Personal statement

Hania is bilingual (Polish/English) and started her career as a linguist (Italian and French BA; Arabic BA). She has taught in HE for 30 years, most recently at the University of Exeter (2012 -2022), where she worked on the M.Ed in TESOL and supervised doctoral students in Applied Linguistics. Earlier in her career, she taught Arabic and Linguistics at BA level and led English for Academic Purposes provision at two London universities.

Through working with international students, she become increasingly interested in how language, culture, identity and power intersect in the acquisition of academic literacy. This became the subject for the doctorate which she completed at Bristol University in 2011.

In her research, Hania uses linguistic ethnography to explore how learning is mediated and enabled through a second language, particularly in relation to processes surrounding communication in academic settings, and the roles played by feedback, assessment and proofreading in academic writing. Her publications identify ways in which universities can accommodate a highly diverse student body through appropriate course design and community building.

Hania is currently leading the following projects funded by HEQR:

  • Developing Argumentation in L2 doctoral students’ academic writing through Pedagogical Innovation and Linguistic Ethnography.

This exploratory interpretive study employs an ethnographic approach to examine the development of argumentation in the writing of L2 doctoral students working in Education.

  • How Conceptualisations of culture frame identities of English Language learners in Poland: a constructivist case study.

This research project with BSU GALA partner institution, SWPS University Warsaw, will enable a case study of how culture is integrated into the secondary English Language classroom in Poland, and the implications of this for identity construction of learners who will be communicating through English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in the future.  

Academic qualifications

  • Ed D in Applied Linguistics/TESOL, Graduate School of Education, Bristol University
  • MA in English Language Teaching (merit), Thames Valley University
  • BA Arabic (1st class Hons), Polytechnic of Central London
  • BA Italian with French (2nd class Hons), Bristol University.

Professional memberships

  • British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
  • International Association for Languages and Intercultural Communication (IALIC)
  • European Association for Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EATAW).

Other external roles

  • External examiner at Southampton University on MA Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching; MA ELT TESOL; MA ELT TESOL Studies, IPhD first year taught modules in TESOL, Applied Linguistics (2021-2024)
  • External PhD examiner at University of Sydney (2021) and University of Southampton (2020)
  • Reviewer of full-length articles for TESOL Quarterly, Written Communication and Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching journals
  • Contributor to ‘People studying people: Research Ethics in Society MOOC’, University of Leicester (2017)
  • External examiner on BA Hons International Professional English, Hanoi University of Science and Technology in partnership with University College Plymouth, St Mark and St John (2011-2015)
  • Editorial panel member for book entitled ‘Literature teaching in the EFL/ESL Context: New perspectives’ published by Sultan Quaboos University Press, Oman (2011)
  • External examiner on the Graduate Diploma in Management/Finance/Law with English at INTO, University of Exeter (2008-12)
  • Advisor on curriculum & assessment design for EAP and the PG certificate in teaching and learning at Westminster International University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (2006-8).

Areas of expertise

  • Culture and identity in formal and informal language learning
  • Development of L2 students’ academic literacy in Anglophone academia, especially with regard to argumentation skills
  • Processes surrounding lecturer feedback and assessment of the academic writing of L2 students in Anglophone academia
  • Spoken communication in academic settings and the influence of cultural norms
  • Constructivist course evaluation.

Contact Hania about

  • Advice on applying for a Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD)
  • Advice on applying for PhD in TESOL/Applied Linguistics
  • How to develop argumentation and critical thinking in academic writing.

Research supervision - PhD students

I have a successful track record of PhD supervision, and would be very happy to supervise PhDs in Education, Applied Linguistics or TESOL, especially in the areas of academic writing, culture and identity in language learning, and course evaluation.

Please contact me to discuss your ideas.

I have supervised the following doctoral theses:

  • International Teaching Faculty and a Monocultural Student Population: An Interpretive Analysis of Tertiary Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions in the United Arab Emirates
  • English as a Medium of Instruction in the Tertiary Education Setting of the UAE: The Perspectives of Content Teachers
  • Saudi English language teachers’ perceptions and reported practices of teacher leadership
  • Using interactive whiteboards to teach vocabulary to primary school children 
  • Teacher leadership: A case study of teacher leaders’ professional development in an EFL institute of a Saudi Arabian university
  • Investigating Student Interaction Patterns in EAP Classrooms: A Case study at a Saudi University’s ELC classrooms
  • Informal Language Learning of Female Saudi Undergraduates
  • Self-directed Professional Development: Possibilities and Restrictions for Teachers of English in Saudi Tertiary Institutions
  • Teachers’ Perceptions of Curriculum Change in Higher Education: the Qatar University English Program
  • How English Language teachers negotiate their professional identities through the use of prescribed textbooks
  • The experiences of postgraduates from French ex-colonies in French universities: A narrative study
  • Learning from Chinese international volunteers’ intercultural communication experiences
  • Critical thinking in the academic writing of undergraduates in a Pakistani university
  • EFL teaching to visually impaired secondary school students in Oman
  • A Case Study of Feedback on EFL Academic Writing in Saudi Arabia.

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce