Kirsty joined the University in September 2018 and is the Director of Teaching (DOT) at the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute (IELLI). She was previously the Director of Teaching (DOT) at the former International Education Institute Sep 2021- Aug 2024. She currently teaches on Postgraduate Modules in Second language Acquisition (MSc TESOL) and Organisational Development in International Education (MSc International Education) and on an undergraduate module on Academic English and Study Skills. She is an Academic Adviser for Visiting undergraduate students and Conference Coordinater for the IELLI English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Conference. 

Research interests

• Discourse and genre analysis
• Writing in specific genres or text types
• Designing Assessment Tasks in Higher Education
• Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
• The writing process

Teaching activity

Kirsty currently teaches on Postgraduate Modules in Second language Acquisition (MSc TESOL) and Organisational Development in International Education (MSc International Education) and an undergraduate module on Academic English and Study Skills. She is also the Conference Coordinator for the International Education Institute (IE) annual EAP Conference from AY 2023-24.

She has taught English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at university level in the UK since 2009. This has included Module Coordination, teaching, module and course design, curriculum design, assessment writing, and leading teams. She has worked with a range of Postgraduate and Undergraduate students. Specific areas of interest within EAP teaching include:

• Discourse and genre analysis
• Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)
• Writing in specific genres or text types
• The writing process
• Curriculum design
• Developing Learner autonomy
• Developing Academic Study skills and Graduate Attributes
• English for specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) e.g., Engineering, Business, Computer Science

Prior to working in Higher Education, she taught English in language schools in Japan, Poland, New Zealand, London and Devon.

Academic/Professional qualifications

Master of Arts in Education (Applied Linguistics) – The Open University (2017)

DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) - RSA/UCLES (1999)

CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) - RSA/UCLES (1994)