York St John teacher wins national award

A lecturer at York St John University has won a national award for her outstanding impact on student learning.

Dr Rachel Wicaksono, Head of Languages and Linguistics, has been made a National Teaching Fellow by the Higher Education Academy (HEA). She receives £10,000 in recognition of her teaching excellence.

The awards are designed to support professional development and raise the status of teaching in UK higher education.

York St John University Vice Chancellor, Professor David Fleming, said: "The teaching standard at York St John University is incredibly high and we are delighted that Dr Wicaksono’s commitment and expertise has been recognised. She is an inspiration to teachers and students alike.”

Throughout her career, Rachel has had roles that have allowed her to focus on facilitating effective international communication and language learning. She worked as a teacher, and trainer of teachers, of English as an additional language for many years in Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. On returning to the UK she joined York St John University as an educator of teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) educator and is now Head of the Centre for Languages and Linguistics.

Rachel’s current teaching and research focuses on raising awareness within UK universities of the need for UK students to participate in international conversations in order to develop their communication skills.

She said: “I am thrilled to have received this award for my research on, and teaching about, internationalisation in UK Higher Education. We are very proud of our engaging, research-informed teaching of languages, linguistics and applied linguistics at York St John. I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues and students across the University, and at other universities, to raise awareness of the diversity of Englishes around the world and the diverse ways of using English in international situations.”

Rachel has disseminated her research findings via an award-winning website on the subject of English as a lingua franca; at local, national and international conferences; and in a variety of publications, including a recently-published ground-breaking textbook for advanced undergraduates and Master's students, and a community website for applied linguists.