Dr Hania Salter-Dvorak

BA (Bristol), BA (Central London Polytechnic), MA (Thames Valley), Ed.D (Bristol)
Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics  

Contact details: School of Arts & Social Sciences Northumbria University Lipman Building, room 335 Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST phone: +44 (0) 191 227 4577 fax: +44 (0) 191 227 3696 hania.salter-dvorak@northumbria.ac.uk

Biography

I am bilingual (Polish/English).  On graduating from the University of Bristol, I taught EFL in Egypt for 5 years, where I learnt Arabic.  I then took a BA in Arabic and worked as an interpreter and translator.  In 1990, I joined Thames Valley University, where I taught and researched EAP for 10 years, and introduced Arabic onto the evening Languages programme.  Here, I took the MA in Applied Linguistics and ELT.  I then taught EAP and Linguistics at Royal Holloway College, where I led the English Language Pathway.  In 2002, I joined the university of Westminster as subject leader for EAP and ESP.  Here I also taught Arabic on the BA degree, and led the University Wide Language Program for a year.  I completed my Ed.D in Applied Linguistics at the University of Bristol in 2011, and taught on the MA in Applied Linguistics and ELT at St Mary’s University College before joining Northumbria university in 2011.

Teaching Interests

I have taught English in Egypt, Italy and Poland, and French, Italian and Arabic in England.  I have also taught EAP/ESP at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level.  More recently, I have taught courses in Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, Critical Discourse Analysis, Description of Language and Materials Design for language teaching.
I currently contribute to the MA in Applied Linguistics for TESOL on the following modules: Language Analysis and Approaches to Language Learning, Syllabus and Materials Design and Critical Research skills.
 

Research Interests

In my research. I draw on my experience as a language learner, user and teacher.  I am primarily interested in communication in academic settings, development of academic literacy and the role of culture and identity both in language learning and in learning through a second language.  
My doctoral research focused on the quality of participation of second language masters students in Anglophone Academia.   I used an ethnographic approach to explore the interaction between language, power relations, identity, agency and affordances in the academic and linguistic socialisation of three case studies.  For this I drew on the poststructuralist ‘academic literacies’ tradition as well as the work of Bourdieu and Goffman.   The findings showed the importance of both recreational identities and interaction in negotiating academic writing; both of these areas I intend to pursue further.

I have also conducted research into the processes surrounding the acquisition and assessment of language and academic literacy, e.g. the literacy practices required for intertextual academic writing, as well as constructivist evaluation of pedagogical models and materials e.g. community based interactive language learning projects, and feedback and assessment models for EAP and Arabic language.  I am currently interested to pursue how teachers and materials designers draw on language learning theory in their conceptualization, production and evaluation of learning materials.

I welcome research students in EAP, academic literacy and materials design and evaluation.

Affiliations and Memberships

Individual member British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
Member of BAAL teaching and Learning SIG
Individual Member of Materials Design Association (MATSDA)

Qualifications

BA Italian and French University of Bristol (2nd class hons)
BA Arabic  Central London Polytechnic (1st class hons)
MA in Applied Linguistics and ELT Thames Valley University(merit)
Ed.D in Applied Linguistics/TESOL University of Bristol

Funding Awards

I have received continuing professional development and TQEF funding for a number of research projects relating to development of academic literary (see 2006, below)

List of Publications

(2007) ‘Academic Tourism’ or ‘a truly multicultural community?’ Why international students need pragmatic training for British H.E.’ In Alexander, O. (Ed) New Approaches to Materials Development for Language Learning. Oxford: Peter Lang.

(2006) The ‘Oral presentation Sandwich’: Evaluating a Curriculum Innovation from the inside. 

(2005) Plagiarism explained through copyright and intertextuality in music and film.  In Pulverness, A. (Ed) IATEFL 2004 Liverpool Conference Selections.   IATEFL, Kent.

(2002) Changing consciousness of EFL learners through Project Work in the Community.  In Cormraie, S, D. Killick, & M. Parry (Eds), Revolutions in Consciousness: Local Identities, Global Concerns in ‘Languages & Intercultural Communication’. Proceedings of the 1st IALIC Conference held at Leeds Metropolitan University, December, 2000, pp 185-95.  Leeds: IALIC.