Dr Jim Askham

I joined the School of Education in 2010, initially as a Teaching Fellow and then a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics. Prior to this, I worked in a range of European settings (Greece, Italy, Poland and the UK) for 18 years as an English language teacher and then academic manager. Apart from my work on the School of Education's MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL and MA TESOL programmes, I am the School Ethics Officer. 

My research interests are in two main areas: Second Language Teacher Education and the theory and practice of Language Awareness. In a recent research project that was funded by the Leicester Learning Institute, I worked with my colleague, Dr Agneta Svalberg, to investigate the effectiveness of language teachers designing and using a series of classroom tasks aimed at learner consciousness raising when participating in grammar activities. I am also a member of the School of Education's Lesson Study Research Group. 

Svalberg, A. M-L. and J. Askham (2020) ‘Teacher and Learner Perceptions of Adult Foreign Language Learners' Engagement with Consciousness-Raising Tasks in Four Languages’, Language Awareness, 29 (3-4): 236-254.

Svalberg, A. M-L. and J. Askham (2015) 'A Dynamic Perspective on Student Language Teachers' Different Learning Pathways in a Collaborative Context. In J. King (Ed.) The Dynamic Interplay between Context and the Language Learner. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Svalberg, A.M-L. and J. Askham (2014) 'Student teachers' collaborative construction of Grammar Awareness: The case of a highly competent learner', Language Awareness, 23.1-2: 123-37.

Kiely, R. and J. Askham (2012) 'Furnished imagination: the impact of pre-service teacher training on early career work in TESOL', TESOL Quarterly, 46(3): 496-518.

Davis, M., R. Kiely and J. Askham (2009) 'InSITEs into practitioner research: findings from a research-based ESOL teacher professional development programme', Studies in the Education of Adults, 41/2: 118-137.

Kiely, R. and J. Askham (2008) Socialisation and Identity in Learning in Applied Linguistics. Research report for the Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies Learning and Teaching Support Network. Southampton: HEFCE LTSN.

I am interested in supervising doctoral students in the following areas:

Second Language Teacher Education

Lesson Study 

Language learner autonomy

I teach on the following campus Applied Linguistics and TESOL modules:

Second Language Teaching (Module Convenor)

Second Language Learning 

Psychological Issues in Language Learning

Continuing Professional Development for English Language Teachers

Teacher Education (DL Option)

I teach on the following MA TESOL modules:

Second Language Teaching (Module Convenor)

Second Language Learning

Psychological Issues in Language Learning

Continuing Professional Development for English Language Teachers

Communicative Language Teaching in Action (Module Convenor)

Reflections on Language Teaching and Learning (Module Convenor)

Professional Enquiry Dissertation (Module Convenor)

• University of Leicester Superstar nomination for best personal tutor (2020)

• University of Leicester Superstar nomination for best lecturer (2018)

• University of Leicester Teaching Superstar Award (2014)

Askham, J. (2022) Ethics: Securing Informed Consent in Research Projects. Presentation at the Postgraduate Researchers Summer Study School, June 28-29, University of Leicester, UK. 

King, J. and J. Askham (2014) Dynamic change in the autonomy of novice and early-career language teachers. Paper presented to the International Conference on Motivational Dynamics and Second Language Acquisition, August 28-30, Nottingham, UK.

Kiely, R. and J. Askham (2011) Early Days: The experience of novice Certificate TESOL teachers. Paper presented at the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Conference, Brighton, UK.

Askham, J. (2009) Classroom perspectives on the European Language Portfolio. Paper presented at the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Conference, Cardiff, UK.

Second Language Teacher Education

Lesson Study

BA Joint Honours in American Studies and English (Wales)

MEd TESOL (Bristol) - Distinction

MEd Research Methods (Bristol) - Distinction

PhD in Education (Bristol)

RSA Cambridge Diploma for Overseas Teachers of English - Distinction

International House Diploma in Educational Management (ELT) - Distinction

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)