Keith Johnson

Professor of Linguistics and Language Education, Keith founded the LATEX group several years ago, to pursue research in teacher expertise. His interest in this area started with a research project funded by the ESRC which compared the processes of two groups of task designers - experienced and less experienced ones - employed when preparing tasks for use in the language classroom. Besides his departmental duties, Keith is currently working on an AHRB-funded research project to look at the practices of expert teachers of non-language skills (e.g. teachers of music, sports) and consider their implications for the language teacher.

Mija Kim

I am from Korea and a PhD student in Linguistics, Lancaster University . The provisional title of my doctoral thesis is 'Teacher's evaluation of the textbook for the high school EFL class in Korea '. Therefore, this year's LATEX textbook evaluation project is closely related to my research area. There have been a number of past studies on what evaluators should do in textbook evaluation. However, we have virtually no studies on what they actually do. The LATEX project and my research started from this need for empirical studies in textbook evaluation. Yes, I have much interest in the topic of LATEX project. Also, much more than that, I do like LATEX people!

Ya-Fang Liu

I am currently a postgraduate student at the Department of LAEL (2004/2005). My research interests are using verbal report methods to investigate the processes of designing tasks, evaluating textbooks and using reading strategies while reading academic materials. With similar research interests, members of the LATEX research group and I did a project on "How teachers evaluate the textbook" in year 2004/2005.

yafangism@gmail.com

Wang Lu

I am Wang Lu from China . Now I am studying MA in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University . Before coming here, I had been teaching English to non-English major students at Yanshan University in Hebei Province . I am so lucky that while studying I have the chance to attend the research group of LATEX, from which I benefit a lot in learning how to do a research and experiencing team spirit. I am so happy I am a member of it and hopefully I will be forever.

Andrea Nava

I am an EFL tutor in the Department of English, Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan , Italy . I am particularly interested in English grammaticology (the writing of grammars), pedagogical grammar, second language acquisition and language teaching research.

(e-mail address: andrea.nava 'AT' unimi.it)

Dawn Perkins

I am a PhD student within the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University , working within the framework of the New Route scheme. I came to Lancaster from Missoula , Montana in the United States . As my inclusion in the LATEX research group probably indicates, I am interested in expertise studies, as well as the design/evaluation of teaching materials - textbooks in particular. My own research focuses on materials design and will examine the way expert, or experienced, textbook developers engage in the design process in comparison to what is taught about materials design in the relevant literature.

Anne Margaret Smith

I am an EFL teacher, currently studying for a PhD, jointly in the departments of Educational Research and Linguistics (LAEL). I am looking at initial teacher education for EFL teachers, and how it approaches the issue of including students who have additional support needs. All disability issues are interesting for me, especially the impact disability can have on language learning, and I am also interested in teacher expertise, of course, and the development of English learners' writing.

Oscar Soler- Canela

After graduating from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) in Arabic Studies, I received a scholarship to study Arabic in Tunisia in 1997, where I became interested in the teaching of Spanish as a Foreign Language (TSFL). I received a Postgraduate Certificate in TSFL from Universitat de Barcelona (Spain) in 2000 and a Postgraduate Diploma in TSFL from Universitat de Valencia (Spain) in 2001. From 1998 until 2002, I taught Spanish as a Foreign Language at the Instituto Cervantes (the official Spanish Government Cultural Centre) in Tunis . I also taught Spanish grammar, Spanish syntax, and other modules in the Spanish degree at the Manouba University (Tunis) from 1999 until 2001. In 2002 I moved to London and I have been teaching since then at the Instituto Cervantes in London . I have been teaching since 2003 Spanish for Business in the European Business School London at Regent's College (London). I am completing an MA in Language Teaching: Applied Linguistics in Lancaster University (United Kingdom), my dissertation is entitled "Relating examinations to the Common European Framework of Reference: a case study of a listening comprehension test in Spanish". My main current interests are language testing, language teaching, and the study of expertise in language teaching and testing.