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Dr Matt Davies is a Senior Lecturer in English Language within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Chester, UK. He has held this position since March 2009 and previously served as Programme Leader for the BA English Language degree (2009-2022) and MA English Language and Linguistics. Davies is Deputy Chair of the Faculty Ethics Committee since 2017 and serves as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His academic work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical applications through multiple community partnerships.
Davies' research focuses on the relationships between discourse and power, particularly in national news media. He employs critical discourse analysis to examine how ideologies are embedded in texts, with special attention to constructed binary oppositions in news reports and political speeches. His methodologies combine qualitative analysis with quantitative corpus linguistics approaches. Current projects include the 'Changing Chester' strand of the Cestrian English project, which explores historical representations of Chester, and a partnership with Cheshire Archives and Local Studies to digitize 90 years of Cheshire Life magazine.
His publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across discourse analysis, media representation, and corpus linguistics. Recent work shows an expanding focus on regional identity, historical media analysis, and community engagement through projects like the Language Debates website and C.E.L.L.MATES student magazine. Davies has organized major academic events including the Place and the Periodical Conference and the 10th Northern Englishes Workshop.
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2020-present)
- Newsletter Editor, Poetics and Linguistics Association Executive Committee (2014-2017)
Davies actively supervises PhD students on contemporary topics including representation of transgender people in UK press and stylistics of hymns. He has developed numerous courses including EN6314 Discourse and Ideology in the News and EN6301 Language Debates. His external examiner roles include positions at Dublin City University, Newman University, and University of Brighton. Davies promotes innovative assessment methods such as blogs and video presentations, reflected in his creation of the Language Debates platform and C.E.L.L.MATES student magazine.
His community engagement includes organizing exhibitions of 90 years of Cheshire Life in libraries across Cheshire and collaborating with heritage groups to make archival materials accessible to the public. The Cheshire Life Digitisation Project represents a significant knowledge exchange initiative connecting academic research with community resources.
