Language and COVID: crisis, conflict, and change’. LTS (Language, Texts and Society) Conference 2021: responding to conflict, crisis and change. 30/04/2021.

[Slides]

Invited workshops

Clarke, I. & McGlashan, M. (2024) ‘Keyword Co-occurrence Analysis’. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo), Brazil, 6-10/05/2024.
McGlashan, M. (2021) ‘Corpus-assisted Discourse Studies’. University of Valencia, Spain, 27/10/2021.
McGlashan, M. (2021) ‘Critical Discourse Studies & Corpus-assisted Discourse Studies’. University of Bergamo, Italy, 26/11/2021.
McGlashan, M. (2020) ‘COVID-19 Memorials: discourses of online bereavement’. University of Leicester, UK, 04/11/2020.

Invited papers

McGlashan, M. (2022) ‘Same-sex parents in children’s picturebooks: examining representations using corpus-assisted multimodal critical discourse analysis’. The University of Glasgow, Scotland, 24/04/2024.
Kennedy, C., Franklin, E., & McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘Using corpus linguistics to safeguard children against online harms’. Language, Identities and Institutions Research Group, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, 22/11/2023
McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘Forensic Linguistics’. 2023 Lancaster Asia Pacific Summer Seminar in Corpus Linguistics, Seoul National University, South Korea, 10/07/2023.
McGlashan, M. (2022) ‘Same-sex parents in children’s picturebooks: examining representations using corpus-assisted multimodal critical discourse analysis’. The University of Bologna, Italy, 27/04/2022.
McGlashan, M. (2022) ‘The language of children’s online disclosures of domestic, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse’. Lancaster University, UK, 31/03/2022.
Gee, M., McGlashan, M., & Tkacukova, T. (2021) ‘TRAC:COVID – Trust and Communication: A Coronavirus Online Visual Dashboard’. Pandemic Perspectives, 02/12/2021.
McGlashan, M. (2021) ‘COVID-19 Memorials: networked discourses of online bereavement’. Nottingham Trent University, UK, 20/07/2021.
McGlashan, M. (2019) ‘Same-sex parents in children’s picturebooks’. Northern Fertility Nurses Meeting, Leeds, UK, 27/07/2019.
McGlashan, M. (2019) ‘Misogyny online: networked language, networked hate’. British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (BILETA), Aston University, UK, 07/06/2019
Cross Government Social Media Research Group (SMRG), Home Office, 16/05/19
McGlashan, M. (2019) ‘Same-sex parents in children’s picturebooks: examining representations using corpus-assisted multimodal critical discourse analysis’. York St. John University, UK, 03/04/2019
McGlashan, M. (2019) ‘Political in- and out-groups on Twitter: a corpus-based discourse analysis of the Football Lads Alliance'. Newcastle Critical Discourse Group (NCDG), Newcastle, UK, 06/03/2019
McGlashan, M. (2018) ‘Representing same-sex parents: non-traditional families?’. Centre for Family Research, Cambridge, UK, 29/11/2018.
McGlashan, M. (2018) ‘Same-sex parents in children’s picturebooks: examining representations and their place in the curriculum’. BAAL 2018: Taking Risks in Applied Linguistics, York St. John University, UK, 6-8/09/2018.

[Abstract] [Slides]

Lawson, R. & McGlashan, M. (2017) ‘“You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes”: A socio-corpus analysis of language and masculinity in an online ‘Pickup Artist’ community'. Survey of English Usage Seminar Series, University College London, UK, 15/03/17.

Conference papers

Aiston, J., Krendel, A., Koller, V., & McGlashan, M. (2024) ‘What is “the wall”? Negotiating boundaries of women’s youth and attractiveness in the manosphere’. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis Across Disciplines Conference 2024 (CADAAD2024), Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, 10-12/07/2024.
Lustig, A., McGlashan, M., & Brookes, G. (2024) ‘Keywords of Multiplicity: A corpus assisted discourse analysis of online multiplicity communities’. Corpora and Discourse International Conference 2024 (CADS2024), Universität Innsbruck, Austria, 17-19/07/2024.
Love, R., Clarke, I., & McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘Evaluating collocation in spoken dialogic corpora’. Corpus Linguistics 2023, Lancaster University, UK, 3-6/07/2023.
McGlashan, M. (2023) ‘The language of children's online disclosures of abuse’. Corpus Linguistics 2023, Lancaster University, UK, 3-6/07/2023.
McGlashan, M., Krendel, A., & Koller, V. (2021) ‘Linguistic constructions of men and women in the Reddit manosphere’. Corpus Linguistics 2021, University of Limerick, Ireland, 13-17/07/2021. [Video]
McGlashan, M. & Larner, S. (2021) ‘The language of children’s online disclosures of domestic, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse’. British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)/Cambridge University Press (CUP) Corpora in Applied Linguistics: broadening the agenda, Aston University, UK, 15-16/04/2021. [Video]
Krendel, A., Aiston, J., McGlashan, M., & Koller, V. (2021) ‘Breaks, boundaries and balance: Maintaining wellbeing when looking at online sexism’. British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Special Interest Group on Language and New Media, Birmingham City University, UK, 14/05/2021.
McGlashan, M. (2020) 'COVID-19 Memorials'. Corpora and Discourse International Conference 2020 (CAD2020), Sussex, UK, 17-19/06/2020. [Video]
McGlashan, M. & Krendel, A. (2020) 'Revisiting key-key-words: proposing a method for identifying unique keywords in a collection of corpora'. Corpora and Discourse International Conference 2020 (CAD2020), Sussex, UK, 17-19/06/2020. [Abstract] [Slides] [Video]
McGlashan, M. & Paterson, L. (2020) 'Same-sex marriage, gay marriage, or equal marriage? Exclusion or inclusion by premodification in a corpus of 21st century UK press reports'. Corpora and Discourse International Conference 2020 (CAD2020), Sussex, UK, 17-19/06/2020. [Video]
Clarke, I. & McGlashan, M. (2019) ‘Online discourses of toxic masculinity’. Corpora, Discourse and Society: BAAL Corpus Linguistics Special Interest Group Annual Workshop, Lancaster, UK, 13/11/2019. [Link]
McGlashan, M. & Patterson, L. (2019) ‘Marriage is a…: The grammatical patterning and connotations of marriage in 21st century UK press reportage’. Corpus Linguistics 2019 (CL2019), Cardiff University, UK, 22-26/07/2019.
Koller, V., McGlashan, M., Heritage, F., Krendal, A., & Aiston, J. (2019) ‘MANTRaP: Misogyny online ANd The Red Pill'. British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Special Interest Group on Language, Gender and Sexuality, Birmingham City University, UK, 30/05/2019.
Coffey-Glover, L., MacKenzie, J., McGlashan, M., & Payne, S. (2018) ‘Discourses of gender in children’s toys: a multimodal analysis of gender construction in ‘create the world’ Lego cards’. Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2018, University of Birmingham, UK, 25-28/07/2018. [Abstract] [Slides]
McGlashan, M. (2018) ‘A corpus-assisted analysis of ideological affiliation on Twitter: in-groups and out-groups in the followership of an online protest movement’. Inequality Discourses in the Media, University of Birmingham, UK, 15/06/2018. [Abstract] [Slides]
McGlashan, M. (2018) ‘What your followers say about you: a dialectical-relational approach to (collective) identity in the followership of an online protest movement’. Corpora and Discourse International Conference 2018 (CAD2018), Lancaster University, UK, 22-24/06/2018. [Abstract] [Slides]
McGlashan, M. (2017) ‘Negotiating discourse of sexuality and same-sex marriage in children’s literature’. BAAL/CUP Discourses of Marriage, University of Liverpool, UK, 14/09/2017. [Abstract] [Slides]
McGlashan, M. & Baker, P. (2017) ‘Discourse practice and news online: comparing discursive constructions of Romanian immigrants in articles published by the Daily Express with readers’ comments’. Corpus Linguistics 2017, University of Birmingham, UK, 25/07/17. [Abstract] [Slides]
Lawson, R. & McGlashan, M. (2017) ‘“You need to become prime dick”: A corpus-based analysis of self-help discourses and gender constructions in online seduction communities'. 116th American Anthropological Association (AAA) Meeting, Washington, D.C., 30/11/17. [Slides]
McGlashan, M. & Lawson, R. (2017) ‘Discourses of neoliberal masculinity: a corpus-based discourse study of an online ‘Pick Up Artist’ community’. BAAL SIG on Language, Gender and Sexuality: Language, Discrimination and Conflict, University of Nottingham, UK, 27/04/17. [Slides]
McGlashan, M. & Hardaker, C. (2015) ‘Twitter rape threats and the discourse of online misogyny (DOOM): using corpus-assisted community analysis (COCOA) to detect abusive online communities. In, Formato, F. & Hardie, A. Corpus Linguistics 2015. Lancaster University: UCREL. [Abstract]
Hardaker, C. & McGlashan, M. (2015) ‘Twitter rape threats and the discourse of online misogyny (DOOM): from discourses to networks’. In, Formato, F. & Hardie, A. Corpus Linguistics 2015. Lancaster University: UCREL. [Abstract]
McGlashan, M. & Sunderland, J. (2015) ‘Heteronormativity in EFL Textbooks and in Children’s Fiction: Harry Potter and Same-Sex Parent Family Picturebooks’. Queering ESOL Seminar 5 – LGBTQI Representations: media, literature, pedagogic materials, King’s College, London, 21/05/15. [Slides]
McGlashan, M. & Sunderland, J. (2012) ‘Gender representation in picturebooks featuring same-sex parent families’. 7th International Gender and Language Conference (IGALA7). [Slides]

Invited Panelist

Linguistics and Safeguarding, The Safeguarding Children in Schools Conference 2024, Government Events https://www.governmentevents.co.uk/event/the-safeguarding-children-in-schools-conference
Trending: Toxic Masculinity, Bradford Literature Festival, University of Bradford, 24/06/2023
Toxic Masculinity: A Panel Discussion. University College Cork Feminist Society, 02/03/2023 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp-yssqKxDz
Toxic Masculinity and Male Body Image. City Talk, Birmingham City University, 02/05/19
Artificial intelligence chatbot symposium. Jisc, Birmingham City University, 01/05/19

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