Skip to content The Open University
Professor Guy Cook

Professor Guy Cook

Professor of Education

The Open University Faculty of Education and Language Studies Centre for Language and Communication

+44 (0)1908 653 383
x 53383

Profile

I am an applied linguist with particular interests in
• discourse analysis
• translation and first language use in English language teaching
• literary stylistics and literature teaching
• language play
• the language of advertising and public relations
• language in public  debates about food policy.

I was appointed to a chair in Language and Education at the Open University in 2005, and gave my inaugural professorial lecture in 2006.   I was co-editor of the journal Applied Linguistics from 2004-2009.  I am an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS)and current Chair (2009-2012) of the British Association for Applied Linguistics.

You can also find me on http://open.academia.edu/GuyCook

My books are:

Before joining the Open University, I was a lecturer at the University of Leeds (1985-1991), head of TESOL and Languages at the London Institute of Education (1991-1998), and Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading (1998-2004).  My first degree was in English literature at Cambridge University.  Before becoming an academic I worked as an EFL teacher in Egypt, Italy and the Soviet Union, and as a secondary school teacher in England.

Recent publications:

Twiner, Alison, Guy Cook, and Julia Gillen (2009). Overlooked issues of religious identity in the school dinners debate. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(4), 473-488.

Cook, Guy 2010 Sweet talking: Food, language, and democracy. Language teaching
43(2) : 168-181

Cook, Guy (forthcoming 2010) ‘In defence of genius’ in Swann, J., Pope, R. and Carter, R. (eds) Creativity, Language, Literature: the state of the art. Basingstoke, Hants: Palgrave Macmillan.

Cook, Guy 2009 ‘The Best Teacher’ in Rakesh Bhanot and Eva Illes (eds.) ‘Best of Language Issues’ London: London South Bank University 245-253

Cook, Cook, Guy, Matt Reed, and Alison Twiner (2009) ‘“But it’s all true!” Commercialism and commitment in the discourse of organic food promotion.’ Text & Talk. 29.2

Cook, Guy (forthcoming 2009) ‘“Hearts and minds.” Persuasive language in ancient and modern public debate.’ in Maybin, J and Swann, J. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies. London: Routledge.

Cook, Guy (2009) ‘Advertising Language’ in Malmkjaer, K. (ed.) Routledge Encyclopaedia of Linguistics.

Cook, Guy (2009) ‘The misuse of science’ The Ecologist, February

Cook, Guy (2009) Review of 'Margaret Mead: the making of an American icon' by Nancy Lutkhaus . The Times Higher Education

Cook, Guy (2008) ‘Hysteria and hyperbole - which side is it on?’ The Ecologist, November

Qualifications

BA (Cambridge), PGCE (London), MA (London), PhD (Leeds), FRSA , AcSS.

Teaching Interests

I am a member of the course team writing the new BA course 'Worlds of English'.

PhD supervision areas include discourse analysis, media and advertising language, literature teaching and stylistics, applied linguistics theory and practice.

Current Doctoral Supervision:

  • Guozhi Cai (PhD) The Chinese Tertiary English Language Curriculum and Its Delivery: a critical study.
  • David Hann (PhD) Playful language in a mixed business class of English language learners
  • Afrakoma Hmensa (PhD) Language of print advertising in Ghana
  • Torri Wang (PhD) Chinese students' understanding of humour in lectures in English
  • Nikoletta Vassiliou (EdD) Teacher classroom practices, beliefs and attitudes towards teachers’ target and first language use in public primary EFL classrooms in Cyprus

