My profile

Biography

I am a critical applied linguist interested in:

  • Pioneering a children’s sociolinguistics paradigm
  • Language and social justice
  • Critical debates in language education
  • Language and/of sustainability and climate change education
  • Language, mobility and globalisation
  • The materiality of language, posthumanism and new materialism
  • Language policy
  • Citizen sociolinguistics
  • Language and identity
  • Critical pedagogy
  • Language and cultural heritage
  • Intercultural communication

Words of wisdom

Make a decision

To care for language

As it is used

In human and nonhuman interaction

In complex, multi-layered ways

In times of great need

And spaces of great suffering

From: Komska, Moyd and Gramling (2019:140), Linguistic Disobedience.

Academic and professional qualifications

  • PhD in Language Education: University of Leeds
  • MA TESOL : York St John University
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Education: The Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine
  • BA English Linguistics and Literature: The Islamic University of Gaza, Palestine

Other academic service (administration and management)

  • The Linguistics Chair for the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement Advisory Board (November 2021- September 2023)
  • Deputy Head of the Manchester Centre for Research in Linguistics (July 2021- current)
  • Member of the Leadership Team of the Centre for Creative Writing, English Language and Linguistics (July 2021- current)
  • Member of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Ethics Committee (May 2017-May 2020)
  • Director of Studies for many doctoral researchers researching topics related to language learning, learner motivation, intercultural communication, language policy, language and mobility.
  • Personal Tutor to Level 5 TESOL students (current)
  • Route Lead for MA TESOL and Applied Linguistics (June 2016- June 2017)
  • Director for CertTESOL Trinity at Manchester Metropolitan University (May 2016- September 2018)
  • Unit Leader TESOL3-B ( L6 Undergraduate Unit)
  • Unit Leader for postgraduate courses: (Language in a globalised world) and (Language, culture and communication)

Languages

Expert user of both English and Arabic (I don’t use the labels ‘native’ and ‘non-native’).

External examiner roles

I am subject external examiner for MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL at Newcastle University.

I have examined PhD dissertations at: The Open University, University of Northampton, University of Liverpool, University of Central Lancashire, Canterbury Christ Church University,  University of Leeds, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University.

Expert reviewer for external funding bodies

  • I am a member of the Peer Review College for the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
  • I review book proposals for Cambridge University Press and Routledge
  • I sit on the editorial board for TESOL International Journal
  • I review articles for Journal of Education and Educational Development and Refugee Survey Quarterly

Consultancy and advisory roles

  • Research Consultant for the British Council in Tunisia (2019/2020)

Government and industry links

Other distinctions

Member of the British Council English Language Advisory Group (ELAG), The British Council (June 2023- current).

Chair for the Linguistics Benchmarking Statement Review Panel, Quality Assurance Agency (November 2011- current).

Keynote speaker at the Hopeful Literacies Conference, University of Sheffield, July 2023.

Keynote Speaker at the annual conference of the British Association of Applied Linguistics, Queen’s University Belfast, Sep 2022.

Keynote Speaker at the Conference on Social Justice in Language Classrooms and Teacher Education, organized by the Faculty of Cultural Studies, Dortmund University: Germany, in February 2022.

Keynote Speaker at the Postgraduate Forum on Applied Linguistics to be held at York St. John University in February 2022

Selected member of the Executive Committee of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, September 2019- September 2021.

Panel review member for the joint funding call between AHRC and the DFG, Bonn: Germany, September 2019.

British Council Consultant on a commissioned project exploring the readiness of Tunisian tertiary education for English medium instruction, February- June 2019.

I was shortlisted for the Union’s Teaching Award (2019) for the category of ‘Outstanding Innovation in Teaching’: Here is my nomination statement:

Dr Khawla Badwan (Arts and Humanities)

The student said “Khawla creates an environment where each individual in the classroom feels inspired to contribute and express themselves. I took part in one of the webinars conducted by her before coming to Manchester, and Khawla explains complex linguistic terms using simple and comprehensive visuals and examples. She inspires me to engage in further research in the field of language and sociolinguistics.

Expert reviewer for external funding bodies

I’ve reviewed funding applications for the AHRC and the ESRC as a non-college member. I also reviewed funding applications for the Applying Linguistics fund during my role on the BAAL Executive Committee.

Editorial Board membership

Guest-editing a Special Issue on Critical perspectives on teaching in the multilingual university for Teaching in Higher Educationhttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13562517.2022.2058295

Membership of professional associations

I am a member of Executive Committee of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (2019-2021).

I am a member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), the Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE), the British Educational Research Association (BERA), the National Governance Association (NGA). 

Projects

Teaching

Why do I teach?

I teach because teaching inspires the mind and changes the world. I aim to create teaching and learning spaces where my students and I engage in transformational dialogue about language and communication in the world and how this is reflected in discussions about language teaching, learning, methods, research, practices and ideologies. It is through such dialogues that our classroom discussions can inspire us to carry on reading about, and researching in, the exciting inter-disciplinary field of Applied Linguistics.

How I’ll teach you

I will teach you with care, passion, enthusiasm and high levels of professionality and intellectuality. I will teach you following a pedagogy of ‘I wonder’ that positions us all as travellers. 

Why study…

The field of TESOL and applied linguistics is a growing, interdisciplinary area that explores the role of language in a wide range of social contexts including education and intercultural communication. This area of research continues to face different challenges which means that there are always new and exciting themes and projects that can be further understood under the umbrella of TESOL and applied linguistics.  

Postgraduate teaching

Language in a Globalised World

Language, Culture and Communication

Subject areas

TESOL and Applied Linguistics

Sociolinguistics

Critical Debates in Education 

Supervision

I have had the pressure of being involved in the supervisory team of the following doctoral projects: 

1. Ghazi Alhejili (completed): Online Identities and Translanguaging Practices: A case of Arab University Students in the UK on Social Media.

2. Hanan Altarah (completed): The Motivation and Investment of Female Bedouin Kuwaiti College-Level Students in Learning English.

3. Maye Alotaibi (completed): English Metaphors’ Comprehension by Kuwaiti EFL: Investigating teaching and learning challenges.

4. Nasrine Labani (completed): Developing intercultural becoming: Algerian Study Abroad students in the UK.

6. Hadjer Taibi (completed): Language ideologies and practices on the move: mobile Algerian study abroad students in the UK.

7. Abdelkader Chetouane (completed): Exploring EFL learner autonomy from a sociocultural perspective in Algeria.

8. Amira Cherif (in progress): Language policy and planning in the context of primary education in Algeria

9. Ahmad Alshahma (in progress): Exploring ESOL policies and practices for re-imagining migrants’ integration and civic participation.

10. Mirela Sutac (in progress): Linguistic citizenship through the experiences of young people in Manchester.

11. Jason McEvoy (in progress): Language, critical thinking and intercultural communication among EFL learners in Japan.

12. Catherine Brady (in progress): Teaching modern foreign languages in secondary schools.

I welcome PhD applications in areas of language and social justice, critical applied linguistics and intercultural communication.

Research outputs

Sociolinguistics, language and social justice, posthuman literacies, language and/in place, globalisation and mobility, language policy and planning, intercultural communication, TESOL, translanguaging and researching multilingually, critical pedagogy, applied linguistics, culture and identity, academic sojourning.

Press and media

Media appearances or involvement

The Conversation: Don’t assume language or dialect is locked to a particular place. Available at: https://theconversation.com/dont-assume-language-or-dialect-is-locked-to-a-particular-place-92374

Times Higher Education: International education must find ‘balance’ on public good and cash. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/international-education-must-find-balance-public-good-and-cash