HomeresearchLanguaging and higher education in bilingual contextsAbout the cluster

About the cluster

Languaging and higher education in bilingual contexts is a cluster of research projects funded by Zayed University, UAE (Grant R17088).  The cluster aims to investigate the role of language in processes of communication, learning and teaching in bilingual higher education contexts.  In the UAE context, this involves both English as a medium of instruction and Arabic as a medium of cognition, learning and identity.  The cluster involves collaborations with co-researchers in Puerto Rico, South Africa, the UK and the USA, in the following research areas:

Strand A: Understanding language needs of graduates and students

  • Becoming an Accounting Professional: An Investigation of the Skills Needed by Female Emirati Nationals (Dr. Dina Aburous & Dr. Catherine Nickerson)

Strand B: Understanding the development of language for communication and learning

  • International students’ experiences of dialogic teaching and learning at university (Dr. Marion Heron (Engin), Dr. David Palfreyman)

  • (Trans)languaging from study to work: how students mobilize concepts and language related to course content in conducting work-related activities (Dr. David Palfreyman, Dr. Afaf Bataineh).

  • How use of the first language impacts acquisition of a second (experimental paradigm) (Dr. Amanda Brown, Dr. Anna Dillon)

Strand C: Understanding the impact of teaching and assessment on language development

  • Impact of mobile technology in Academic Reading Circles (Dr. Michelle Antero, Kirk Dowswell, Zoe Hurley).

  • Translanguaging in university teaching (Dr. Wafa Zoghbor, Dr. Telma Steinhagen, Dr. Catherine Mazak)

  • Translingual teaching for student teachers (Dr. Kay Gallagher, Dr. Afaf Al-Bataineh)

  • Teaching writing in English for mass audiences (textbook project for journalists) (Yulia Medvedeva, Dr. Effie Georgiadou)

  • Decolonial, transcultural and locally appropriate pedagogies: integrating local culture and language in Humanities courses (Dr. Ellen Hurst, Kathy Luckett, Dr. Afaf Al-Bataineh)

  • Digital reading, social media and the Change Laboratory approach (Zoe Hurley)