Supervised PhDs

  • 2007 Julia Wong 'Nicknames in Hong Kong and England: Forms, Functions, and Their Relation to Personal Names and Other Forms of Address.' Open University.
  • 2007 Khalid Albalushi 'Teaching English Language through Literary Translation in Oman' Nottingham University.
  • 2006 Christopher Rizza 'Forms and Functions of Chant.' Open University.
  • 2005 Hugh Tyrrwhit-Drake 'A Critique of Critical Discourse Analysis.' University of Reading.
  • 2004 Denise Santos 'A study of the textbook in literacy events: language, literacies and TEFL in an educational community.' University of Reading.
  • 2003 James Simpson 'The Discourse of Synchronous Internet Chatrooms.' University of Reading
  • 2002 Geoff Jordan 'The Theoretical Basis of Second Language Acquisition Studies.' London University Institute of Education
  • 2000 Kieran O’Halloran 'Mystifying discourse : a critique of current assumptions and an alternative framework for analysis.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1999 Terezinha Lobianco T'he Effect of the Interplay of Paralanguage and Language on the Accessibility of Written Texts.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1999. Beate Poole 'A Critical Analysis of Early Start Programmes in UK Primary Language Learning.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1999. Seiko Harumi 'The Use of Silence by Japanese Learners in Cross-cultural Communication and its Pedagogic Implications.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1997. Lynne Cameron T'he Metaphorical Use of Language in Educational Discourse: a Theoretical and Empirical Investigation.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1997. Max Lin Hui-Bon-Hoa 'Teaching Hong Kong Chinese Students to Read and Write about English Literature: A Proposal for Curriculum Renewal.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1995. David Barrett 'Discourse Learning and Acculturation.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1995. Silvia de Barros Abbud 'The Issue of Culture in EFL Lessons in Brazil: an Ethnographic Investigation.' London University Institute of Education
  • 1994. David Horner 'On the Acquisition of Grammar and Meaning in Instructed Second Language Learning: A Case Study of the Development of Past Verb Forms by adult French Learners of English as a Foreign Language.' London University Institute of Education

Research Interests

applied linguistics, discourse analysis, literary stylistics and literature teaching, English language teaching, translation in language teaching and learning, rituals and language play,  the language of advertising and public relations, language in public debates about food policy.

Current Research Projects

‘The Presentation of GM Crop Research to Non-Specialists: a case study’. Funded by ESRC, £38,046. (R/000/22/3725). November 2001- November 2002. (co-investigator Dr Peter T Robbins)

‘The discourse of the GM food debate: how language choices affect public trust.’ Funded by ESRC, £42,000 (RES/000/22/0132) January-December 2003. (co-investigators Dr Peter T Robbins and Elisa Pieri)

‘The language and discourse of argumentation in computer conferencing and essays’ ESRC £44,146 (RES/000/22/1453), October 2005-October 2006 (PI Dr Caroline Coffin, coinvestigator  Dr Sarah North, Open University) Graded "outstanding" by the ESRC.


‘The Discourse of Organic Food Promotion: language, intention, and effects’ ESRC £44,983 (RES-000-22-1626) January-December 2006 (coinvesitigator Dr Peter T Robbins, researchers Dr Matt Reed and Alison Twiner) Graded "outstanding" by the ESRC.

‘The Discourse of the School Dinners Debate’ ESRC £98,571 (RES-000-22-1947) December 2006-December 2007. (coinvestigator Dr Julia Gillen, researcher Alison Twiner) Graded "outstanding" by the ESRC.

