Dr Julie Norton

I began my career teaching English as a foreign language in France Japan and the UK at universities companies and private language schools. I was a Senior English Instructor and Consultant in Intercultural Communication in Japan's second largest steel company NKK. I also taught at the British Council Tokyo. In France I taught at International House Paris the University of Paris V and the University Institute of Technology Paris.

I joined the School of Education at the University of Leicester in 1997. I am Director of Education and teach on the MA Applied Linguistics/TESOL programmes and the iPGCE programme. I also supervise doctoral research and am a founding member of the University of Leicester Lesson Study Research Group.

There are two strands to my research: materials development in language teaching and lesson study. I am very interested in the development of research-informed language learning materials (e.g. the impact of corpus research on materials writing; the evaluation of language teaching materials and the relationship between theory and practice in materials design). I am Co-Editor of the Routledge Handbook of Materials Development in Language Teaching which will be published in March 2022 and contributed several chapters to this volume.

The second strand of my research focuses upon teacher professional development through Lesson Study. I am particularly interested in how teachers collaborate and co-construct pedagogical knowledge and how we observe learning. 

Books

Norton, J. and Buchanan, H. (2022) The Routledge Handbook of Materials Development in Language Teaching. London and New York: Routledge.

Krantz, C. and Norton, J. (2015) Navigate Student Book B1 Pre-Intermediate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Journal articles and book chapters

Norton, J., Bjuland, R., Helgevold, N. (2020) 'The role of collaborative planning - how to use joint planning as a learning process', (Chapter 5) in Cajkler, W. , Helgevold, N., and Larssen, D. (Eds.) Lesson Study in Initial Teacher Education. A Critical Perspective. Emerald Publishing.

Norton J. (2018) ‘Lesson study: a collaborative vehicle for professional learning and practice development of ESP teachers in high education’ (Chapter 5) in Kırkgöz Y. and Dikilitaş K. (Eds.) Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes Springer Verlag.

Sorton Larssen, D.L., Cajkler, W., Mosvold, R., Bjuland, R., Helgevold, N., Fauskanger, J. Wood, P., Baldry, F., Jakobsen, A., Bugge, H.R., Næsheim-Bjørkvik, G., Norton, J. (2018) "A literature review of lesson study in initial teacher education: Perspectives about learning and observation", International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, Vol. 7 Issue: 1, pp.8-22, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLLS-06-2017-0030

Wood, P., Fox, A., Norton, J. and Tas, M. (2017) 'The Experience of Lesson Study in the UK', Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research: Palgrave.

Norton, J. (2015) 'Developing Speaking Skills: How are Current Theoretical and Methodological Approaches Represented in Course Books?' The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL. Special Issue: Materials in the ELT Classroom: Development, Use and Evaluation.Volume 4/2: 53-72.

Cajkler, W.; Wood, P.; Norton, J.; Pedder, D. & Xu, H. (2014) 'Teacher perspectives about lesson study in secondary school departments: a collaborative vehicle for professional learning and practice development.' Research Papers in Education (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2014.887139).

Cajkler, W. Wood, P. Norton, J. and Pedder, D. (2014) Lesson study as a vehicle for collaborative teacher learning in a secondary school. Professional Development in Education(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2013.866975).

Cajkler, W., Wood, P., Norton, J and Pedder, D. (2013) Lesson Study: towards a collaborative approach to learning in Initial Teacher Education? Cambridge Journal of Education 43/4: 537-554.

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

materials development and evaluation for language teaching

lesson study and teacher professional development

ELT methodology

ED7703 Materials Design and Development in Language Teaching

ED7710 Second Language Teaching Research Methods

EN7509 Course and Syllabus Design

EN7510 Materials Design and Development in Language Teaching

ED7691Critical Reflection on Classroom Practice

ED7692 Classroom Research 

Materials Development in Language Teaching

Lesson Study

ELT methodology

Norton J. and Buchanan H. (2022) 'What I talk about when I talk about coursebooks'. 56th IATEFL Conference Belfast 16-20 May 2022.

Norton J. and Buchanan H. (2019) 'Mind the Gap: Materials Theory and Practice'. 54th IATEFL Conference Liverpool UK.

Norton J. (2018) 'Why Do We Need Research-Informed Materials?' Opening Plenary Ist International Symposium on Research in Foreign Language Teaching University of Surcolombiana Neiva Columbia.

Norton J. and Buchanan H. (2018) 'Versioning course books for different contexts: what how and why?' 53rd IATEFL Conference Brighton UK.

Norton J. and Cajkler W. (2016) 'Lesson study for pedagogic literacy in Higher Education:  a holistic view of teacher development in collaboration' Plenary talk Gediz University Izmir Turkey. 

My research on Lesson Study was showcased on Gediz TV Izmir and an article appeared in the local newspaper in June 2015.

My course book Navigate was shortlisted for two awards: the English Speaking Union award (2016) and an ELTon for innovation in language teaching (2017).

BA (Hons) in French and German University of Sheffield

MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics University of Cambridge

PhD in English and Applied Linguistics University of Cambridge

RSA Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

RSA Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language