Owen Minns

Owen’s research centres around how migrants learn second languages. Currently, he is focusing on how foreign English teachers learn Japanese in Japan.

Twitter: @OTMinns

Background

An experienced EFL teacher and examiner, Owen is currently completing his doctoral research alongside teaching undergraduate and postgraduate linguistics courses at Anglia Ruskin. Before starting his PhD, Owen worked for 10 years teaching English as a foreign language in a wide variety of contexts in Japan and England.

Research interests

• Second Language Acquisition
• Migrant Language Learning
• English Language Teaching
• Japanese Language Learning
• Identity and social class in language learning
• Second Language Learning Motivation
• Narrative Analysis

With a background in English language teaching and in the context of his current research into how English teachers in Japan learn Japanese, Owen’s research is essentially concerned with how people learn languages.  Owen is interested in how migrants motivate themselves to learn languages and how they find opportunities for language learning and use. He is also interested in how the learning experience and environment influence language learning. 

Qualifications

• MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Distinction), Anglia Ruskin University
• CELTA, Bell International, Cambridge

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member of the Executive Committee, British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
• Postgraduate Liaison and Development Coordinator, British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
• Member, British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
• Member, Japan Association of Language Teaching (JALT)

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• Departmental Doctoral Scholarship, Anglia Ruskin University Department of English and Media, 2016-2019