Shuo-Fang earned a Bachelor’s degree from National Chengchi University (Taiwan) and a Master’s degree from Boston University. He has teaching experience in various EFL contexts including international high school, educational institute, and graduate language program.
Shuo-Fang’s areas of interest lie in applied linguistics, particularly phonetics/phonology and speech perception. As an Oxford-Taiwan Graduate Scholar, Shuo-Fang is currently undertaking his doctoral research, supervised by Dr Elizabeth Wonnacott and Dr Robert Woore. His doctoral project is mostly experimental and explores second language learners’ difficulty in processing English connected speech.
Shuo-Fang is affiliated with two research groups: Applied Linguistics and Wonnacott-Nation Lab (developmental cognitive psychology).
Publications
Liang, S., & Yu, H. (2021). Chinese students’ willingness to communicate in EFL classrooms: A case study of students at a Sino-foreign university. Professional and Academic English, 28(2), 15–33.
Before joining the DPhil program, Johannes obtained a B.Ed. in English and German Language Studies from Tübingen University, Germany, and an M.Sc. in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the University of Oxford (Distinction). During his undergraduate studies, he spent a year at the University of Cambridge where he read Linguistics and Modern and Medieval Languages. Johannes has worked as a research assistant for several linguists in Tübingen, where he also taught introductory courses in theoretical linguistics.
Johannes’ research focuses on the role of multi-word units in primary school foreign language learning contexts both from a psycholinguistic and a pedagogical angle. His work is funded by the Department of Education.
Joining the Department of Education in 2020 after teaching English and foreign languages in secondary schools and early years settings for 15 years, Catherine completed the MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition in 2021. Her doctoral research investigates the effectiveness of using songs as pedagogical tools with young second language learners in formal educational settings.
Catherine is a Doctoral Teaching Fellow on the MSc Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition course, teaching statistical methods and critical reading/writing. She supports the LiFT project team as Knowledge Exchange Coordinator, creating the project website and stakeholder events to help increase the project’s impact. Additionally, Catherine hosts The Language Revolution podcast, exploring how linguistics and language awareness might inform/transform languages teaching with guests including Michael Rosen and David Crystal. She also chairs the annual conference for NALDIC, the national subject association for EAL, and is part of the department’s REAL research group.
Publications
Hamilton, C., Schulz, J., Chalmers, H., & Murphy, V.A. (under review). The effectiveness of using songs for teaching second or foreign languages to primary and secondary school learners: a systematic review.
Hamilton, C. & Murphy, V.A. (2023) Folk pedagogy? Investigating how and why UK early years and primary teachers use songs with young learners, Education 3-13. DOI: 10.1080/03004279.2023.2168132
Multilingual is Normal: An anthology of voices, talking about talking (2020)
Claire (郝煜) is a DPhil student in Applied Linguistics and a China Oxford Scholarship Fund (COSF) scholar.
Claire holds a BA in Education and Physics from the University of Cambridge, an MA in Applied Linguistics from UCL Institution of Education, and an EdM in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She is passionate about exploring and supporting the transnational experiences of bi-/multilingual students in studying abroad contexts. Her research and professional interests include bilingualism, language and identity, international education, professional development, and school leadership.
Since 2015, Claire has served as the Director of International Education at Beijing Xinxuedao Education Group, a non-profit organisation that operates 31 schools with over 30,000 K-12 students in China. She has also worked as a high school counsellor and a teacher of Physics and Psychology.
Publications
Hao, Y. and Lantsman, G. (2022). Motivation in MOOCs: a qualitative study on the design and evaluation of an online IELTS course. The 7th IAFOR International Conference on Education.
Hao, Y. (2020). Education without borders: sojourner trips in students’ holistic development. In Wang, J. (Ed.). Family, Society, and Education. Tsinghua University Press.
Hao, Y. (2020). Learning how to learn: the role of metacognition and self-regulation in learning. In Wang, J. (Ed.). The Virtue of Thinking in Learning. Tsinghua University Press.
Hao, Y. (2019). Chinese students at a UK university: how linguistic repertoire mediates language and sojourner identity construction. Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Conference. Beijing Normal University.
Preece, S., Griffin, A., Hao, Y. and Utemuratova, G. (2018). Examining Linguistic Diversity as a Resource for Higher Education in the Anglophone World. In Tong, V. C., Standen, A., & Sotiriou, M. (Ed.). Shaping Higher Education with Students: Ways to Connect Research and Teaching (pp.288-293). UCL Press.
Preece, S., Griffin, A., Hao, Y. and Utemuratova, G. (2016). Making the most of linguistic diversity: the views and practices of bi/multilingual postgraduate students. The Multilingual University. ESRC Seminars.
Hao, Y. (2012). A Transformative Journey: China-US exchange student studying at an American high school. New World Press.
Nicole is a DPhil student at the Department of Education. Her research interests lie in statistical learning, orthographic learning, and language acquisition.
Before starting her DPhil at Oxford, Nicole completed her MSc in Developmental Linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. She then returned to Hong Kong to work as a lab manager and research assistant at the University of Hong Kong on a project that examines the relationship between theory of mind, executive functions and literacy in school-aged children with autism. Nicole’s experience has inspired her to continue her research on language acquisition. Ultimately, Nicole wishes to bring more positive impacts to children with special educational needs through her research on language acquisition.
Nathan Thomas is an Applied Linguistics Tutor on the MSc Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching (ALLT) course.
He also teaches on the MA TESOL (Pre-Service) course at the UCL Institute of Education, where he is completing his doctoral research under the dual supervision of Jim McKinley (UCL) and Heath Rose (Oxford).
His research focuses mainly on theoretical developments in the field of language learning strategies and on international students’ strategic learning in higher education. He is also involved in other projects pertaining to English medium instruction and English language teaching. His work has been published in leading academic journals such as Applied Linguistics, Applied Linguistics Review, ELT Journal, Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Teaching, System, and TESOL Quarterly. He has also presented at more than 50 conferences in 14 countries all over the world.
Before his assuming his current roles, Nathan worked for ten years in China and Thailand, most recently as Director of English as a Foreign Language for a private educational consulting company in Beijing. He completed an MSc Teaching English Language in University Settings (which is now the MSc ALLT at Oxford), MEd International Teaching, MA Applied Linguistics (ELT), BA English, and various teaching certificates, all while working full time.
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Publications
Bowen, N. & Thomas, N. (2020). Manipulating texture and cohesion in academic writing: A keystroke logging study. Journal of Second Language Writing, 50, 100773.
Pun, J. & Thomas, N. (2020). English medium instruction: Teachers challenges and coping strategies. ELT Journal, 74(3), 247-257.
Thomas, N. & Osment, C. (2020). Building on Dewaele’s (2018) L1 versus LX dichotomy: The Language-Usage-Identity State model. Applied Linguistics, 41(6), 1005-1010.
Zhang, L.J., Thomas, N., & Qin, T.L. (2019). Language learning strategy research in System: Looking back and looking forward. System, 84, 87-92.
Thomas, N., Rose, H., & Pojanapunya, P. (2019). Conceptual issues in strategy research: Examining the roles of teachers and students in formal education settings. Applied Linguistics Review (Advanced Access), 1-18.
Thomas, N. & Brereton, P. (2019). Pedagogical Implications: Practitioners respond to Michael Swan’s ‘Applied Linguistics: A consumer’s view.’ Language Teaching, 52(2), 275–278.
Thomas, N. & Rose, H. (2019). Do language learning strategies need to be self-directed? Disentangling strategies from self-regulated learning. TESOL Quarterly, 53(1), 248-257.
Naosuke is a DPhil student whose research interests are Global Englishes and mutual intelligibility in English communication.
Naosuke finished an MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Oxford with distinction in 2019. His DPhil research focuses on the intelligibility of non-native English speakers. Specifically, he would like to seek what kind of English pronunciation features are critical for successful English communication between non-native English speakers.
Yuanyue Hao obtained his BA degree in English (TESOL) in East China Normal University and MA degree in applied linguistics in Fudan University. Prior to his DPhil study, he taught TOEFL writing and EAP listening for Chinese learners of English.
Yuanyue’s doctoral research focuses on the development and validation of a scoring rubric to assess prosody in second language English read speech by Chinese learners of English, with the aim to inform classroom-based teaching and assessment as well as automatic pronunciation assessment. He is interested in using a combination of research methods, including systematic review and comparative judgement to inform the design of the scoring rubric, and many-facet Rasch model and machine learning algorithms (such as decision tree and kernel methods) to validate the rubric.
Yuanyue’s doctoral research focuses on the development and validation of a scoring rubric to assess prosody in second language English read speech by Chinese learners of English, with the aim to inform classroom-based teaching and assessment as well as automatic pronunciation assessment. He is interested in using a combination of research methods, including systematic review and comparative judgement to inform the design of the scoring rubric, and many-facet Rasch model and machine learning algorithms (such as decision tree and kernel methods) to validate the rubric.
TITLE OF THESIS
Assessing prosodic features in second language English speech by Chinese adult learners of English
Zhen graduated from China Foreign Affairs University in 2001 with a first-class honours degree in English, and obtained MSc in Child Development and Education in University of Oxford in 2014.
Before coming to Oxford, Zhen taught English in China or over 10 years. She also worked in 12 UK schools (11 primaries and 1 secondary school) for one year, teaching Chinese and Chinese culture. Her first-hand knowledge of Chinese and English education, combined with the training she received in Oxford, gives her an advantage to create her own voice in child learning, and in second language learning for young children.
Her research interests are children learning, literacy development, bilingualism, second language acquisition, English language teaching and learning.