Helen Sauntson
Biographic Data
| ID | 238787 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Helen Sauntson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Helen |
| FAMILY NAME | Sauntson |
| SIGNATURE | SAUNTSON H |
| AFFILIATIONS | York St John University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0373-1242 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
‘The end of civilisation’
This article reports on findings from a study investigating how a sample of 40 children aged 5–11 perceive and represent environmental issues through multi-modal eco-narratives (n = 40) that they have produced in response to a visual stimulus. Using a multimodal discourse analysis framework, the research explores the discursive and semiotic strategies children employ to express their knowledge, attitudes, and emotions about climate change and eco…
Gender, Sexuality and Social Sustainability in UK Schools
This article explores the relationship between language, gender, sexuality and social sustainability in UK schools. Social sustainability in education focuses around enabling every individual to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2016). Key principles in socially sustainable education include equity, collaboration and participatory parity between individuals and groups. The recognition and…
Democratic citizenship, critical literacy and educational policy in England
Peer reviewed
Conflicting Discourses of ‘Democracy’ and ‘Equality’
New statutory Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) guidance for schools in England was published in 2019. One of the major revisions since the preceding version has been the new inclusion of LGBTQ+ identities and relationships. Some groups in the UK have recently protested against this inclusion of positive teaching about LGBTQ+ identities and relationships, suggesting that, although there is overwhelming support for the new guidance, there are …
Łukasz Pakuła, Joanna Pawelczyk and Jane Sunderland. 2015. Gender and Sexuality in English Language Education
Preview this article: Łukasz Pakuła, Joanna Pawelczyk and Jane Sunderland. 2015. Gender and Sexuality in English Language Education: Focus on Poland, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/jls.00001.sau-1.gif
Language, sexuality and inclusive pedagogy
This paper examines linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion relating to sexual orientation and sexual identity as they surface in the context of language education and multilingual contexts. I argue that queer linguistics can provide a helpful theoretical framework for examining how normative and non‐normative constructions of sexual identity are enacted inscribed in language practices in classrooms, and how these language practices may e…
Discursive silences
In this paper, we present an analysis of ‘pleasure’ in sex and relationships education (SRE) in England. Drawing together two distinct sources of data and different but complementary analytical frameworks, we argue that pleasure is largely absent within SRE and that this discursive silence serves to produce highly gendered and heteronormative understandings of sexual agency, autonomy and empowerment. A critical linguistic analysis of the current …
Authenticating Sexual Diversity in School
Recent research into sexuality and education shows that homophobia is particularly prevalent and problematic in schools. However, little of this work has drawn on linguistic frameworks. This article uses the tactics of intersubjectivity framework to examine how a group of LGB-identified young people understand their sexuality identities in relation to the secondary school context. The application of this framework offers deeper insights into sexu…
Performance Management and the Stifling of Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production
In an era of neoliberal reforms, academics in UK universities have become increasingly enmeshed in audit, particularly of research 'outputs'. Using the data of performance management and training documents, this paper analyses the role of discourse in redefining the meaning of research, and in colonizing a new kind of entrepreneurial, corporate academic. The new regime in universities is characterized by slippage between the audit and disciplinar…
Sexual diversity and illocutionary silencing in the English National Curriculum
Schools are sites in which heterosexuality is constructed as normal and sexualities which transgress this norm are silenced, often tacitly rather than actively. In this study, linguistic analysis is used to argue that, in school environments, homophobia and heterosexism are discursively realised as much through what is not iterated as through what is explicitly stated or enacted. Elements of critical discourse analysis and speech act theory are u…
Business-facing motors for economic development’
Universities in 2011 find that they must justify their existence in economic terms, not intellectual ones. To this end, mission statements locate the university in an environment of increasing competitiveness and commodification. In this paper, we take a sample of 10 mission statements from the UK research-intensive Russell Group and the business-focused University Alliance. We use appraisal analysis to explore how the evaluative language used in…
How gay is football this year
Sexual identity categories are often constructed in everyday discourse as relatively fixed and stable, but such constructions usually do not sit comfortably with people's lived experiences of their own and others' sexualities. This paper examines the tactics of intersubjectivity (Bucholtz & Hall 2004) used in the discursive construction of sexual identities among members of a university women's football team. Using tactics of adequation/distincti…
Discourse and Identity in a Corpus of Lesbian Erotica
