Amir Sheikhan is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics. His research lies in the field of pragmatics, particularly the role of language in social interaction, with a specific focus on (im)politeness, conversational humour, and intercultural communication. He is especially interested in the co-construction of humour in interaction and how (im)politeness is manifested and evaluated in different contexts.
Amir is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has designed and delivered a range of courses in linguistics and applied linguistics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Amir completed his PhD at The University of Queensland in 2023, where he held research and teaching positions before joining the University of... Read more
About me
Amir Sheikhan is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics. His research lies in the field of pragmatics, particularly the role of language in social interaction, with a specific focus on (im)politeness, conversational humour, and intercultural communication. He is especially interested in the co-construction of humour in interaction and how (im)politeness is manifested and evaluated in different contexts.
Amir is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has designed and delivered a range of courses in linguistics and applied linguistics at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Amir completed his PhD at The University of Queensland in 2023, where he held research and teaching positions before joining the University of South Australia in 2025.
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2024 |
|
| 2024 |
Open access
2
1
|
| 2022 |
3
5
|
| 2019 |
3
4
|
For a comprehensive list of my publications, see my Google Scholar page.
Conference Papers:
Sheikhan, A. (2024, December). The role of recipients in managing sequences of talk: Responding to non-serious talk in intercultural interaction. Paper to be presented at the 4th Conference on Discourse, Culture and Interaction (DCI@UQ), Brisbane, Australia.
Sheikhan, A. (2024, February). Affiliation and conversational humour in initial interactions. Paper presented at the 30th Australasian Humour Studies Network Conference (AHSN), Brisbane, Australia.
Sheikhan, A., & Haugh, M. (2023, July). What’s the preferred response to humour? Responding to conversational humour in initial interactions. Paper presented at the 18th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA), Brussels, Belgium.
Sheikhan, A. (2022, October). Self-deprecating humour as invitation to post-expand compliments. Paper presented at the Digital Meeting for Conversation Analysis (DMCA 2022).
Sheikhan, A. (2022, June). Particularistic co-membership and conversational humour in intercultural initial interactions. Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Intercultural Pragmatics and Communication (INPRA), Brisbane, Australia.
Sheikhan, A. (2022, June). Responses to humour bids: Toward an analytical framework. Paper presented at the (Inter-)cultural Perspectives on Humour in the Globalised World Symposium, Brisbane, Australia.
Sheikhan, A., & Haugh, M. (2021, June). Epistemics and conversational humour in intercultural initial interactions. Paper presented at the 17th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA), Winterthur, Switzerland.
Sheikhan, A. (2021, February). Responses to humour bids in intercultural initial interactions. Paper presented at the 27th Australasian Humour Studies Network Conference (AHSN), Wellington, New Zealand.
Sheikhan, A., & Haugh, M. (2020, February). Absurd answers in Persian television talk shows. Paper presented at the 26th Australasian Humour Studies Network Conference (AHSN), Brisbane, Australia.
Keynote and Invited Talks:
August 2024 - ‘Responding to conversational humour in intercultural initial interactions: The role of epistemics and affiliation’, talk at Research Seminar Series in Languages and Linguistics, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Australia.
April 2024 - ‘Responding to humour in interaction’, keynote at 34th Conference of the International Society for Humour Studies (ISHS 34), Department of Literature & Languages, Texas A&M University-Commerce, United States.
October 2023 - ‘Conversational humour in intercultural interactions: Bridging interactional and cognitive perspectives’, talk at Research Seminar Series, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Australia.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Anglia Ruskin University | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of Queensland | AUSTRALIA |
Teaching & student supervision
