Language(s) learning, teaching and assessment

Language learning is a key topic in the School of LAL, with a focus on access, social justice, policy-related and political dimensions, and pedagogies. A range of methodologies are applied to researching language teaching, learning and assessment. For example, researchers use large multimodal corpora, sociocultural approaches, ethnographic methods, eyetracking studies and systemic functional analysis.

Key topics include: the role of emotions in language learning, decolonising the language curriculum, language testing, learning-oriented assessment, feedback literacies, the use of social media, online presence, linguistic theory in language teaching, use of corpora, use of machine translation, multilingual education, pedagogic translanguaging, and the professional development of teachers, particularly in low resource contexts/the Global South. There is also a vibrant strand of work in the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), including the development of academic writing and the teaching and support of EAP in online distance learning contexts.

Entry requirements

Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and an MA or research methods training at MA level (or equivalent). If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English.

Potential research projects

• Projects focusing on the teaching, learning and/or assessment of Chinese, English, French, German and Spanish, amongst other languages.
• The application of digital technologies to language learning and teaching
• The professional development of language teachers, including in the Global South
• Translation, multilingualism and translanguaging in language teaching
• Interaction and collaboration in language learning
• Language testing and its impacts
• Language assessment and social justice
• The role of emotions in language learning
• Strategies in language learning
• Multimodal analysis of online language learning interactions
• Teaching and developing EAP provision in online distance contexts

Current/recent research projects

• Investigating the impact of a social justice oriented English for Academic Purposes curriculum on the advancement of social justice
• Translanguaging in English Medium Instruction Schools: An Ethnographic Study of Translanguaging in Bhutan
• Distance learners establishing social presence on Twitter to build online support communities
• An Emerging Online Language Learning Model: Peer-Led Collaborations
• The Role of Wellbeing in UK ESOL teachers' Emotion Labour and Agency: A Mixed Methods Approach
• Examining learners' attitudes and perceptions towards the use of Social Networking Sites for language learning purposes
• Acquisition and Assessment: Teaching Modern Greek in China
• An exploration of identity and agency in Senior Leaders in English for Academic Purposes (SLEAPs) in UK Higher Education
• Impact on the knowledge construction process of multimodal online interactions in audiographic conferencing systems: the case of adult distance learners of French
• Exploring the impact of individual and collaborative reflection on novice EFL teacher professional development in Senegal
• Invisible Stories: language teachers’ embodied nomadic identities
• An investigation into the professional needs and development of British Sign Language teachers
• Design and Application of Elementary Teaching Chinese as a Second Language Resources in the view of Micro-lecture
• Exploring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ decision-making process on EFL apps
• Experiences of a foreign language assistantship in Mexico: A case study
• Spanish language teachers’ mediation practices in Higher Education

Potential supervisors

• Dr Lina Adinolfi
• Dr Inma Alvarez
• Dr Lluïsa Astruc
• Dr Samantha Austen
• Dr Zsuzsanna Bárkányi
• Dr Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez
• Professor Regine Hampel
• Dr Mirjam Hauck
• Dr Lucy Henning
• Dr Gerry Howley
• Dr Qian Kan
• Dr Maria Luisa Perez Cavana
• Dr Christine Pleines
• Dr Klaus-Dieter Rossade
• Dr Maria Secova
• Dr Prithvi Shrestha
• Dr Ursula Stickler
• Dr Jackie Tuck
• Dr Anna Tudela-Isanta
• Dr Elodie Vialleton
• Dr Sylvia Warnecke

Fees and funding

PhD fees

Professional doctorate fees

Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership or The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

• School of Languages and Applied Linguistics
• Learners and Learning | Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
• Professional Learning and Technology | Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies