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Pengchong Anthony Zhang

Anthony Zhang
  • IoE Deputy Chair of Ethics
  • IoE Research Committee ECR Representative
  • Statistics Community of Practice (SCoP) IoE Representative

Areas of interest

Second/foreign language learning and teaching, including:

  • Foreign/second language vocabulary development
  • Listening comprehension in a foreign/second language
  • Multimedia enhanced foreign/second language learning
  • Classroom based language learning and teaching
  • Advanced quantitative methods in foreign/second language research

Postgraduate supervision

Masters, PhD and EdD Level Supervision offered: 

  • Classroom-based learning and second/foreign language pedagogy
  • Multimedia enhanced second/foreign language learning
  • The development of vocabulary knowledge
  • The role of individual learner differences in language learning
  • Advanced quantitative methods in second/foreign language research

Current and Recent PhD and EdD Students, with Topics/Titles of their Research:

Current (as first supervisor)

  • Ye, Jiarun:Digital vocabulary learning: The role of self-regulation and learning approaches (Second supervisor: Dr Rowena Kasprowicz)

Current (as second supervisor):

  • Areen Badri: Teaching Vocabulary through Listening: An experimental study with Saudi Visually Impaired EFL learners (First supervisor: Professor Suzanne Graham)
  • Nick Davies: Examining the effects of mathematics workshops on pre-service teachers’ mathematics anxiety (First supervisor: Professor Elizabeth McCrum)
  • Gail Hickman: An exploration of the impact of a self-regulatory strategy intervention and a morphology awareness instruction on English vocabulary acquisition and motivation of English second language learners (First supervisor: Professor Suzanne Graham)
  • Lara Wilkinson: Accountability, values and school leadership: bridging accountability obligation and professional values (First supervisor: Dr Karen Jones)
  • Yang, Huining: The development of learners’ listening comprehension, self-efficacy, and anxiety within an informal digital learning of English listening (IDLEL) context: Examining the role of frequency, diversity of use, and self-regulation (First supervisor: Professor Suzanne Graham)

Completed

  • James Bury: Developing and enhancing communicative competence among foreign language learners in Japan (First supervisor: Professor Suzanne Graham)

Teaching

  • EDM096 Academic English and Study Skills (MA in English Language Education)
  • EDM167 Second Language Teaching and Learning (MA in Education)
  • EDM201 Analysing Research Data in Education (MA in Education)

Research centres and groups

  • Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism
  • Language and Literacy in Education research group

Research projects

DELTEA is a large ESRC funded multistrand research project investigating foreign language (FL) learning and teaching in UK primary schools. We are a multidisciplinary group of academics based at the Universities of Southampton and Reading conducting three phases of research: 1) a programme of free, online teacher education, 2) an intervention in schools using both a FL phonics app and digital stories, and 3) a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) to scale up the professional development to include a wider pool of teachers and contexts.

Selected publications

Conference Presentations:

  • August 2023. Vocabulary learning through multimedia: The role of attention allocation and individual differences. Paper presented at BAAL 2023, University of York
  • August 2021 (with S. Graham, L. Fisher, & J. Hofweber). Linguistic creativity in language learning: The role of text type and teaching approach. Paper presented at International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) 2020 World Congress, Groningen, the Netherlands.
  • June 2019 (with S. Graham). Learning vocabulary through listening: The role of linguistic proficiency and strategy use. Paper presented at 15th BAAL Language Learning and Teaching SIG Conference, University of Bath.
  • August 2017 Comparing different types of intentional EFL vocabulary instruction for Chinese high-school learners of English. Paper presented at EuroSLA 27, University of Reading.
  • July 2017 Comparing different types of intentional EFL vocabulary acquisition for Chinese high-school learners of English. BAAL Vocabulary SIG Annual Conference 2017

Publications

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