Project manager | PROFI - Adequate integration into the German job market
Doctoral Researcher & Lecturer | English Linguistics & Intercultural Communication
Director | Institute for International & Digital Communication (InDi) (Applied Research | Continuing Education | Programs for Refugees)
Marie-Louise Brunner is project manager of PROFI at Trier University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The project aims at helping refugees and international students with a background in academia to enter the job market. She is also a Doctoral Researcher at Trier University of Applied Sciences and she is on the board of directors of InDi - Institute for International and Digital Communication. As such, she is responsible for the development and extension of the intercultural communication and further education programs as well as doing applied linguistics research in the area of business communication via social media and videoconferencing. After having completed her B.A. and M.A. in English Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, she completed her PhD with distinction at Saarland University, Germany, in 2021 on the topic "Understanding Intercultural Communication: Negotiating Meaning and Identities in English as a Lingua Franca Skype Conversations." Her research interests are in the areas of discourse analysis and pragmatics, corpus linguistics, negotiation of identity, intercultural communication, and language and food. She is also interested in the use of online media and intercultural/multilingual approaches in the foreign language classroom.
I completed my PhD project in April 2021; publication is currently ongoing. In my PhD thesis, I analyze how speakers from different linguacultural backgrounds use English as a Lingua Franca to communicate via Skype. I am particularly interested in two main areas: (1) How do interlocutors negotiate meaning in interaction, i.e. how do they communicate what they mean when it comes to unknown words or untranslatable concepts, and (2) how do they negotiate their own and their interlocutor’s various (personal, regional, national, transnational) identities. Regarding the negotiation of meaning, I analyze realizations of assertive language use and innovation, functions of code-switching, the use of definitions, and functions of non-verbal elements in interaction. For the negotiation of identities, I focus, in particular, on the discussion of culturally specific items, othering, and the negotiation of culturally problematic topics. My thesis not only contributes to the field of English as a Lingua Franca through the use of new, multimodal data, it also provides an overview of valuable and concrete strategies for using English as a Lingua Franca in international contexts.
You can find an overview of current research in the context of InDi - Institute for International and Digital Communication under applied research.
Completed research projects
Monographs, Guidelines, and Corpora
Articles and other publications
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. Forthcoming. Cross-platform analysis. Research Methods for Digital Discourse Analysis, ed. by Camilla Vasquez. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. 2021. Section on "Let the Cat Out of The Bag! – Raising Intercultural Awareness with Hedgehog, Giraffe and Co." In: Whalen, D. Joel 2021 "Selections From the ABC 2020 Annual Conference, Online: Gathering Around the Cool Fire to Share Business Communication Teaching Innovations" Business and Professional Communication Quarterly 84(3): 266-286.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. 2021. Multimodal meaning making: The annotation of nonverbal elements in multimodal corpus transcription. RiCL - Research in Corpus Linguistics 9(1): 63-88. [Special issue: Challenges in combining structured and unstructured data in corpus development, ed. by Tanja Säily and Jukka Jukka Tyrkkö]. Open access via https://doi.org/10.32714/ricl.09.01.05.
Collet, Caroline; Stefan Diemer; and Marie-Louise Brunner. 2021. The discourse marker so in video-mediated communication in the Expanding Circle. World Englishes 2021: 1-17 [Special issue on Discourse Markers and World Englishes, ed. by Sofia Rüdiger and Sven Leuckert]. Open access via https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/weng.12543
Brunner, Marie-Louise. 2021. “Non, Je Parle Pas Français […] I See Subtitles Under People When They Speak”: Language Choice and Identity Construction in Contemporary Canadian Popular Culture. Discourses on Nations and Identities [XXI. Congress of the ICLA – Proceedings 3], ed. by Daniel Syrovy. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter. Open access via https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110642018/html.