This article uses corpus linguistic methodologies to explore representations of lesbian desires and identities in a corpus of lesbian erotica from the 1980s and 1990s. We provide a critical examination of the ways in which "lesbian gender," power, and desire are represented, (re-)produced, and enacted, often in ways that challenge hegemonic discourses of gender and sexuality. By examining word frequencies and collocations, we critically analyze s…
Investigating Sexuality Discourses in the U.K. Secondary English Curriculum
This article reports on findings from a small-scale study that investigated sexuality discourses in the U.K. secondary English curriculum. In addition to conducting a critical analysis of English curriculum documents, interviews were also conducted with some English teachers and young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-identified people who attended, or had recently left, secondary school in Birmingham, U.K. Key findings indicate that…
Gender and sexuality
This special issue sets out to investigate a number of areas of concern, regarding gender and sexuality, which are identifiable in the current British higher education environment. We argue that current dominant 'neoliberal' discourses, which emphasise the commodification of higher education in the U.K., function to set limits upon 'equality'. While these discourses often suggest a widening of opportunities within higher education, with an emphas…
Performance Management and the Stifling of Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production
In an era of neoliberal reforms, academics in UK universities have become increasingly enmeshed in audit, particularly of research 'outputs'. Using the data of performance management and training documents, this paper analyses the role of discourse in redefining the meaning of research, and in colonizing a new kind of entrepreneurial, corporate academic. The new regime in universities is characterized by slippage between the audit and disciplinar…
Investigating Sexuality Discourses in the U.K. Secondary English Curriculum
This article reports on findings from a small-scale study that investigated sexuality discourses in the U.K. secondary English curriculum. In addition to conducting a critical analysis of English curriculum documents, interviews were also conducted with some English teachers and young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-identified people who attended, or had recently left, secondary school in Birmingham, U.K. Key findings indicate that…
Business-facing motors for economic development’
Universities in 2011 find that they must justify their existence in economic terms, not intellectual ones. To this end, mission statements locate the university in an environment of increasing competitiveness and commodification. In this paper, we take a sample of 10 mission statements from the UK research-intensive Russell Group and the business-focused University Alliance. We use appraisal analysis to explore how the evaluative language used in…
How gay is football this year
Sexual identity categories are often constructed in everyday discourse as relatively fixed and stable, but such constructions usually do not sit comfortably with people's lived experiences of their own and others' sexualities. This paper examines the tactics of intersubjectivity (Bucholtz & Hall 2004) used in the discursive construction of sexual identities among members of a university women's football team. Using tactics of adequation/distincti…
Discourse and Identity in a Corpus of Lesbian Erotica
This article uses corpus linguistic methodologies to explore representations of lesbian desires and identities in a corpus of lesbian erotica from the 1980s and 1990s. We provide a critical examination of the ways in which "lesbian gender," power, and desire are represented, (re-)produced, and enacted, often in ways that challenge hegemonic discourses of gender and sexuality. By examining word frequencies and collocations, we critically analyze s…
Language, sexuality and inclusive pedagogy
This paper examines linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion relating to sexual orientation and sexual identity as they surface in the context of language education and multilingual contexts. I argue that queer linguistics can provide a helpful theoretical framework for examining how normative and non‐normative constructions of sexual identity are enacted inscribed in language practices in classrooms, and how these language practices may e…
Authenticating Sexual Diversity in School
Recent research into sexuality and education shows that homophobia is particularly prevalent and problematic in schools. However, little of this work has drawn on linguistic frameworks. This article uses the tactics of intersubjectivity framework to examine how a group of LGB-identified young people understand their sexuality identities in relation to the secondary school context. The application of this framework offers deeper insights into sexu…
Gender and sexuality
This special issue sets out to investigate a number of areas of concern, regarding gender and sexuality, which are identifiable in the current British higher education environment. We argue that current dominant 'neoliberal' discourses, which emphasise the commodification of higher education in the U.K., function to set limits upon 'equality'. While these discourses often suggest a widening of opportunities within higher education, with an emphas…
Discourse and Identity in a Corpus of Lesbian Erotica
This article uses corpus linguistic methodologies to explore representations of lesbian desires and identities in a corpus of lesbian erotica from the 1980s and 1990s. We provide a critical examination of the ways in which "lesbian gender," power, and desire are represented, (re-)produced, and enacted, often in ways that challenge hegemonic discourses of gender and sexuality. By examining word frequencies and collocations, we critically analyze s…
Investigating Sexuality Discourses in the U.K. Secondary English Curriculum
This article reports on findings from a small-scale study that investigated sexuality discourses in the U.K. secondary English curriculum. In addition to conducting a critical analysis of English curriculum documents, interviews were also conducted with some English teachers and young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-identified people who attended, or had recently left, secondary school in Birmingham, U.K. Key findings indicate that…
Business-facing motors for economic development’
Universities in 2011 find that they must justify their existence in economic terms, not intellectual ones. To this end, mission statements locate the university in an environment of increasing competitiveness and commodification. In this paper, we take a sample of 10 mission statements from the UK research-intensive Russell Group and the business-focused University Alliance. We use appraisal analysis to explore how the evaluative language used in…
How gay is football this year
Sexual identity categories are often constructed in everyday discourse as relatively fixed and stable, but such constructions usually do not sit comfortably with people's lived experiences of their own and others' sexualities. This paper examines the tactics of intersubjectivity (Bucholtz & Hall 2004) used in the discursive construction of sexual identities among members of a university women's football team. Using tactics of adequation/distincti…
Sexual diversity and illocutionary silencing in the English National Curriculum
Schools are sites in which heterosexuality is constructed as normal and sexualities which transgress this norm are silenced, often tacitly rather than actively. In this study, linguistic analysis is used to argue that, in school environments, homophobia and heterosexism are discursively realised as much through what is not iterated as through what is explicitly stated or enacted. Elements of critical discourse analysis and speech act theory are u…
Discursive silences
In this paper, we present an analysis of ‘pleasure’ in sex and relationships education (SRE) in England. Drawing together two distinct sources of data and different but complementary analytical frameworks, we argue that pleasure is largely absent within SRE and that this discursive silence serves to produce highly gendered and heteronormative understandings of sexual agency, autonomy and empowerment. A critical linguistic analysis of the current …
Authenticating Sexual Diversity in School
Recent research into sexuality and education shows that homophobia is particularly prevalent and problematic in schools. However, little of this work has drawn on linguistic frameworks. This article uses the tactics of intersubjectivity framework to examine how a group of LGB-identified young people understand their sexuality identities in relation to the secondary school context. The application of this framework offers deeper insights into sexu…
Performance Management and the Stifling of Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production
In an era of neoliberal reforms, academics in UK universities have become increasingly enmeshed in audit, particularly of research 'outputs'. Using the data of performance management and training documents, this paper analyses the role of discourse in redefining the meaning of research, and in colonizing a new kind of entrepreneurial, corporate academic. The new regime in universities is characterized by slippage between the audit and disciplinar…
Łukasz Pakuła, Joanna Pawelczyk and Jane Sunderland. 2015. Gender and Sexuality in English Language Education
Preview this article: Łukasz Pakuła, Joanna Pawelczyk and Jane Sunderland. 2015. Gender and Sexuality in English Language Education: Focus on Poland, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/jls.00001.sau-1.gif
Language, sexuality and inclusive pedagogy
This paper examines linguistic practices of inclusion and exclusion relating to sexual orientation and sexual identity as they surface in the context of language education and multilingual contexts. I argue that queer linguistics can provide a helpful theoretical framework for examining how normative and non‐normative constructions of sexual identity are enacted inscribed in language practices in classrooms, and how these language practices may e…
Conflicting Discourses of ‘Democracy’ and ‘Equality’
New statutory Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) guidance for schools in England was published in 2019. One of the major revisions since the preceding version has been the new inclusion of LGBTQ+ identities and relationships. Some groups in the UK have recently protested against this inclusion of positive teaching about LGBTQ+ identities and relationships, suggesting that, although there is overwhelming support for the new guidance, there are …
Democratic citizenship, critical literacy and educational policy in England
Peer reviewed
‘The end of civilisation’
This article reports on findings from a study investigating how a sample of 40 children aged 5–11 perceive and represent environmental issues through multi-modal eco-narratives (n = 40) that they have produced in response to a visual stimulus. Using a multimodal discourse analysis framework, the research explores the discursive and semiotic strategies children employ to express their knowledge, attitudes, and emotions about climate change and eco…
Gender, Sexuality and Social Sustainability in UK Schools
This article explores the relationship between language, gender, sexuality and social sustainability in UK schools. Social sustainability in education focuses around enabling every individual to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary for shaping a sustainable future (UNESCO, 2016). Key principles in socially sustainable education include equity, collaboration and participatory parity between individuals and groups. The recognition and…
Sociology (14 works) · Gender Studies (11 works) · Human sexuality (9 works) · Political science (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Gender Studies in Language (8 works) · Gender Studies (6 works) · Law (6 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (5 works) · Linguistics (5 works)