PhD in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

The PhD in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) emphasises state-of-the-art second and foreign language research, and is designed to enhance specialised knowledge through academic study and research.

The programme is suitable for:

• English as second or foreign language teachers
• teacher educators
• professional development administrators
• curriculum developers
• materials writers
• researchers
• academics

The course emphasises state-of-the-art second and foreign language research. It focuses on practice and aims to help students to achieve a critical understanding of teaching theories and to obtain solid grounding in research methodology appropriate for conducting research projects in their professional contexts.

We are interested in hearing from students doing projects in the following broad research areas:

• English for academic and professional purposes
• Reading, writing, speaking in English as a second or foreign language
• English language teacher cognition and identity
• English language teacher education
• English language curriculum development and evaluation
• English language testing and assessment
• Oral and written feedback
• Classroom discourse studies
• Cross-cultural pragmatics
• Second language acquisition

Our PhD research students in recent years have come both from the United Kingdom and from many overseas countries. Many of our overseas students have chosen to conduct studies which involve collecting fieldwork data in their home country. Proposals to conduct a study which involves collecting fieldwork data overseas are welcomed.