Jeannette Littlemore

Professor Jeannette Littlemore is a leading scholar in Applied Linguistics at the University of Birmingham, specializing in metaphor and metonymy across language learning and cross-cultural communication. She co-chairs the International Organisation Researching and Applying Metaphor and leads a research group on figurative language.

Her research focuses on:

• Metaphor/metonymy in emotional expression and understanding
• Figurative language in second language acquisition
• Cognitive and cultural factors in metaphor interpretation
• Applications to healthcare, climate activism, and workplace communication

Recent publications explore topics like:

• Metaphor’s role in pandemic isolation experiences
• Figurative patterns in climate activism discourse
• Cognitive modeling of metaphor variation
• Emotion-color associations across cultures

Selected scientific awards:

• ESRC grant (2016-2018): £537,225
• Marie Curie Fellowship (2015-2017): €183,455
• Spanish Ministry grants (2012-2014, 2014-2017): €50k-€73k
• British Council grant (2010): £2,820

She supervises PhD projects on figurative language pedagogy and cognitive linguistics, teaching modules in:

• Language Teaching Methodology
• Second Language Acquisition
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Psycholinguistics

Her lab collaborates internationally on projects involving:

• Cross-cultural metaphor analysis
• Figurative communication in healthcare
• Iconicity in language