Dr. Kari Sahan (Lecturer in Second Language Education, University of Reading) and Dr. Billy Wong (Associate Professor in Widening Participation, University of Reading) win the Institute of Education’s 2022 Research Output Awards in the Lecturer category and in the Associate Professor category respectively.
The Research Output Awards are given each year to UoR Institute of Education members of staff whose research output is making a valuable contribution to knowledge, as assessed by the IoE Research Committee. It is assessed on its originality, rigour and significance. Details of the past award winners can be found here.
Details of the winning research outputs can be found below.
Sahan, K., Galloway, N., & McKinley, J. (2022). ‘English-only’ English medium instruction: Mixed views in Thai and Vietnamese higher education. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211072632
Dr. Sahan’s article addresses expectations of ‘native-speaker’ norms in contexts where English is used as the medium of instruction (EMI) by teachers and students for whom English is a foreign language. The study analyses data collected from teachers and students at 17 universities in Vietnam and Thailand using questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. It finds evidence of a strong ‘native-speaker’ ideology, with preference for ‘native-speaker’ accented teachers and English-only instruction despite the use of multilingual pedagogies to facilitate teaching and learning. The paper challenges monolingual orientations of EMI and calls for policy revisions to support inclusive multilingual practices.
On receiving the award, Dr. Sahan said: “As an early career researcher and a new member of the IoE, it is a great honor to have my research recognized in this way. I am grateful to the IoE for their encouragement, and I thank my co-authors for their support.”
To learn more about Dr. Sahan’s research interests, click here. She tweets at @kari_sahan.
Wong, B., Copsey-Blake, M., & ElMorally, R. (2022). Silent or silenced? Minority ethnic students and the battle against racism. Cambridge Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2022.2047889
Dr. Wong’s article explores the experiences of minority ethnic students in UK higher education, focusing on their approaches and responses to racism, including their coping strategies and mechanisms. The paper is informed by 51 in-depth interviews and discusses the different ways in which racism can affect students and the extent to which it is normalised. As a means of coping, the paper discusses how students appear to develop different degrees of emotional detachment and desensitisation towards racist behaviours, but also highlight how these survival strategies may be linked to longer-term structural inequalities for minoritised groups.
On receiving the award, Dr. Wong said: “The topic of this paper is close to heart, and I am pleased to share this success and recognition with my co-authors. Meggie is about to start a PhD with us here at the IoE, and Reham is a recent PhD graduate in the School of Agriculture, policy and development (SPIER) at Reading“.
To learn more about Dr. Wong’s research interests, click here. He tweets at @billybwong.
