Wendy Hillier
-
0118 378 5043
-
Lecturer
Module Convenor and Lecturer for IL1GSAA/B English for Study Abroad Programme Students
Areas of interest
My main areas of interest are the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language and German as a foreign language, as well as English for Academic Purposes. In general, I have a keen interest in learning other languages, discovering other cultures, and exploring cross-cultural comparison, cultural stereotypes, and culture shock.
Within applied linguistics, I find sociolinguistics a fascinating area – particularly accents and dialects, and the many different varieties of English – and also pragmatics, especially work on politeness and indirectness, and language transfer in language learning.
Historical Englishes from the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods (Old and Middle English) are also highly intriguing.
Teaching
IL1GSAA/B English for Study Abroad Programme StudentsBackground
I grew up in ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø and studied English and German in Nottingham, which gave me the opportunity to spend a year abroad in Tübingen, in the South of Germany, as an Erasmus student and Language Assistant in a Kindergarten.
I enjoyed my Year Abroad in Tübingen so much that directly after graduating, I went back to this picturesque university town and lived there for a further four years, mainly teaching English as a Foreign Language to German adults and university seminars in Old and Middle English.
I also worked as a proof-reader of academic articles and a translator.
All this gave me a fantastic insight into the differences between English and German and the ways in which languages can be taught and learnt.
In 2012, I began working at the ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø on the Pre-sessional English programme in ISLI, and was delighted when the opportunity arose in 2013 to combine this with teaching German on the Institution-Wide Language Programme. I now enjoy teaching German to Beginners and Intermediate students on the IWLP, and academic and general English in ISLI to visiting students spending their Year Abroad in ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø.
Academic qualifications
MA Applied Linguistics (University of Nottingham)
BA Joint Hons English Studies and German (University of Nottingham)
Cambridge CELTA