For further details visit

http://creet.open.ac.uk/projects/language-of-food-politics/projects.cfm

Publications

Authored Book
Cook, Guy (2010). Translation in Language Teaching: An Argument for Reassessment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cook, Guy (2004). Genetically Modified Language: the discourse of arguments for GM crops and food. London, UK: Routledge.
Cook, Guy (2003). Applied Linguistics. Oxford Introductions to Language. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Cook, Guy (2001). The discourse of advertising. 2nd edition. Interface. London, UK: Routledge.
Cook, Guy (2000). Language Play, Language Learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Book Chapter
Cook, Guy (2010). 'Hearts and minds.' Persuasive language in ancient and modern public debate. In: Swann, Joan and Maybin, Janet eds. The Routledge Companion to English Language Studies. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 134–135.
Cook, Guy (2010). Language and advertising. In: Malmkjaer, Kirsten ed. Routledge Linguistic Encyclopaedia. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 297–300.
Cook, Guy (2009). The best teacher. In: Bhanot , Rakesh and Illes, Eva eds. Best of Language Issues. London, UK: London South Bank University , pp. 245–253.
Cook, Guy (2008). Advertising and Public Relations. In: Koller, Veronika and Wodak, Ruth eds. Language and Communication in the Public Sphere. Handbook of Applied Linguistics, 4. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 113–138.
Cook, Guy (2008). Hocus Pocus or God’s Truth: the dual identity of Michael Stubbs. In: Gerbig, Andrea and Mason, Oliver eds. Language, People, Numbers: Corpus Linguistics and Society. Language and Computers : Studies in Practical Linguisiics. Amsterdam: Rodopi, pp. 350–327.
Cook, Guy (2007). ‘This we have done’. The different vagueness of poetry and Public realtions. In: Cutting, Joan ed. Vague Language Explored. London: Palgrave, pp. 21–39.
Cook, Guy (2006). Why play with language? In: Maybin, Janet and Swann, Joan eds. The Art of English: Everyday Creativity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 37–45.
Robbins, Peter T.; Pieri, Elisa and Cook, Guy (2004). GM scientists and the politics of the risk society. In: Haugestad, Anne K. and Wulfhorst, J.D. eds. Future as fairness: ecological justice and global citizenship. At the interface/Probing the boundaries (10). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi, pp. 85–104.
Cook, Guy (2002). Imposed unity, denied diversity: changing attitudes to artifice in language and learning. In: Spelman-Miller, Kristyan and Thompson, Paul eds. Unity and Diversity in Language Use. British Studies in Applied Linguistics. London, UK: BAAL in association with Continuum, pp. 183–197.
Cook, Guy (2001). Translation and Language Teaching. In: Baker, Mona ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London, UK: Routledge, pp. 117–121.
Conference Item
Cook, Guy (2009). Rebuilding broken bridges: translation, literature, and English Language Teaching. In: International Translation Conference, 2009, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
Cook, Guy (2007). An unmarked improvement: using translation in ELT. In: 41st IATEFL Annual Conference and Exhibition, 18-22 April 2007, Aberdeen.
Journal Article
Cook, Guy (2010). Sweet talking: Food, language, and democracy. Language Teaching, 43(2), pp. 168–181.
Cook, Guy; Reed, Matt and Twiner, Alison (2009). "But it's all true!": commercialism and commitment in the discourse of organic food promotion. Text and Talk, 29(2), pp. 151–173.
Twiner, Alison; Cook, Guy and Gillen, Julia (2009). Overlooked issues of religious identity in the school dinners debate. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(4), pp. 473–488.
Cook, Guy (2007). A Thing of the Future: translation in language learning. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 17(3), pp. 396–401.
Cook, Guy; Robbins, Peter T. and Pieri, Elisa (2006). 'Words of Mass Destruction': British coverage of the Genetically Modified food debate, expert and non-expert reactions. Public Understanding of Science, 15(1), pp. 5–29.
Cook, Guy (2005). Calm Seas or Troubled Waters? Transitions, definitions and disagreements in applied linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(3), pp. 282–301.
Cook, Guy and Walter, Tony (2005). Rewritten rites: language and social relations in traditional and contemporary funerals. Discourse and Society, 16(3), pp. 365–391.
Cook, Guy; Robbins, Peter and Pieri, Elisa (2004). 'The scientists think and the public feels': expert perceptions of the discourse of GM food. Discourse and Society, 15(4), pp. 433–449.
Cook, Guy (2003). The functions of example sentences: a reply to Vivian Cook. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), pp. 249–255.
Cook, Guy (2001). "The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of the hen": ludicrous invented sentences in language teaching. Applied Linguistics, 22(3), pp. 366–387.

last updated 03-Feb-2012