Dr David Peplow BA, MA ,PhD
Senior Lecturer in English Language
Summary
I am a Senior Lecturer in English Language. My teaching and research interests are face-to-face interaction, digital communication, and linguistic creativity. I work mainly within the field of Conversation Analysis and am particularly interested in the relationships between talk and social structure.
About
I joined Sheffield Hallam University in 2012 and have contributed to teaching and research in the English subject group. I am currently course leader for BA English Language, and teach on the following modules: Language in Use, Digital Communication, and Creative Language Awareness.
I have written two books on reader response and literacy practices in group settings: The Discourse of Reading Groups: Integrated Cognitive and Sociocultural Perspectives (Routledge; co-authored with Joan Swann, Paola Trimarco, and Sara Whiteley), and Talk About Books: A Study of Reading Groups (Bloomsbury). I am currently working on a textbook, entitled Language in Interaction (Edinburgh University Press).
Specialist areas of interest
Conversation analysis, creativity in language, digital communication, stylistics, social class
Teaching
Department of Humanities
College of Social Sciences and Arts
Subject area
English
Courses
BA (Honours) English Language
Modules
Language in Use
Digital Communication
Creative Language Awareness
Language Dissertation
Research
A comparative study of the language used in remote and in-person parole hearings - funded by BA/Leverhulme Small Grants scheme (SRG2021\210438).
Publications
Journal articles
Peplow, D., & Phillips, J. (2024). Communication repair in parole oral hearings: comparing remote and in-person settings. Journal of Criminology, 57 (3), 352-371. http://doi.org/10.1177/26338076241245737
Peplow, D., & Phillips, J. (2023). Remote parole oral hearings: more efficient, but at what cost? Criminology and Criminal Justice. http://doi.org/10.1177/17488958231163278
Whiteley, S., & Peplow, D. (2020). Interpreting real and fictional worlds in interaction: A socio-cognitive approach to reading group talk. Text & Talk. http://doi.org/10.1515/text-2020-2072
Peplow, D. (2020). Storytelling and stance-taking in group interaction. Narrative Inquiry, 30 (2), 427-450. http://doi.org/10.1075/ni.18078.pep
Healey, J., Hopkins, C., Mcclimens, A., & Peplow, D. (2017). The potential therapeutic benefits of reading poetry to nursing home residents: the road less travelled? Journal of Poetry Therapy, 30 (3), 153-165. http://doi.org/10.1080/08893675.2017.1328827
Van Der Bom, I., Grainger, K., Paterson, L., & Peplow, D. (2017). ‘It’s not the fact they claim benefits but their useless, lazy, drug taking lifestyles we despise’: Analysing audience responses to Benefits Street using live tweets. Discourse, Context, & Media, 21, 36-45. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.11.003
Albertson, K., Pateman, M., Albertson, K., Barnes, A., & Peplow, D. (2016). The role of the arts, humanities and social sciences in forming and informing responses to contemporary social change. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Civic and Political Studies, 11 (2), 29-46. http://doi.org/10.18848/2327-0071/CGP/v11i02/29-46
Paterson, L., Coffey-Glover, L., & Peplow, D. (2016). Negotiating stance within discourse of class: reactions to Benefits Street. Discourse and Society, 27 (2), 195-214. http://doi.org/10.1177/0957926515611558
Peplow, D. (2011). 'Oh, I've known a lot of Irish people': Reading groups and the negotiation of literary interpretation. Language and Literature, 20 (4), 295-315. http://doi.org/10.1177/0963947011401964
Book chapters
Peplow, D., & Phillips, J. (2025). “Why aren’t you learning anything?” Challenging questions in parole hearings involving prisoners serving IPP sentences. In Ringrow, H., & Piazza, R. (Eds.) The Language of Marginality and Subjectivity in a Global Context. Bloomsbury
Peplow, D., & Whiteley, S. (2021). Interpretation in interaction. In Linguistic Approaches to Literature. (pp. 23-42). John Benjamins Publishing Company: http://doi.org/10.1075/lal.36.02pep
Bell, A., Browse, S., Gibbons, A., & Peplow, D. (2021). Responding to Style. In Style and Reader Response: Minds, Media, Methods. (pp. 1-20). John Benjamins: http://doi.org/10.1075/lal.36.01bel
Paterson, L., Grainger, K., & Peplow, D. (2017). Does money talk equate to class talk? Audience responses to poverty porn in relation to money and debt. In Mooney, A., & Sifaki, E. (Eds.) The Language of Money and Debt : a Multidisciplinary Approach. (pp. 205-231). Palgrave Macmillan: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57568-1_9
Peplow, D. (2016). Creativity in everyday interactions. In Demjen, S., & Seargeant, P. (Eds.) Creativity in Language : From Everyday Style to Verbal Art. Open University Press: http://wels.open.ac.uk/overview/school-languages-and-applied-linguistics/creativity-language
Peplow, D. (2016). Transforming readings : reading and interpreting in book groups. In Burke, M., Fialho, O., & Zygnier, S. (Eds.) Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning Environments. John Benjamins
Peplow, D. (2014). "I’ve never enjoyed hating a book so much in my life.” The co-construction of reader identity in the reading group. In Chapman, S., & Clark, B. (Eds.) Pragmatics and Literary Stylistics. (pp. 152-171). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Peplow, D. (2014). The stylistics of everyday talk. In Stockwell, P., & Whiteley, S. (Eds.) Cambridge Handbook of Stylistics. (pp. 590-606). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: http://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139237031.043
Peplow, D., & Carter, R. (2014). Stylistics and real readers. In Burke, M. (Ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Stylistics. (pp. 440-454). London: Routledge
Books
Bell, A., Browse, S., Gibbons, A., & Peplow, D. (Eds.). (2021). Style and Reader Response: Minds, Media, Methods. John Benjamins.
Bell, A., Browse, S., Gibbons, A., & Peplow, D. (Eds.). (2021). Style and Reader Response: Minds, Media, Methods. John Benjamins.
Peplow, D. (2016). Talk About Books : A Study of Reading Groups. Bloomsbury Academic. http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/talk-about-books-9781472570239/
Peplow, D. (2016). Talk about books: A study of reading groups.
Peplow, D., Swann, J., Trimarco, P., & Whiteley, S. (2015). The Discourse of Reading Groups : Integrating Cognitive and Sociocultural Approaches. Routledge.
Reports
Kelly, S., Davies, L., Harrop, D., Mcclimens, A., Peplow, D., & Pollard, N. (2015). Reviewing art therapy research : a constructive critique. Sheffield Hallam University.
Rose, B., Mason, J., & Peplow, D. (n.d.). “It’s Hard to Make Friends on Zoom Calls”: Navigating ‘Culture Shock’ and Academic Identity Development in Higher Education. Sheffield Hallam University. http://doi.org/10.7190/steer/zoom_calls
Theses / Dissertations
Ashmore, C. (2024). The Chesterfield Accent and Dialect: Borderland Identity, Perceptions and Production. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Peplow, D., Mills, S., & Grainger, K. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00601
Ivansson, E.A.C. (2023). Archival fiction: Archival poetics in American multimodal literature. (Doctoral thesis). Supervised by Gibbons, A., Bell, A., & Peplow, D. http://doi.org/10.7190/shu-thesis-00582
Postgraduate supervision
Claire Ashmore: Dialect and identity in Chesterfield: A perceptual and apparent-time study
Daniel Pinder: Relevance Theory and Complex Poetic Texts
Media
Dr David Peplow is interested in social interaction, focusing particularly on how readers outside of university talk about literary reading. In his research he also considers how taste intersects with social class and how the poor are represented in the media.