Department of Education

Dr Laura Molway

Departmental Lecturer in Modern Languages Education

College Affiliation: Lady Margaret Hall

Before working with the Department, Laura taught French and German in state secondary schools in Oxfordshire.  She became interested in teacher education whilst mentoring beginning Languages teachers during their school placements.

Laura now specialises in modern languages teacher education.  She works with beginning teachers on the PGCE in Modern Languages course and also supervises higher degrees in the fields of instructed second language acquisition, applied linguistics and language teacher education at all career stages.

Laura’s Masters research focussed on language learning strategies and student motivation.  Her doctoral research, completed in 2020, centred on understanding the professional learning needs and experiences of languages teachers in state secondary schools.  As part of this research project, Laura became interested in formative language teacher evaluation via self-assessment, student perception surveys and observation protocols.

Thesis

MFL Teachers’ Professional Learning: In Search of Impact

Doctoral Applications

Laura welcomes doctoral applications from students interested in the following research areas:

  • Modern languages teacher education (both initial and in-service professional learning)
  • Curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in secondary school modern languages
  • Formative language teacher evaluation (including the development and/or trial of student perception surveys, self-assessment tools and observation protocols)
  • Cognitive and metacognitive language learning strategies
  • Motivation for learning languages other than English (LOTE) in instructed settings

  • Subjects Taught

    MSc Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition

    MSc in Learning and Teaching

    PGCE (Modern Languages: French, German, Spanish, Mandarin)

Publications:

  • Featured Publications

    • MOLWAY, LJ, MUTTON, T (2019) “Changing mindsets in the modern foreign languages classroom: An intervention combining intelligence theories and reading strategies”, Language Learning Journal. Taylor & Francis (Routledge).
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1554693

  • Book chapters

    • MOLWAY, LJ, MUTTON, T, WOORE, R, Porter, K (2018) “What are the possibilities and limitations of small-scale, mediated classroom interventions? Two cases from Modern Foreign Languages”, In: G STYLIANIDES, A CHILDS (eds.) Classroom-based Interventions Across Subject Areas: Research to Understand What Works in Education. Abingdon: Routledge.

  • Conference papers

    • Molway, L (2016) What factors facilitate or impede languages teachers’ engagement in continued professional learning?. (Birmingham Aston University)

    • Molway, L, Mutton, T, Woore, R (2015) Professional learning through a subject-specific Masters programme: engaging with and in research to develop teachers’ epistemological beliefs and classroom practice. (Queen’s University, Belfast)

    • CHAN, J, MOLWAY, L, MUTTON, T, WOORE, R Learning and Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Systematic Review.

  • Journal articles

    • MOLWAY, LJ, MUTTON, T (2019) “Changing mindsets in the modern foreign languages classroom: An intervention combining intelligence theories and reading strategies”, Language Learning Journal. 48(5 Language learning in the UK – taking stock) 598-612.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2018.1554693

    • WOORE, R, MUTTON, T, MOLWAY, L “‘It's definitely part of who I am in the role’. Developing teachers' research engagement through a subject-specific Master's programme”, Teacher Development.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2019.1693421

    • MOLWAY, L “’It’s all about coping with the new specifications’: Coping professional development – the new CPD”, London Review of Education.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.18546/LRE.17.2.01

    • MOLWAY, L, Macaro, E, Arcos, M “Language teachers’ reported first and second language use: A comparative contextualized study of England and Spain”, Language Teaching Research.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820913978

    • MOLWAY, L “Which aspects of their practice do modern languages teachers in England’s secondary schools say they want to develop?”, Language Learning Journal.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2020.1862897

    • Molway, L “Measuring effective teaching: Student perceptions of their modern languages lessons in England”, System. 102440-102440.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102440

  • Other

    • Molway, L (2018) “Social interaction and teacher cognitionLiLiEdinburgh: Edinburgh Press. 2017. 222 pages. £29.99. ISBN Hardback: 9780748675746; paperback: 9780748675753”, International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Blackwell Publishing Inc.(28) 1-2.
      DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12205

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