Diemer, Stefan; and Marie-Louise Brunner. 2020. "Tell me about food and I tell you who you are" - Expert identity in intercultural food discourse via Skype. Talking about Food. The social and the global in eating communities, ed. by Sofia Rüdiger and Susanne Mühleisen, 167-187. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. 2020. Section on "Crisis Communication via Social Media: Can You Do Better?" In: Whalen, D. Joel. 2020. “Selections From the ABC 2019 Annual Conference, Detroit, Michigan: Dancin’ in Motown’s Streets to the Beat of My Favorite Assignments.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly 83(2): 234-255. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2329490620906454
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. 2019b. Meaning negotiation and customer engagement in a digital BELF setting: A study of Instagram company interactions. Iperstoria – Testi Letterature Linguaggi 13(1): 15-33 [Special section: Negotiating Meaning in Business English as a Lingua Franca, ed. by Alessia Cogo and Paola Vettorel]. https://iperstoria.it/article/view/436.
Brunner, Marie-Louise. 2019. “You’ll need help from your adult assistant” – Readership accommodation in children’s recipes. Text & Talk 39 (4), 441-463. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2019-2035.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. 2019a. Section on "Business Goes Intercultural: Developing an Intercultural Marketing Campaign" In: Whalen, D. Joel. 2019. “Selections From the ABC 2018 Annual Conference, Miami, Florida: Teaching Innovations Bright as the Tropical Sun.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly 82(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/232949061983338.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. November 2021. Best practices of multilingual language management on social media. Paper presented at Le multilinguisme dans les milieux professionnels. Observation des pratiques et interventions sur le terrain / Multilingualism in professional life. Manifestations, managements, University of Verona, Italy.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. October 2021. “I’ll let you guys off (peace sign emoji)” Webcare interactions on Instagram. Paper presented at 86th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communicatin (ABC 2021) (Virtual Conference)
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. October 2021. “Yeah just say if you can't hear me properly or, {waves}” – Negotiating interaction in virtual international conversations. Paper presented at 86th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communicatin (ABC 2021) (Virtual Conference)
Decock, Sofie; Stefan Diemer; and Marie-Louise Brunner. August 2021. Panel on Teaching / Training virtual global teams in the business communication classroom (co-organizer) at ABC Vienna 2020 (2021) (Virtual Conference).
Decock, Sofie; Christophe Wybraeke; Marie-Louise Brunner; and Stefan Diemer. August 2021. Cross-Cultural Market Research with Belgian-German Virtual Teams. Paper presented as part of the panel on Teaching / Training virtual global teams in the business communication classroom at ABC Vienna 2020 (2021) (Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. August 2021. “I’ll let you guys off (peace sign emoji)” - Webcare interactions on Instagram. Paper presented as part of the panel on Responding effectively to customer feedback online: Advances in webcare research at ABC Vienna 2020 (2021) (Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. August 2021. “Yeah just say if you can't hear me properly or, {waves}” – Negotiating interaction in video-mediated conversations. Paper presented as part of the panel on Spoken business communication in the digital age: Face-to-face and computer-mediated communication in dialogue at ABC Vienna 2020 (2021) (Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise. August 2021. “Italians don't do it, but actually, you SHOULD put sugar in [tomato sauce]!” - Expert identity in video-mediated food discourse. Paper presented as part of the panel on Whose taste matters? Authority, meaning, and culture in the linguistics of food at AILA World Congress 2021 (Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. August 2021. Multimodal Meaning Negotiation in Instagram Company Interactions: BELF in a Digital Setting. Paper presented as part of the panel on English as a Lingua Franca as a Multidimensional Resource in Professional Communication at AILA World Congress 2021 (Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. June 2021. Expressing and addressing customer dissatisfaction on Instagram. Paper presented as part of the panel on The expression of customer dissatisfaction online at 17th International Pragmatics Conference (Virtual Conference).
Marie-Louise Brunner. June 2021. Stance-taking and the role of laughter in the context of negotiations of cultural identities connected to food: An investigation of English as a Lingua Franca Skype conversations. Paper presented as part of the panel on Laughter and interactive stancetaking in food conversations in English, Japanese, German and other languages at 17th International Pragmatics Conference (Virtual Conference).
