Mentors

Norbert began his career in 1988 as an EFL teacher in Japan and quickly became interested in how language learners acquire their second languages. During his Masters study at Temple University, Japan, he began researching how students learn vocabulary in particular. He extended this interest in vocabulary through his PhD research at the University of Nottingham in 1994. Upon completion of his PhD in 1997, he joined the University of Nottingham staff, and taught there until his retirement in September 2020. He now holds the title of Emeritus Professor.

Norbert has researched second language vocabulary issues for over 25 years, and his interests have broadened to all aspects of lexical study, including vocabulary testing, formulaic language, corpus-based research, and the interface between vocabulary knowledge and the ability to read and listen in English. He has published widely (100+ publications, including 10 books and around 60 international journal articles) and his discipline defining work has introduced new terminology in the field of vocabulary, including word knowledge, mid-frequency vocabulary, engagement, form recall, and meaning recall. (To find out more about Norbert, see www.norbertschmitt.co.uk).

Stephen is a Professor in the School of Culture, Media, and Society at Waseda University in Tokyo. He has been involved in language education for over 25 years, and for most of this time he has been based in Japan. From his career beginnings in the classroom as an English language teacher, Stephen’s interests have revolved around language learning psychology – what is it that makes learners tick, how can we best understand the different ways that language learners approach their studies, and how can we best apply insights from educational psychology to our teaching? Stephen has published widely, including the award-winning Exploring Psychology in Language Learning and Teaching, co-authored with Marion Williams and Sarah Mercer, and The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited, co-authored with Zoltan Dörnyei. His research and leadership have been instrumental in the crystallisation and development of the field of language learning and teaching psychology (PLLT), including as President of the International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning.

Stephen has long experience as a successful PhD supervisor and working with ECRs, including around publication. In 2018, with Prof Sarah Mercer (University of Graz) he founded a new book series with Multilingual Matters to create a home for cutting edge research on the Psychology of Language Teaching and Learning. This series has since flourished, with 25 titles published to date, many of which have been authored by young researchers.  

Christine has been working a teacher for over 15 years and researching for over 10. She began her teaching career with teaching cello, completing her undergraduate degree in music before going on to spend several years studying at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, Russia. While living in St Petersburg, she began teaching English. After diverting career paths from music to linguistics, she went on to gain experience teaching various English language courses, including conversational, exams and business English across all proficiency levels in Russia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the UK. Christine currently works at the University of Nottingham as an Assistant Professor in Second Language Acquisition, where she has been since 2013.

Christine’s applied research focus reflects her passion for teaching. Her research interests began with a desire to better understand and support the motivation of students in her classroom, and she has since published widely in this area, particularly in relation to long-term and group-level motivation (including Directed Motivational Currents and Language Education, published in Stephen’s PLLT book series with Multilingual Matters). She is currently involved in projects feeding her broader research interests, lifelong learning motivation and third age language learners, language teacher wellbeing (particularly EAP teachers in UK higher education) and qualitative researcher training and preparedness.