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Professor Ursula Lanvers

Profile

Biography

I am Programme Leader for the PhD Programme in Applied Linguistics (offered jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Language and Linguistics).

I teach a variety of core and option modules on the MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, as well as Undergraduate modules.

I joined the Department on 1 October 2015 as a lecturer in language education.

Before this, I taught languages and a variety of linguistics courses at the Open University for eight years, specialising on developing distance language learning materials for German in particular.

I have also worked at the University of Plymouth and University of Exeter as a research fellow in student learning, and taught language modules at the University of Exeter and Durham.

I completed my PhD at the University of Exeter in Bilingual First Language Acquisition in 1999. I completed my first degree in French, History and Education Studies at the University of Munster, Germany, in 1990. I completed my PGCE (Modern Languages) at the University of Oxford in 1993.

Research

Overview

I have three main research interests:

  • Language education policy
  • Motivation and attitude in language learning
  • The psychology of language learning (motivation, attitude, identity, affect)
  • Global English and its effect on language learning language (both in Anglophone countries and beyond)

My research takes me into schools (secondary and primary), but also engages learners in different settings.

I use both qualitative and quantitative methods, including questionnaires, interviews and focus groups, and prefer using mixed methods in most research projects.

Projects

I am currently involved in a number of research projects researching motivation for learning languages other than English, English medium Education and social justice, and social justice in education policies in Ukraine.

Research group(s)

Collaborators

I collaborate with a large number of Applied Linguists both nationally and internationally - see my research outputs.

Supervision

I supervise a number of MA students annually.

Postgraduate supervision

  • I currently supervise 2 PhDs in the areas of language education policy and language teaching methods. I currently have no vacancies for PhD

External activities

Memberships

  • I am an elected member of CliE
  • I am a member of BAAL the British Association of Applied Linguistics and a member of their Special Interest Group: Language Learning and Teaching
  • I am a reviewer for a number of Academic Journal including Modern Language Journal, Applied Linguistics, Language Learning Journal, System, International Journal of Bilingualism, Educational Psychology
  • I regularly examine PhD and EdD theses externally and internally
  • I am an elected member of the University Council for Languages 

Contact details

D/M/201
Department of Education
University of York
York
YO10 5DD

Tel: +44(0)1904 323440