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Congratulations to doctoral researchers Shishi Zhang, Sudha Vepa, Sharifa Al Battashi and Despoina Boli, who were awarded prizes recognising the excellence of their research on second language education, sociology of language and mathematics.

Mat Wright for UCL IOE.

Shishi Zhang (Culture, Communication and Media MPhil/PhD, specialising in applied linguistics) was awarded the Duolingo English Test (DET) Doctoral Award and the Russell N. Campbell Award for her dissertation on second language tools for intercultural communication. 

Shishi’s research aimed to design a second language pragmatic competence assessment tool for intercultural communication. Her work engages pre-sessional students in UK higher education to enhance their spoken communication skills and enable them to become better intercultural communicators. 

Sudha Vepa (Culture, Communication and Media MPhil/PhD) and Sharifa Al Battashi (Social Science MPhil/PhD) were awarded the Joshua A. Fishman Award, which recognises dissertations that push intellectual boundaries and offer innovative perspectives on the sociology of language.

Sharifa’s research explored how young Muslim children used resources in different languages to navigate being a Muslim in an English Islamic primary school. Sharifa’s dissertation examined how these children creatively use multiple languages to determine who gets to be the ‘good’ Muslim, and its implications for excluding others based on gender, race, age or language.

Sudha’s research analysed how English is perceived as an essential resource in the education and empowerment of women in so-called developing countries. Sudha’s dissertation focused on the lives of a group of factory workers who became students at a prestigious international university in Bangladesh. 

The Joshua A. Fishman Award aims to support scholars at the early stages of their careers and will feature the winning dissertations in a book series.

Despoina Boli, who is currently studying on the Education EdD, received the British Society for Research in the Learning of Mathematics (BSRLM) ‘New Researcher’ Award for her work on the underrepresented heterogeneity of students who resit GCSE Mathematics.

Despoina’s research explored the complex patterns of attainment for these students – particularly to illuminate the gendered nature of resits and the effect of resits on participation and confidence in mathematics.

Links

• Graduate research at IOE
• Centre for Applied Linguistics
• Department of Culture, Communication and Media
• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment