2001 – Present: Professor of English Language and Linguistics
2000 – 2005: Head of Department, Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University
1999-2001: Reader, Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University
1992 - 1998: Lecturer (A/B) Department of
Linguistics, Lancaster University
1990-1992: Research Associate, Lancaster University
1988-1989: Research Assistant, Liverpool University
1986-1987: Trainee chartered accountant
2004 - :Visiting Professor, Beijing Foreign Studies University
1999: Visiting Professor, Chemnitz University, Germany (3 months).
1997: Visiting Professor, Tohoku State University, Japan (3 months).
1991: Visiting Lecturer, Aberystwyth University (1 year)
1990: Visiting Lecturer, Liverpool University (1 year)