People

Professor Sin-Wang Chong is a Principal Fellow at the Higher Education Academy in the UK. He is Director of Research and Director of Impact and Innovation at the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute, University of St Andrews in Scotland. In a visiting capacity, Sin-Wang is a full professor at King’s College London and the Education University of Hong Kong. Previously, he was an associate professor in language education at the University of Edinburgh. 

Sin-Wang’s research programme focuses on ways evidence from education research can be synthesised and communicated to be useful to teachers, leaders and policymakers. Sin-Wang has over 100 publications in leading journals in higher education and language education. He has been involved in research projects worth over £3 million and is the lead of a £2 million research contract with the Department for Education of the UK Government. He is an editor of three international journals and a Top 2% researcher in Education in 2023, 2024, and 2025 according to the ‘Elsevier-Stanford List’.


Research interests:
– Evidence synthesis methodologies
– Research-practice integration
– Qualitative research
– Practitioner research

Dr Sarah Hopkyns is an Assistant Professor / Lecturer at the University of St Andrews and University College London. She has previously taught in Japan, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.  Sarah is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. She is co-editor in chief of the St Andrews Journal of International and Language Education (SAJILE), lead co-ordinator of ELINET’s UAE branch, and she sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Language, Identity and Education. Sarah’s research interests include identity, belonging, emotion, intercultural communication, linguistic landscapes, English as a global language, World Englishes, and critical approaches to English-medium instruction in higher education. Sarah publishes research on these topics regularly in journals, books, blogs, and podcasts. She is the author of ‘The impact of global English on cultural identities in the UAE’ (Routledge, 2020) and co-editor of ‘Linguistic identities in the Arab Gulf States’ (Routledge, 2022). 

Research interests:
– Language, identity, emotions and belonging
– Intercultural communication
– Linguistic landscapes
– Translingual practice
– Sociolinguistics of globalisation
– Critical approaches to English-medium instruction in higher education
– Decoloniality

Thomas Stringer has been involved with English language teaching in Japan for 16 years. He is a doctoral candidate in TESOL at the University of St Andrews, UK, a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, and a full-time Instructor of English as a Foreign Language at the Language Center of Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. He is Administrative Intern at Professional Development in Education journal, Co-Editor of the Annual Research Report of the Language Center (ARR), and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the St Andrews Journal of International and Language Education (SAJILE). Thomas is also Social Media Manager for the IATEFL Learner Autonomy SIG.

His research interests are broadly on language learner and teacher development, focusing on autonomy, and his work has appeared in peer-reviewed international journals such as Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, Educational Action Research, and Learning: Research and Practice.

Qi Liu is a fully-funded PhD student at the University of Leicester. She obtained her master’s degree in TESOL from Queen’s University Belfast. She is a Committee Member of the Research Synthesis in Applied Linguistics Special Interest Group of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL). She is a Research Assistant at the National Institute of Teaching in England and an Honorary Research Assistant at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She is the Social Media Editor of the SSCI-indexed journal, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching and Bibliography Editor of the Research Synthesis in Applied Linguistics journal published by Taylor & Francis.

Malcolm Chalmers is the Specialist (Communications) in the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of St Andrews. He has worked at the Institute since 2023, having previously worked at UCL, LSHTM and Nottingham Trent. He is a graduate of the Department of Sociology at Nottingham University.

Luke Plonsky is Professor of Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University, where he teaches courses in second language acquisition and research methods. His work in these and other areas has resulted in over 100 articles, book chapters, and books. He has been particularly active in seeking to advance and improve the methodological capacity of the field, addressing topics ranging from sampling, replication, and experimental design to statistical analyses, reporting practices, open science, meta-analytic methods, bibliometrics, and research ethics. Luke is Editor of Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Managing Editor of Foreign Language Annals, and Founder/General Editor of Applied Linguistics Press.
 
In addition to a current appointment as Honorary Professor at the International Education and Lifelong Learning Institute at University of St Andrews (Scotland), Luke has held faculty appointments at Georgetown University and University College London, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Spain in 2021. He has also lectured in China, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Luke received his PhD in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University in 2011.

Peter I. De Costa is a full professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC). Within this department, Peter directs the Master of Arts in TESOL (MATESOL) Program. He is part of the core faculty within the Second Language Studies Ph.D. Program and the MATESOL Program. He also directs the Language Policy and Practice lab that is situated within the College of Arts & Letters.
 
Peter’s primary area of research is the role of identity, ideology, and emotion in applied linguistics. He researches other applied linguistic issues, including World Englishes, CLIL and EMI education, critical classroom discourse analysis, and ethics. Much of his current work is centered on language teacher emotions.
 
Peter is the co-editor of TESOL Quarterly  and the President of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL).

Paula is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology & Neuroscience. She has extensive experience lecturing and coordinating courses in New Zealand, Canada, and Scotland. Paula is currently leading the University’s QAA’s Enhancement Topic – a Scotland-wide initiative to improve the learning experience of students in higher education. Paula sits on the University’s Student Experience Strategic Management Group and was a member of the University’s Mental Health Task Force and the Mental Health Advisory Board. 
 
Paula’s broad area of research is educational psychology. Her current work focusses on factors that influence the student experience at university. This includes: 1) assessing the effectiveness of different teaching styles; 2) investigating student wellbeing, particularly across transitional stages (secondary school to university, undergraduate to postgraduate); 3) academic integrity (good academic practice and academic misconduct) as understood by students and staff; and 4) investigating students’ learning and social experiences during the pandemic. Paula’s recent work has extended to also investigate university staff wellbeing and some work based in the schooling system (e.g., identity and confidence of physics high school teachers and educating primary school pupils with interdisciplinary approaches such as combining astronomy and music).

Kulnicha Meechaiyo joined the University of St Andrews in 2022 as an Associate Lecturer (Education-Focused) in Finance. Her current research interests lie in corporate finance, environmental economics, and AI in Finance. She is particularly passionate about pedagogy, with a focus on teaching innovation and the development of graduate attributes.
 
Kulnicha is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

Professor Susan Kinnear is Chair of International Communication and Associate Dean (Education) at the University of Dundee’s School of Business. A Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the CIPR, CIM, CMI and RSA, she leads on curriculum innovation, academic scholarship and international education. Her portfolio includes strategic leadership of online teaching provision, enhancement of international student transitions and research-informed approaches to distance education.

With a background spanning industry and academia, Professor Kinnear’s work intersects applied linguistics, professional communication and education policy. She is a member of the British Council’s IELTS Advisory Board, contributes to national discourse on language assessment literacy, and co-leads research on the impact of English language testing in global admissions. Her expertise informs institutional strategy on employability, internationalisation and academic literacy across diverse learning contexts.