Cassi's research interests include academic literacy, research communication, scholarly expression, genre-based pedagogy, English for Research Publication Purposes, English Medium Instruction, Systemic Functional Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics and grammatical metaphor.

Dr. Cassi Liardet is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics with expertise in discourse analysis, academic literacy, scholarly communication, and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Her research explores how language shapes academic and professional discourse, with a particular focus on grammatical metaphor, genre-based pedagogy, and English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP).

Cassi has led the development of two major learner corpora—the Chinese Learner Longitudinal Corpus (CLLC) and the Macquarie Longitudinal Learner Corpus (MQLLC)—which have informed numerous studies on the linguistic demands of academic writing. Her recent work investigates doctoral candidates’ experiences with thesis writing, especially thesis-by-publication, and she is currently the chief investigator for the Shape of Australian Higher Degree Research.

Cassi is also a founding member of the Global Genre Research Collaborative, an initiative focused on advancing L2/FL literacy education through Systemic Functional Linguistics-informed genre-based pedagogy, empowering educators and researchers to deepen their understanding of academic discourse and enhance language learning across diverse educational contexts.

She brings a social semiotic lens to her work, combining corpus linguistics and SFL to better understand and support academic expression across disciplines.

Cassi supervises PhD students investigating grammatical metaphor, genre-based pedagogy, academic literacy, writing strategies, social media discourse, candidate-supervisor co-authorship, and English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI).

*** Cassi does not have any supervision availability ***

Supervision Areas: Systemic Functional Linguistics, academic writing, grammatical metaphor, English Medium Instruction, English for Research Publication Purposes, co-authorship, doctoral pedagogy

Current PhD Supervision

Manar Almalki: Roe v. Wade and the Recurrent Ideological Debate: A Corpus-Assisted Exploration of the Lexical Struggle within #RoeVWade Twitter Discourse

Current MRes Supervision

1. Stephanie Phillips: Flipping the script: A linguistic exploration of autism discourse on social media
2. Luke Thompson: Dialogic feedback and feedback literacy in higher education

PhD Completions

1. Akiko Nagao (2024): Adopting a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)-oriented approach to evaluate genre-based writing of English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students in Japan: From novice to experienced learners
2. Bao Tram Nguyen (2024): Writing Strategies and Learner Autonomy for English Major Students in a University in Vietnam 
3. Reema Abouzeid (2023): An Exploration of English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Lebanon: The Conceptual Imprecision of EMI and the Vagueness of Policy
4. Jiayu Wang (2023): Shaping Writer Identity of Doctoral Students in Co-Authoring with Supervisors for Publication  
5. Leigh McDowell (2023): Japanese scientists’ English for Research Publication Purposes: An Elaborated Error Analysis
6. Darby McGrath (2023): A Corpus-Assisted Exploration of Grammatical Metaphor Across Populations: Successful Student Writers, Expert Authors, and EFL Learners
7. Khatmah Alanazi (2021): Exploring English as a Medium of Instruction for the teaching of medicine in Saudi Arabia

Masters by Research Completions

1. Reema Abouzeid (2019): Aligning Perceptions with Reality: Lebanese EMI Instructor Perceptions of Students’ Writing Proficiency
2. Bao Tram Nguyen (2018): Investigating Autonomy in International Students’ approaches to University Writing Assignments (supervised with Prof. Phil Benson)
3. Khatmah Alanazi (2017): Investigating First Year Science Students’ Academic Writing Development
4. Leigh McDowell (2016): An Error Analysis of Japanese Scientists’ Research Articles
5. Nur Afifi (2016) Indonesian EFL Learners’ Development of Academic Literacy: A Study of Grammatical Metaphor. (supervised with Dr. John Knox)
6. Sarah Timbs (2016) Raising learners’ metalinguistic awareness: An examination of students’ academic writing development At university. (supervised with Dr. John Knox)

Cassi serves as an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Second Language Writing.

Cassi is a founding member of the Global Genre Research collaborative, an initiative focused on advancing L2/FL literacy education through Systemic Functional Linguistics-informed genre-based pedagogy, empowering educators and researchers to deepen their understanding of academic discourse and enhance language learning across diverse educational contexts.