Who we are

I am a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in the School of Education, Language, and Psychology. I grew up in a multilingual home, using Sinhala as the primary language and English as the second. Prior to moving to the UK, I worked as a language tutor and lecturer, teaching English to University students and French to both children and adults in Sri Lanka. I also have a basic understanding of Mandarin, Pali, and Sanskrit.

My research interests fall into the area of transnational migrant families, their language ideologies, and practices. My ethnographic research on the language practices of a South Indian multilingual community in Yorkshire can be found on my staff profile.

My former experiences of working with migrant multilingual communities include an English language programme for Turkish women in Yorkshire which I hosted via York St John University.

I am a Lecturer in Japanese and Linguistics within the School of Education, Language, and Psychology. I am a language lover and lifelong language learner, fluent in Croatian, English, Japanese and German, with some basic knowledge of Hindi and Sanskrit. Prior to coming to York St John University, I taught Japanese at universities in Croatia and Japan.

Whilst in Japan, I also volunteered in "Kodomo LAMP (Language Acquisition and Maintenance Project)" NPO which provided learning support for primary and middle school migrant children in Japan.

My main research interest is in the field of discourse analysis, pragmatics and conversation analysis and their application in foreign language education which you can read more about on my staff profile.

Hi. I'm Minon. I was born in France and raised in Japan. I speak Japanese and English. I can also understand French and Korean. As a High School student in Japan, I had the opportunity to teach Japanese to some Exchange students. I am currently studying for a BA degree at York St John University.

Hi! I’m Leyah and I have studied Spanish for 7 years from GCSE upto A-Levels. I have previously worked with the Otermans Institute to develop English soft skills of students in schools and universities in Asia and the Middle East. I joined York St John University in 2021 and am studying for a BA in Korean, TESOL and Linguistics.

Hi I’m Aimée and I currently work at York St John Students' Union as President of Education, alongside studying part time for my Masters in Education. I have worked with young children as an assistant drama practitioner at York Theatre Royal. I also have experience in tutoring GCSE students, in person and virtually, in both Spanish and German.