Academic Tutor
I joined the University of Sunderland in 2012 as an MA TESOL student and now work as an academic tutor in the Faculty of Education and Society.
For my master’s dissertation, I conducted a project that focused on fostering oral participation among Chinese international students in class while emphasizing equality and inclusion in education. My doctoral research delves further into inclusivity and equality of opportunities by studying the assessment system in ESOL and its suitability for low-literate learners. My recent publications aim to amplify the voices of marginalized ESOL learners and urge policymakers to pay attention to the assessment systems used by ESOL colleges and providers.
Teaching and supervision
As an academic tutor at the University of Sunderland, I have been teaching EAP (English for Academic Purposes) pre-sessional courses since 2022. With 15 years of experience in teaching EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language), I assist international students in enhancing their academic English skills via various teaching approaches and techniques.
Recently, I have expanded my role to include supervising dissertations and marking assignments for MA Education, MA International Education (DL), and MA Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (DL) students. I provide constructive feedback on research design, methodology, data analysis, and writing to ensure that students produce high-quality work.
Apart from teaching part-time at the University, I support local ESOL providers by conducting teacher training workshops and designing literacy materials for low-literate learners at pre-entry level. I have also served as a part-time module leader at Huaqiao University in China for two online modules: Public Speaking and Business Writing.
I am dedicated to students’ achievement and eager to offer guidance, support, and motivation in their academic endeavors.
Research interests for potential research students
- Marginalised and excluded groups in education
- Fair assessment
- ESOL Provision
- LESLLA learners (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults)
Research
- Marginalised and excluded groups in education
- Fair assessment
- ESOL Provision
- LESLLA learners (Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults)
- EAP
- ESOL/TESOL
- Fair Assessment
- Business Writing
- ESL/EFL
Recent publications:
- Day, R., & Naeb, R. (2022). Reading Assessment System in ESOL Courses for Low-Literate Learners. Adult Learner (0790-8040).
- Day, R., Naeb, R. & Leung, H. A. (to be published). Integrating phonological awareness tasks in the reading assessment at pre-A1 ESOL classes to ensure fair assessment to LESLLA learners.