Stefan Diemer; and Marie-Louise Brunner. June 2021. Discourse segmentation in Instagram customer interactions. Paper presented at ISLE6 – Evolving English and the digital era (Virtual Conference).
Diemer, Stefan; Marie-Louise Brunner; and Sofie Decock. October 2020. Linguistic Approaches to International Business Communication. Discussion Panel of the Special Interest Group Intercultural Business Communication at 85th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communication (ABC 2020, Virtual Conference).
Decock, Sofie, Christophe Wybraeke, Marie-Louise Brunner, Stefan Diemer. October 2020. Teaching/Training Virtual Global Teams in the Business Communication Classroom. Panel at 85th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communication (ABC 2020, Virtual Conference).
Decock, Sofie, Christophe Wybraeke, Marie-Louise Brunner, Stefan Diemer. October 2020. Cross-Cultural Market Research with Belgian-German Virtual Teams. Paper presented at 85th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communication (ABC 2020, Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. October 2020. Let The Cat Out Of The Bag! - Raising Intercultural Awareness With Hedgehog, Giraffe and Co. Paper presented at My Favorite Assignement Session of 85th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communication (ABC 2020, Virtual Conference).
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. October 2020. Virtual border crossing and plurilingual practices on social media. Paper presented at B/ORDERING CULTURES: ALLTAG, POLITIK, ÄSTHETIK: 6. Jahrestagung der Kulturwissenschaftlichen Gesellschaft (KWG), Frankfort a. d. Oder, Germany.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. October 2019. “Thanks for the like, please repost” – Evaluating Channel-Specific Customer Communication via Social Media. Paper presented at 84th Annual International Conference of the Association for Business Communication (ABC 2019), Detroit, USA.
Brunner, Marie-Louise; and Stefan Diemer. September 2019. “We’re always looking for great content” – Customer Interaction via Instagram. Paper at Workshop on "Challenges of computer-mediated communication data: #obstacles #opportunities", convened by Marie-Louise Brunner, Stefan Diemer, Matt Gee & Andrew Kehoe, BICLCE8 – 8th Biennial International Conference on the Linguistics of Contemporary English. Bamberg, Germany.
Other conferences
Interviews and press articles
Introduction to Linguistics (Saarland University)
Advanced seminars (Proseminar, Saarland University)
Advanced seminars (Trier University of Applied Sciences)
Graduate seminar (Hauptseminar, Saarland University)
Research and Exam Colloquium (Forschungs- und Examenskolloquium, Saarland University)
Lectures
Meiser, Viktoria. 2021. Analyse von Nachhaltigkeits- und Marketingstrategien für Outdoor-Bekleidung am Beispiel des Sportausrüsters VAUDE. B.A. Umwelt- und Betriebswirtschaft, Hochschule Trier.
Schmidt, Marlon. 2021. Smart City – Chancen und Herausforderungen zur Schaffung einer nachhaltigen Mobilität im urbanen Raum. M.A. Umwelt- und Betriebswirtschaft, Hochschule Trier.
Berrens, Tom. 2021. Social Media Marketing in der Lebensmittelbranche. M.A. Umwelt- und Betriebswirtschaft, Hochschule Trier.
Lang, Marvin. 2021. Die Customer Experience der Eigenmarke Neatflow - Bestehende Konzepte und Handlungsempfehlungen entlang der Phasen des Kaufprozesses. B.A. Nachhaltige Ressourcenwirtschaft (Dual), Hochschule Trier.
Müller, Lara Maria. 2021. Lootboxen als Monetarisierungsstrategie für Videospiele - Eine kritische Betrachtung mit aktuellen Fallbeispielen. B.Sc. Medieninformatik, Hochschule Trier.
Staudt, Frederik . 2021. Vergleich der Geschäftsmodelle eines Fitnessstudios und eines E-Gyms sowie der Einfluss der Covid-19 Pandemie. B.Sc. Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen/ Umweltplanung, Hochschule Trier.
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