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Meredith Marra

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Meredith Marra
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Academic background
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
Thesis
Academic work
Institutions

Meredith Helena Marra (born 1974) is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor of linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in sociolinguistics and workplace discourse.

Academic career

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Marra completed a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 2003, in which she used critical discourse analysis to examine decision-making language.[1][2][3] She initially intended to be an accountant, but changed focus after taking a linguistic course in her second year as an undergraduate.[4] Marra then joined the faculty of Massey University, before moving back to Victoria, and rising to full professor in 2020.[5]

Marra is a linguist, and researches workplace discourse and culture. She focuses mainly on the language of business meetings, but has published on power, politeness, humour and aspects of identity. Marra describes humour in the workplace as "social glue" and says that "humour is serious", as it can be used to both include and exclude people.[6] Since 2015 Marra has been the director of the Wellington-based Language in the Workplace project, which studies workplace language with the aim of helping improve working culture in New Zealand and overseas.[4][1][2] They have found that New Zealanders tend to use chit-chat and humour more than British or American workers, and this can be confusing for new migrants.[7] Marra has also looked at gender and ethnic identity in relation to bias and discrimination in the workplace.[8][4]

Marra has co-edited a number of books, including a festschrift for Janet Holmes, with Paul Warren.[1]

Selected works

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Books

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  • Holmes, Janet; Marra, Meredith; Vine, Bernadette, eds. (2011). Leadership, Discourse, and Ethnicity. Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730759.001.0001.
  • Holmes, Janet; Marra, Meredith, eds. (11 August 2010). Femininity, Feminism and Gendered Discourse: A Selected and Edited Collection of Papers from the Fifth International Language and Gender Association Conference (IGALA5). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443824378.Holmes J Marra M. Femininity, Feminism and Gendered Discourse : A Selected and Edited Collection of Papers from the Fifth International Language and Gender Association Conference Igala5. Cambridge Scholars; 2010.
  • Angouri, Jo; Marra, Meredith; Holmes, Janet, eds. (10 May 2017). Introduction: Negotiating Boundaries at Work. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9781474403146.
  • Marra, Meredith; Warren, Paul, eds. (2017). Linguist at work : festschrift for Janet Holmes. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 9781776561728.
  • Angouri, Jo; Marra, Meredith, eds. (2011). Constructing Identities at Work. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-27237-8.

Journal articles

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Victoria University of Wellington. "Academic profile: Professor Meredith Marra". people.wgtn.ac.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Dr Meredith Marra". International Journal of Language Studies. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Theses". Linguistic Society of New Zealand. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Meredith Marra | School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  5. ^ Victoria University of Wellington (10 February 2020). "Inaugural lecture by Professor Meredith Marra". www.wgtn.ac.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  6. ^ "'It can be really, really daunting.' What happens when a colleague's use of humour becomes 'confronting' and 'stressful'". ABC News. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  7. ^ Wannan, Olivia (23 January 2014). "Chit-chat is 'social glue' for workplaces". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Keynote speakers". International Gender and Language Association. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
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