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Susan Dawson
The University of Manchester &
INTO Manchester
Lynne Cameron
Open University

Lynne Cameron is Professor of Applied Linguistics at The Open University. She has written widely on English Language Teaching, and has pioneered the use of Complexity Theory to understand language teaching, language learning, as well as metaphor and discourse dynamics. She is the co-author of ‘Complex Systems and Applied Linguistics’ (Oxford University Press, 2008).

I have been working for many years as a TESOL practitioner in a variety of contexts in both the UK and abroad. I am currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Manchester and also teach EAP in a local institution. My main research interests are in practitioner research, in particular Exploratory Practice, and the inclusion of learners in the generation of knowledge about life in the language classroom. In Complex Systems Theory, I have found a way of thinking that enables me to make more sense of that life in the language classroom and become more attuned to what is happening there. 

Sarah Mercer is Lecturer at the University of Graz, Austria. She has been working in ELT in Europe for nearly 20 years and currently researches in the area of language learning psychology, with particular interest in aspects of the self. Her recent publications include Towards an Understanding of Language Learner Self-Concept (2011, Springer) and Exploring Psychology in Language Learning and Teaching (in press, OUP). Her work in the past few years on the self has been explicitly informed by complexity perspectives.

I've been involved in English Language Teaching (ELT) for about fifteen years, as a teacher, Director of Studies, and teacher educator. I recently completed my PhD studies at the University of Manchester. In my doctoral thesis I looked into the language norms, pedegogical practices and motivations that were associated with ELT in Greece. I used Complex Systems Theory to help me to make sense of how local and Anglo-centric influences came together to shape actual teaching practice. Since then, I've been looking for ways to make Complex Systems Theory more relevant to language education.

Sarah Mercer
University of Graz
Achilleas Kostoulas
The University of Manchester

The Speakers

Juup Stelma is the Programme Director of the MA TESOL at the University of Manchester. He has experience teaching English to young learners and adults in South Korea. His recent research is primarily framed by ecological theory, but he has had an interest in Complexity Theory for the past 15 years, and his PhD research at Leeds (1999-2003) was framed by Complexity Theory. 

Juup Stelma
The University of Manchester
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