Overview
Background
I'm a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Queensland, where I use computational methods and large text and speech corpora to study how English is actually used — in everyday conversation, across social groups, and by learners.
My research focuses on features that traditional grammars overlook but that shape real communication: discourse markers (like, you know), general extenders, terms of address, vulgarity, and adjective amplification. I also work in corpus phonetics, particularly vowel production and voice-onset timing in first- and second-language English speakers.
Alongside my research, I hold several roles focused on language research infrastructure:
- Director of Research, School of Languages and Cultures, UQ
- Director of the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL), a free open-access hub for language data science (https://ladal.edu.au/)
- Chief Investigator on the Language Data Commons of Australia (LDaCA), a national research infrastructure project (https://www.ldaca.edu.au/)
I'm also an advocate for reproducibility and open science in the humanities and social sciences, and I develop tools and workflows that make text and speech analysis more transparent and rigorous.
Research areas: applied linguistics, corpus linguistics, computational linguistics, sociolinguistics, language variation and change, learner corpus research, corpus pragmatics, reproducibility, digital humanities.
Availability
- Dr Martin Schweinberger is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Universität Hamburg
Research interests
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Vulgarity and Swearing
I investigate how swear words and taboo language are used in everyday speech and online discourse. Contrary to popular belief, vulgar language follows systematic social and linguistic rules. My research uncovers how such expressions function in communication and what they reveal about speakers’ identities, emotions, and group memberships.
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Discourse Markers and Filler Words
I study words like like, you know, and well—terms often dismissed as meaningless. Using computational analysis, I show how these elements structure conversations and convey nuanced meanings. My work demonstrates that such "filler" words play important roles in signaling attitudes, managing interactions, and guiding listener expectations.
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Open Science and Research Transparency
I actively promote reproducible, open research practices in the humanities and social sciences. I provide practical training and resources to help language researchers adopt transparent workflows. My advocacy supports greater academic rigor and long-term trust in empirical research.
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Text Analytics and Computational Linguistics
I apply computational methods—like machine learning and statistical modelling—to large corpora to uncover hidden linguistic patterns. These tools help quantify language use in a way that supports replicable, empirical research. My work is at the intersection of computer science and linguistics, making it especially relevant in the digital age.
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Digital Infrastructure and Research Tools
As Director of LADAL and a lead in LDaCA, I am building accessible digital platforms that support large-scale language analysis. These initiatives democratize access to language data and computational tools for researchers, students, and educators alike. My infrastructure work enhances the capacity for advanced language research in Australia and beyond.
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Language Variation and Change
I explore how language evolves over time and across different social settings. By analyzing large-scale linguistic datasets, I identify subtle patterns of variation in how people speak, particularly in informal and digital contexts. This research helps reveal how social norms and technology influence the way we communicate.
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Learner Language and Second Language Acquisition
I analyze how learners of English produce sounds, manage fluency, and develop pronunciation over time. This includes examining features like vowel quality, voice-onset time, pauses, and accent intelligibility. By comparing learner and native speaker data, my research informs language teaching and helps improve learner outcomes.
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Corpus Phonetics
I use corpus-based methods to investigate the phonetic characteristics of spoken language, including pronunciation patterns among both native and non-native speakers. I focus on measurable acoustic features such as vowel production and timing cues. This approach allows for the large-scale, data-driven analysis of speech in real-life settings.
Research impacts
Public reach through media
My research on vulgarity and variation in World Englishes has generated over 96 media reports internationally, with an estimated combined reach exceeding 205 million. In 2025, coverage included national television (Channel 10 News, The Project), ABC Radio interviews across Australia, and international press including The Guardian, CNN, Der Spiegel, Deutsche Welle, Popular Science, and Yahoo News. My co-authored article in The Conversation — "201 ways to say 'fuck': what 1.7 billion words of online text shows about how the world swears" (with Kate Burridge) — prompted follow-up coverage across more than 20 outlets in Australia, the UK, Europe, and North America.
Building Australia's language data infrastructure
As Chief Investigator and Steering Committee member on the Language Data Commons of Australia (LDaCA), I contribute to building Australia's first national infrastructure for language data — enabling researchers, cultural institutions, and Indigenous communities to preserve, access, and analyse language collections that would otherwise remain fragmented or inaccessible.
Free global training in language data science
As founder and Director of the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL), I have built one of the most widely used open-access hubs for language data science training. Since 2021, LADAL has reached over 500,000 users worldwide, providing free, reproducible resources that lower the barrier to computational methods for students, researchers, and practitioners across the humanities and social sciences.
Shaping the field
I serve as Vice-President Profession of the International Society for the Linguistics of English (ISLE), board member of ICAME, Associate Editor of the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, and book series editor for Bloomsbury's Language, Data Science and Digital Humanities.
Works
Search Professor Martin Schweinberger’s works on UQ eSpace
2017
Conference Publication
VowelChartProject: Erstellung personalisierter Vokaltrapeze zur Verbesserung der Zielsprachennähe im Zweitspracherwerb bei Lehramtsstudierenden
Schweinberger, Martin and Gerspacher, Sandra (2017). VowelChartProject: Erstellung personalisierter Vokaltrapeze zur Verbesserung der Zielsprachennähe im Zweitspracherwerb bei Lehramtsstudierenden. New International Perspectives on Future Teachers' Professional Competencies, Profale Congress 2017, Hamburg, Germany, 21-23 September 2017.
2016
Conference Publication
Using sentiment analysis to investigate the social stratification of emotives in Irish English
Schweinberger, Martin (2016). Using sentiment analysis to investigate the social stratification of emotives in Irish English. ST & D 2016 (2016 meeting of the Society for Text & Discourse), Kassel, Germany, 18-20 July 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
On the acquisition of intensifier constructions
Schweinberger, Martin (2016). On the acquisition of intensifier constructions. 17. Norddeutsches Linguistisches Kolloquium (17. NLK), Hamburg, Germany, 31 March - 2 April 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Ongoing changes in the Irish intensifier system
Schweinberger, Martin (2016). Ongoing changes in the Irish intensifier system. NPIE4 (4th meeting on New Perspectives on Irish English), Bergen, Norway, 5-7 July 2016.
2016
Conference Publication
Ongoing change in the New Zealand English Intensifier System
Schweinberger, Martin (2016). Ongoing change in the New Zealand English Intensifier System. ISLE 4 (4th meeting of the International Society for the Linguistics of English), Poznan, Poland, 18-21 September 2016.
2015
Book Chapter
A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English
Schweinberger, Martin (2015). A comparative study of the pragmatic marker like in Irish English and in south-eastern varieties of British English. Pragmatic markers in Irish English. (pp. 114-134) edited by Carolina P. Amador-Moreno, Kevin McCafferty and Elaine Vaughan. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/pbns.258.05sch
2015
Conference Publication
Why we need better statistics - A case study on eh in New Zealand English
Schweinberger, Martin (2015). Why we need better statistics - A case study on eh in New Zealand English. 16. Norddeutsches Linguistisches Kolloquium (16. NLK), Hannover, Germany, 26-28 March 2015.
2014
Journal Article
Studying the linguistic ecology of Singapore: a comparison of college and university students
Siemund, Peter, Schulz, Monika Edith and Schweinberger, Martin (2014). Studying the linguistic ecology of Singapore: a comparison of college and university students. World Englishes, 33 (3), 340-362. doi: 10.1111/weng.12094
2014
Book Chapter
Frequency, dispersion and register variation of selected discoursepragmatic particles in Singapore English
Schweinberger, Martin (2014). Frequency, dispersion and register variation of selected discoursepragmatic particles in Singapore English. Language contact around the globe. (pp. 259-273) edited by Amei Koll-Stobbe and Sebastian Knospe. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang.
2014
Other Outputs
The discourse marker LIKE: a corpus-based analysis of selected varieties of English
Schweinberger, Martin (2014). The discourse marker LIKE: a corpus-based analysis of selected varieties of English. PhD Thesis, Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Universität Hamburg.
2013
Book Chapter
A corpus-based study of language internal and language external determinants of non-standard uses of noun phrase structures - a primer
Schweinberger, Martin and Burmeister, Melanie (2013). A corpus-based study of language internal and language external determinants of non-standard uses of noun phrase structures - a primer. Korpuslinguistische Untersuchungen: Analysen einzelsprachlicher Phänomene. (pp. 131-149) edited by Anja Hennemann and Claudia Schlaak. Berlin, Germany: Frank & Timme.
2013
Book Chapter
A sociolinguistic analysis of discourse marker LIKE in Northern Ireland. A look behind the scenes of quantitative reasoning
Schweinberger, Martin (2013). A sociolinguistic analysis of discourse marker LIKE in Northern Ireland. A look behind the scenes of quantitative reasoning. New approaches to the analysis of linguistic variability. (pp. 13-39) edited by Markus Bieswanger and Amei Koll-Stobbe. Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang.
2012
Conference Publication
Global diffusion and local implementation - the discourse particle LIKE around the world
Schweinberger, Martin (2012). Global diffusion and local implementation - the discourse particle LIKE around the world. ICAME 33 (33rd meeting of the International Computer Archive of Modern and Medieval English), Leuven, Belgium, 26 May - 3 June 2012.
2012
Book Chapter
The discourse marker LIKE in Irish English
Schweinberger, Martin (2012). The discourse marker LIKE in Irish English. New perspectives on Irish English. (pp. 179-202) Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/veaw.g44.09sch
2012
Conference Publication
How multilingual are Singaporeans really? A sociological and sociolinguistic analysis of the linguistic ecology of Singapore
Siemund, Peter, Schulz, Monika Edith and Schweinberger, Martin (2012). How multilingual are Singaporeans really? A sociological and sociolinguistic analysis of the linguistic ecology of Singapore. English in Asia's Languages Habitats and Europe's Asia Competence, Berlin, Germany, 9-12 May 2012.
2012
Conference Publication
A corpus-based study of language internal and language external determinantes of linguistic variation in Singapore English - a pilot study
Schweinberger, Martin (2012). A corpus-based study of language internal and language external determinantes of linguistic variation in Singapore English - a pilot study. 13. Norddeutsches Linguistisches Kolloquium (13. NLK), Potsdam, Germany, 25-26 March 2012.
2012
Book Chapter
Reflexive and intensive self-forms
Siemund, Peter, Maier, Georg and Schweinberger, Martin (2012). Reflexive and intensive self-forms. Areal features of the anglophone world. (pp. 409-438) edited by Raymond Hickey. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110279429.409
2012
Journal Article
Reflexive and intensive <i>self</i>-forms
Siemund, Peter, Maier, Georg and Schweinberger, Martin (2012). Reflexive and intensive self-forms. Areal Features of the Anglophone World, 80, 409-437.
2011
Conference Publication
The local spread of globally available innovations: the discourse marker LIKE around the world
Schweinberger, Martin (2011). The local spread of globally available innovations: the discourse marker LIKE around the world. LCTG3 (International Conference Language Contact in Times of Globalization), Greifswald, Germany, 30 June - 2 July 2011.
2011
Conference Publication
Global diffusion and local implementation - the discourse particle LIKE around the world
Schweinberger, Martin (2011). Global diffusion and local implementation - the discourse particle LIKE around the world. Symposium Sprachwandel/Language Change, Munich, Germany, 13-15 July 2011.
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Martin Schweinberger is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
A multifactorial study of morpho-syntactic errors across different L1 backgrounds and language proficiency levels
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
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Doctor Philosophy
Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in TESOL: A Study on Personalised Learning and Impact on Student Engagement and Motivation in A Rural Indonesian University
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
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Doctor Philosophy
Enhancing Lexical Resources for Argumentative Essay Writing through Corpus Integration
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
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Doctor Philosophy
Corpus-based investigation of three-minute thesis presentations: Register perspective
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
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Doctor Philosophy
The Relationship Between Writing Tasks and Second Language Writers¿ Use of Metadiscourse
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
A corpus-based analysis of conspiracy theory discourse on Reddit: Understanding conspiracy-fuelled anomie and moral panics during COVID-19
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Ryan Ko
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
The acquisition of number marking: The case of Indonesian as a second language
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Peter Crosthwaite
Media
Enquiries
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