Dr Gee Macrory

Visiting Scholar

My profile

Biography

I have worked in education for over forty years. I joined MMU in 1990 after a career as a teacher of modern languages and an Advisory teacher in Manchester. I joined MMU as a Senior Lecturer in Education, became a Principal Lecturer in 2003 and Associate Head of School (School of Teacher Education and Professional Development) in 2015, until August 2018. I taught on our PGCE Secondary MFL, BA Primary Education and MA Language Education as well as undertaking doctoral supervision. I have research interests in language learning, language teacher education, early language acquisition and bilingualism. My most recent research is on the experiences of student teachers learning to teach foreign language literacy in primary and secondary classrooms, and young children’s perceptions of foreign language orthographies. I was Chair of CLiE (Committee for Linguistics in Education, a joint committee of BAAL (British Association for Applied Linguistics) and LAGB (Linguistics Association of Great Britain) from 2018 to 2022 and Chair of Local Organising Committee for the 2019 BAAL conference held at Manchester Met in August 2019. I am currently (2022-2024) a member of the BAAL Executive Committee and also a member of RiPL team (Research in Primary Languages) responsible for the pedagogy and teacher expertise strand (http://www.ripl.uk/pedagogy-and-teacher-expertise/). I referee for journals, publishers and research funding bodies and I am an experienced external examiner for BA, MA and PGCE courses and PhDs. I have published in a number of books and journals, and given numerous talks, conferences and presentations in the UK and abroad, including China, Italy, Spain, Ireland, France, Turkey, Croatia, Brazil and Iceland.I taught several courses on Second Language Acquisition at the Education University, Heidelberg, from 2018 to 2021, and am currently an external examiner for the  PGCE course in Modern Languages at the University of Nottingham.

Academic and professional qualifications

  • PhD, University of Manchester (2004)
  • MEd, Educational Psychology, University of Manchester (1987)
  • RSA Diploma in TEFL to Adults, Salford College of Technology (1981)
  • PGCE, University of Manchester; (1981)
  • MA Linguistics, University of Manchester (1980)
  • BSc (Jt Hons) Language & Sociology (2i), University of Salford (1977)

External examiner roles

PhD examining experience

  • University of Warwick (2008, 2010)
  • University of Nottingham (2008, 2011)
  • University of Edinburgh (2013)
  • University of Southampton, (2013, 2015, 2023)
  • Trinity College, Dublin (2014), University of Essex (2015)
  • Cardiff Metropolitan University (2017, April and 2017, December)
  • University of Aston (2018); University of Winchester(2018); King’s College, London (2019)
  • University of Dundee (2019)
  • Cardiff Metropolitan University (2019)
  • University of Roehampton (2021)

Other examining experience

  • BA (Cumbria, UWIC)
  • PGCE (UWIC, Reading, Warwick, Queen’s, Belfast and Newman, Birmingham)
  • MA, Nottingham 

Expert reviewer

  • Refereeing/evaluating for Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), The Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre) at the Institute of Education, University of London, and the Dutch Research Council (NWO)Research Programme: Language Acquisition & Multilingualism (LA&M).
  • External evaluation (2007-09) of the LLP Comenius Multilateral Project CAFT – A Comparative Analysis of Folk Tales : A Multicultural Perspective, led by University of Ankara, Turkey.
  • Refereeing for journals: Prospect, Language Learning Journal, Early Years, European Journal of Teacher Education, British Education Research Journal, Journal of Child Language, Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. Cambridge Journal of Education.
  • Refereeing for publishers: Sage Publications. Bloomsbury; Routledge.

Consultancy and advisory roles

  • Member of BAAL (British Association for Applied Linguistics) Executive Committee 2022-present
  • Chair, Committee for Linguistics in Education (CLiE) (Committee for Linguistics in Education, a joint committee of BAAL (British Association for Applied Linguistics) and LAGB (Linguistics Association of Great Britain) (2018-2021)
  • CLiE representative on BAAL (2018-2021)
  • Chair of Local Organising Committee for the 2019 BAAL conference held at Manchester Met in August 2019
  • Committee member, Committee for Linguistics in Education (CLIE), joint committee of BAAL and LAGB (2015-present)
  • Member of RiPL (Research in Primary Languages) responsible for the pedagogy and teacher expertise strand (http://www.ripl.uk/pedagogy-and-teacher-expertise/) (2018 – present)
  • Project manager for £125,000 EU funded project with France and Spain: Technologically-Enhanced Language Learning Pedagogy, 2003-20134244-2007-UK-COMENIUS-CMP 04 (2007-2009)
  • Member of Advisory Group on Initial Teacher Training (AGITT) for CILT/National Centre for Languages (2002-2009)
  • Member of Manchester Local Authority Primary Languages Strategy Group (2005-2008)
  • Member of Steering Group for £600,000 HEFCE funded COLT (Community and Lesser Taught Languages) Project (2007-2010)
  • Chair of Northern Association for the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (NATESOL) (1988-1993)
  • Committee Member NATESOL (1993-2002)
  • Assistant Director, DfES Research Project: The provision of foreign language learning for pupils at KS2, DfES Report ISBN 1 84478 306 5 (2003- 2004)
  • Committee member of British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Special Interest Group Language Learning and Teaching (2005-2007)
  • Member of Advisory Board, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project: Learning French from ages 5, 7 and 11: An investigation into starting ages, rates and routes of learning amongst early foreign language learners (2009-2011)
  • Member of focus group to inform World Languages strategy, commissioned by TDA, Institute of Education, London (July 2010)
  • Mentor to Association for Language Learning Linked Up Award scheme: Wharfedale French and Spanish Community Reading Project (2010-2011)
  • Mentor to Association for Language Learning Linked Up Award scheme: Motivation and Gender across three European countries – the impact of CLIL u pon pupils’ attitudes towards second language learning (2010-2011)

Prizes and awards

European Award for Languages (Development of teacher training toolkit for community languages, with Pura Ariza, 2010)

Membership of professional associations

  • British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
  • Association for Language Learning (ALL)
  • National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum (NALDIC)

Get in touch

0161 247 2850
Brooks Building

Research outputs

Selected publications

Ainsworth, S., Griffiths, D., Macrory, G. and K.Pahl (Eds) (2023) Multimodality and Multilingualism: Towards an Integrative Approach. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 

Macrory, G. (2022) ‘Commas in the air’: Young children’s experiences of learning the orthographies of French and Spanish as a foreign language. In: Frisch, S. and J. Rymarczyk (Eds.) Current Research Into Young Foreign Language Learners’ Literacy Skills. Berlin: Peter Lang.

Beaumont, M.K. and Macrory, G. (2022) From Second Language Acquisition to the Multilingual Turn: Changing Perspectives on the Role of Language(s) in Second Language Pedagogy. In: Ahamer, V., Hrubesch, A. and G.Ganglbauer (Eds.) (2022) Ausgesprochen? Noch Lange Nicht! Eine Festschrift für Thomas Fritz. Vienna: Edition Volkhochschule.

Kasprowicz, R.E., Roehr-Brackin, K. & Macrory, G. (2022). Metalinguistic awareness in early foreign language learning. In K. McManus & M. Schmid (Eds.), How special are early birds? Foreign language teaching and learning. EuroSLA Studies 6. Language Science Press.

Macrory, G. (2021) Learning to Talk: The Many Contexts of Children’s Language Development. London: Sage Publications Ltd. 

Macrory, G. (2021) Caregivers’ Linguistic Interaction in Early Language and Education. In: M.Schwartz (ed.) Handbook of Early Language Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer N, M.K.ature Switzerland AG.

Macrory, G. (2019) New Orthographies in the Primary Languages Classroom: a Challenge for Teacher Education, in Zein, M.S. and S.Garton (eds): ‘Early Language Learning and Teacher Education’. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Macrory,G. (2015) ‘Modern languages initial teacher education in England: the impact of school-based training’. In: Wright, T. and M.Beaumont (Eds) Experiences of Second Language Teacher Education. London:Palgrave Macmillan

Macrory, G., Chrétien, L. & Ortega-Martin, J. (2012) ‘Technologically enhanced language learning in primary schools in England, France and Spain: developing linguistic competence in a technologically enhanced classroom environment.’ Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education 40(4) pp433-444 

Macrory, G. & McLachlan, A. (2009) ‘Bringing Modern Languages into the Primary Curriculum in England: Investigating Effective Practice in Teacher Education.’ European Journal of Teacher Education 32,3 pp259-270

Macrory, G. (2007) ‘Constructing language: evidence from a French-English bilingual child.’ Early Child Development and Care 177,6 pp781-792

Macrory, G. (2006) ‘Bilingual language development: what do early years practitioners need to know?’ Early Years: an International Journal of Research and Development 26,2 pp159-170

Macrory, G. (2002) ‘Learning to talk like a language teacher: Crossing the boundary between school and university.’ Prospect 17 2, pp 62-70

Macrory, G. (2001) ‘Language Development: what do early years practitioners need to know?’ Early Years: an International Journal of Research and Development 21, 1 pp33-40

Macrory, G.(2000) ‘Learning to teach grammar in the modern foreign languages classroom and some implications for initial teacher education.’ Research in Education 64, pp55-82

Macrory, G. & Stone, V. (2000) ‘Pupil Progress in the Acquisition of the Perfect Tense in French.’ Language Teaching Research 4, 1 pp55-82

Research reports

Technology-enhanced Language Learning Pedagogy (TELLP), Project number: 134244-2007-UK-COMENIUS-CMP, Final report to EU (2009)

Driscoll, P., Jones, J. and Macrory, G. (2004) The provision of foreign language learning for pupils at KS2. DfES Report ISBN 1 84478 306 5