Arts & Sciences Program

Faculty & Staff

Dr. Roger Nunn Professor & Head of Department Communication Email: rnunn@pi.ac.ae Phone:+971 2 6075022 Office: 8258 (Arzanah)

Academic Qualifications

• Ph.D., Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS), University of Reading, UK, 1996
• M.A., Centre for Applied Language Studies (CALS), University of Reading, UK, 1989
• Licentiate Diploma in TEFL (LCTL), Licentiate, Trinity College, London, 1983
• PGCE, Modern language teaching, King Alfred’s College, Winchester, 1976
• B.A., Modern Languages, University College, Cardiff, 1975

Experience

After a year spent as a language assistant in France in 1973, Dr Roger Nunn started his full-time teaching career in England in 1976. Since 1979, he has worked in Germany, Ethiopia, Qatar and Japan. Before coming to the PI, he was a Professor in the Department of International Studies at the University of Kochi in Southern Japan. Over the years, he has taught a very wide range of language- and communication-related subjects. He joined the PI in February, 2006 because of his interest in providing academic and linguistic support for research-based and project-based learning.

Research Interests

Dr. Nunn is currently leading the 5th phase of a PI-funded research project into academic competence in the PI context. This has become a Communication Department project and also enjoys support from several AUP faculty. The project currently employs between 12 and 15 undergraduate and graduate students and has resulted in international publications and presentations, including a recent joint presentation with 3 undergraduate students. Dr. Nunn has a wide variety of national and international level refereed publications in journals such as ELTJ,  MET, IRAL, TESL EJ, TESOL Quarterly, TESOL Arabia, the Asian EFL Journal, the Asian Linguistics Journal, the Asian ESP Journal, the Language Teacher, IATEFL Voices and the Jane Austen Society Report. He has co-authored a book on alternative approaches to writing journal articles in EFL and his book on teaching and learning English as an International Language and developing intercultural communication competence will be published this year.  He has also co-edited an extensive book on second language acquisition, "the Study of Second Language Acquisition in the Asian Context" and written book chapters published in several international series. He has been Chief Editor since 2005 of the Asian EFL Journal, a well-established and rapidly expanding academic and professional journal for applied linguists and is also a Senior Advisor of the EIL Journal, the Asian Linguistics Journal and the Asian ESP Journal. These journals all promote the expression of alternative and original international voices in the increasingly diverse field of EFL. He regularly presents papers at international conferences and has frequently been invited as a keynote or plenary speaker at conferences throughout Asia in recent years. His publications range from the highly theoretical to the highly practical, reflecting a range of professional and academic interests. His interest in holism is reflected in the broad variety of his inter-related research interests. These include Academic competence, EIL, Classroom Methodology and Evaluation, Task-Based and Project-based Learning, Curriculum Development, Intercultural Communication, Discourse Analysis/Pragmatics, Classroom Interaction, Holistic Assessment, Materials Design, the Language of International Media and the Novels of Jane Austen.