Dr Amanda Baker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in TESOL in the School of Education at the University of Wollongong.
For over six years, she was also the Academic Program Director of Postgraduate Coursework (2015-2022). She has taught English as a Second/Foreign Language in Australia, Canada, China, Japan and the USA and various subjects related to TESOL methodology at the University of Wollongong, Georgia State University, Trinity Western University and Baicheng Teachers College. She earned her PhD in Applied Linguistics in 2011 at Georgia State University in the USA. Amanda is particularly passionate about second language pronunciation and oral communication pedagogy and focusing on educating (pre- and in-service) teachers on how to enable learners to communicate clearly in another language. She has given numerous workshops and presentations on pronunciation and oral communication pedagogy at both international and national conferences. Amanda has also published extensively in several high quality journals such as TESOL Quarterly, Applied Linguistics, Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, TESOL Journal, System, and more.
Dr Erika Matruglio, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong, Australia in the School of Education
She has taught international students for her whole career. This began when she was a senior high school teacher (1998 – 2008), teaching English as a Second Language to students new to Australian schools. Since then she has worked as a literacy consultant in schools and has also been a Learning Advisor, Academic Literacy at the University of Western Sydney. From 2014 Erika has continued teaching TESOL in the Masters of Education program at UOW, which attracts a large amount of international students. She is also the Deputy Head of Students (International) and is responsible for supporting international students in their academic progress and welfare while studying at UOW.
Erika’s research is concerned with literacy development. Her research explores the complexities of the connections between language, knowledge, and values and is driven by the need to understand how these connections differ according to discipline. Her publications and research draw on complementary theories of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory to explore the nature of literacy practices in schooling. They engage with topics such as the nature of classroom discourse, conditions which enable cumulative knowledge building, disciplinarity and the demands of writing in the disciplines.
Dr Mark Fraser, Ph.D.
Lecturer
Teaching in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the School of Education, specialising in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Mark’s main research interests include exploring professional learning activities in reflective spaces, critical reflection, professional identity, and teacher development. Mark’s doctoral thesis focused on exploring ways English language teachers in Japan negotiate their professional identities. One of his greatest passions is to share stories with others about ways to enhance effective teaching practices.
Dr Michael Burri, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the University of Wollongong,
Editor of English Australia Journal, and an editorial board member of TESOL Quarterly.
He has taught and conducted research in a variety of contexts in Australia, Japan, and Canada. Michael’s professional interests include pronunciation instruction, teacher education and learning, Mind Brain Education, context-sensitive/innovative pedagogy, and non-native English-speaking teacher issues. He has published in leading journals, such as Applied Linguistics, Modern Language Journal, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, among others, and for his longitudinal research on learning to teach pronunciation he was awarded the TESOL Award for an Outstanding Paper on NNEST Issues (2015) and the MAK Halliday Prize for Outstanding Research in Applied Linguistics (2019). Michael can be found on Twitter at @michaelburri or on his YouTube channel, The ELT Research Garage, which he created with the goal of making research more accessible to L2 teachers.
