Centre for Language Education Research Conversation: Language and Religious Identity - What Lessons for Language Education?

Exploring the links between religious identity and language learning motivation.

Join us for this CLER Conversation, led by Achmad Farid, Postgraduate Researcher & Dr Martin Lamb, University of Leeds. With discussants Dr. Adam Gargani and Dr. Milada (Millie) Walkova, University of Leeds.

The links between identity and motivation to learn are now well-established: we learn at least partly because we want to become a new person in some respect. However, one aspect of identity has been somewhat neglected in the academic debates, namely religion, despite this being for many people around the world the most important aspect of their personal identity. We would like to initiate a conversation here about how religion can influence learners’ attitude towards foreign languages and further impact their motivation to learn the languages, and report on a research project which has investigated this issue in the pesantren (religious boarding schools) of Java, Indonesia. Finally, we will discuss the pedagogical implications that this phenomenon may have for religious-affiliated institutions in many global contexts.

About our presenters…

Dr. Martin Lamb is Head of International Education and a Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the School of Education, University of Leeds. Previously he worked as an English teacher and teacher trainer in Indonesia, Bulgaria, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. His main research interest is in learner and teacher motivation.

Achmad Farid is a final year PhD student at  the School of Education, University of Leeds. Prior to coming to Leeds, Farid spent several years teaching English as a foreign language at Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. His research currently focuses on how religious identities play a role in L2 learning motivation among Muslim students in Indonesia.

About our discussants…

Dr. Adam Gargani, is a Teaching Fellow in Arabic Translation and Linguistics and departmental Admissions Tutor for AIMES. Adam studied Classics with Oriental Studies (Arabic) at Oxford, where he served as secretary for the OU Islamic Society, and have an MA and PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Salford, where he wrote his PhD thesis on simile. He has taught a wide range of subjects, including a two-year stint as an Assistant Professor of EFL and study skills on a foundation year programme at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Milada (Millie) Walkova is a Lecturer of English for Academic Purposes at the University of Leeds, where she teaches international students of various backgrounds. She is a Bahai.

Dr. Milada (Millie) Walkova’s University of Leeds Profile

Event information

This online event will be held on zoom. To register for this event please contact: S.juma@leeds.ac.uk

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