My research focuses on those language phenomena, mainly in French but also in Russian, that are found at the interstices of syntax and pragmatics. I have conducted research on grammatical variation, connectives, discourse markers, syntax structuring of discourse under various communicative pressures that underlie spoken or written modes of interaction, a macro-syntactic model named Fribourg Pragma-Syntax and the role of brain lateralisation (left/right hemisphere functions) in discourse processing. 

The observed phenomena are studied within a corpus-based approach in terms of both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The patterns detected contribute to the general understanding of human cognition by providing insights into relevant cognitive operations involved in dynamic grammar processing. Moreover, the revealed patterns also help to identify how grammar resources are mobilised under different cognitive and socio-pragmatic pressures that characterise human interaction in its various forms: face-to-face conversations, computer-mediated communication, interactions implying spatiotemporal separation or social distance between interactants.