Research strands

We organize our research around the following leading research strands:

Globalized language teachers and learners in a diversifying world

Flexibility and adaptability to new challenges is a characteristic both of the globalized professional language teacher and of language learners in a diverse and diversifying yet networked world. In our research, we focus on the connections between language, language learning, academic literacy, culture, identity and motivation; and on the contribution of teacher development/CPD and practitioner research to the formation of new professional and learner identities.

Globalisation, migration, communication and language education

Language education changes in nature and focus in response to changes associated with globalisation, particularly trans-national movement of people. Concomitant with globalisation is a growing diversity in the world’s towns and cities. Our research addresses how language education might respond to this diversity.

Digital technology, language education and social inclusion

Increasingly, communication is mediated via new technology, and this technology is – like the people who use it – ever more mobile. In our research, we ask how, in a technology-saturated world, mobile and wireless technology impacts upon both established and marginal educational contexts in the range of countries where we locate our work.

Research areas

We cover the following areas in relation to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), English as a Foreign Language (EFL), English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), EAL, and Modern Foreign Languages.

• Academic literacies
• Language teaching methodology
• Metaphor
• Corpus linguistics
• Classroom-based language learning and discourse
• Motivation
• Language in primary education
• Teaching English to young learners
• Teaching and learning in multilingual classrooms
• The roles and responsibilities of EAL specialist teachers
• Adult ESOL
• Language teacher education and development
• Teacher cognition
• Language and development
• Educational change management
• Language learning and ICT
• Language teacher research