James Stubbs

James is a Language Lecturer in the School of Languages. He has a Master’s degree in applied linguistics and TESOL, the final thesis of which was on how many students are affected negatively by language anxiety and perfectionism and how support group sessions in which they tell their language learning stories can be used to reduce these problems. He presented this research in Colombia and Mexico.  He has also presented research into Story Listening and how group storytelling sessions can develop language through input and develop speaking confidence. He is currently interested in how a rush to use technology has perhaps encouraged learners to study language alone and the potential effects of alienation and anxiety. To this end, he has been conducting a critical discourse analysis of the advice given by popular YouTube polyglots on learning languages alone and will begin research into dialogical social learning through language exchanges and in particular crosstalk sessions.