Language in Education (LiE) is a vibrant research group based at UEA’s School of Education and Lifelong Learning, encompassing members from different UEA Schools as well as from other institutions. 

The centrality of languages in our everyday lives is unquestionable, and we specialize in examining the role that language plays in formal and informal learning contexts.

The group builds on years of collective expertise in this field.  Much of our research focuses on language education, particularly in English as a first and foreign language, Chinese and other modern foreign languages. We also explore language use in different educational contexts – from primary to university, and countries (e.g. Brazil, Mongolia, Senegal, Slovenia and the UK).  Acknowledging the link between language and culture, an additional aim of our research lies in examining, for instance, regional identities, race/ethnic matters, intercultural communication, and professional, classroom and disciplinary discourses.

The applied nature of our research is evident in all of our work.  We favor a mutual, two-way link between research and practice.  For instance, our investigations in areas such as language teacher education, practitioner research, mentoring and supervision are informed by current professional challenges, and they provide empirically informed responses to these challenges, thus supporting practitioner development.

Our strong research-practice link can be seen in the way our research group activity informs and shapes the courses offered at UEA.  Research group members teach on a variety of courses (e.g. PGCE, MA Educational Practice and Research, MA Second Language Education, MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, EdD and PhD), sharing their extensive research experience with the future generations of language educationalists.

The group has a track record of research in partnership with local authorities in the UK and internationally (particularly in Asia and South America) with financial support from prestigious funders such as the British Academy, British Council and Heritage Fund.  Research group members serve on the editorial boards of high-impact journals in the field (e.g. Cambridge Journal of Education, English in Education, Journal of English for Academic Purposes) and are board members of numerous learned societies and professional associations (e.g. British Association for Applied Linguistics, British Educational Research Association, International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language).