About

Grace Diabah is the Director (Ghana) of the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) and an Associate Professor of Language and Gender at the Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana, Legon. She has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Lancaster University (UK). Her teaching and research focus on language and gender, and language use in specific domains such as politics, media, education, and business. Her scholarly works cover language and gender issues in African contexts, humour studies, among others. Grace is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies-African Humanities Program (ACLS-AHP), Building A New Generation of Academics in Africa (BANGA-Africa) and a Fulbright African Research Scholar.

Education

PhD, Applied Linguistics Lancaster University, UK (2012)
MRes, Applied Linguistics Lancaster University, UK (2009)
MPhil, Linguistics University of Ghana, Legon (2002)
BA, English and Linguistics University of Ghana, Legon (1999)

Research Interest

• Language and Gender in specific domains: Politics, Media, Education, Health, Business
• Humour Studies
• Language, Identity and Decolonization
• Critical Discourse Studies

Publications

SELECTED BOOK CHAPTERS
Diabah, G., Agyepong, D. P. and Campbell, A. A. (2023). To be “a man” is not easy! Masculinities and discourses of fear and anxiety among male COVID-19 survivors in Ghana. In Masculinities and Discourses of Men’s Health, edited by Gavin Brookes and Małgorzata Chałupnik (pp. 369-394). Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lomotey, B. A. and Diabah, G. (2022). Sex jokes and ideology: A sociopragmatic inquiry of the place of humour in gender performance and practices. In Sexual humour in Africa: Gender, jokes, and societal change, edited by Ignatius Chukwumah (pp.154-175). Abingdon: Routledge.

Diabah, G. (2019). The modern man in Ghanaian radio adverts: A reproduction of or a challenge to traditional gender practices?” In Feminist perspectives on advertising: What’s the big idea? edited by Kim Golombisky (pp.217-238). New York: Lexington Books.

Diabah, G. (2013). ‘I cannot be blamed for my own assault’: Ghanaian media discourses on the context of blame in Mzbel’s sexual assault. In Atanga, L., Ellece, S., Litosseliti, L. and Sunderland, J. (eds.), Gender and language in Sub-Saharan Africa: Tradition, struggle and change (pp. 275–299). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

SELECTED JOURNAL ARTICLES
Diabah, G. and Ofori, V. (2024). Making light of the burden of economic hardship: A socio-pragmatic analysis of humour in Ghana’s post-COVID economic crises. Legon Journal of the Humanities Vol. 35(1), 1-36.
Diabah, G. (2023). Gendered discourses and pejorative language use: An analysis of YouTube comments on We should all be feminists. Discourse, Context & Media 51, 1-9.

Lomotey, B. A., Csajbok-Twerefou I, Husein, A. A., and Diabah, G. (2023). The gender enrolment gap in foreign language education revisited: Contemporary issues in a Ghanaian higher education institution. System,117, 1-18.

Diabah, G. (2022). Masculinity as a ‘hard small cage’? Reflections from Chimamanda Adichie’s We should all be feminists. Legon Journal of Humanities, 33(1), 39-62.

Diabah, G. and Agyepong, D. P. (2022). ‘The Mother of all Nations’: Gendered Discourses in Ghana’s 2020 Elections. Social Dynamics, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2022.2105568

Diabah, G. (2022). Bloody widows? Discourses of tradition and gender in Ghanaian politics. Discourse & Society, 33(2), 154-174.

Diabah, G. (2021). Negotiating Language Barriers: Customer Care Delivery Practices of a Selected Telecommunication Company in Ghana. Sociolinguistic Studies, 15(2-4), 177-199.

Ofori, V., Diabah, G., Wiafe Akenteng, N. A. and Agyekum, N. (2021). A pragmatic analysis of humour in the Kookurokoo Morning Show. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 10(1), 93-122.

Agyepong, D. P. and Diabah, G. (2021). ‘Next time stay in your war room and pray for your boys’ or return to your kitchen: Sexist discourses in Ghana’s 2019 National Science and Math Quiz. Discourse and Society. 32(3), 267-291.

Diabah, G. (2020). Projecting Masculinities or Breaking Sociolinguistic norms? The Role of Women's Representation in Students' Profane Language Use. Gender & Language. 14(1), 99–120

Diabah, G. (2020). A Battle for Supremacy? Masculinities in Students’ Profane Language Use. Journal of Men’s Studies. 28(3), 260-280. DOI: 10.1177/1060826520905096.

Diabah, G. (2019). The representation of women in Ghanaian radio commercials: Sustaining or challenging gender stereotypes? Language in Society, 48(2), 261-283.

Diabah, G. and Amfo, N. A. A. (2018). To dance or not to dance: Masculinities in Akan proverbs and their implications for contemporary societies. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 7(2), 179-198.

Diabah, G. (2015). From ‘Recharger’ to ‘Gidi Power’: The representation of male sexual power in Ghanaian radio commercials. Critical Discourse Studies, 1–21.

Diabah, G., and Amfo, N. A. A. (2015). Caring supporters or daring usurpers?: The representation of women in Akan proverbs. Discourse & Society, 26(1), 3–28.