Role
Dr Jumana Ghannam is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities. Jumana is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a UNILANG certified Examiner and Assessor.
As well as a subject coordinator, she also leads and teaches on a range of modules at the University Language Programme (ULP).
In her teaching she draws on a combination of linguistic and psychological theories to explain various aspects of language learning. Her aim across all of her teaching is to equip students with the core subject knowledge, and to empower students to develop a critical approach towards learning.
Career overview
Jumana has BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature, Diploma in Teaching English Overseas, CELTA from Cambridge University, an MA in ELTD from The University of Nottingham, and a PhD from Nottingham Trent University. Jumana has an extensive working experience as a teacher and educator in the higher education for over twenty years.
Jumana played the role of a Course Leader for MA in English Language Teaching in the Middle East. She developed modules to be taught at postgraduate levels. Jumana has been a trainer and a coordinator for several courses in different universities and educational institutions in the Middle East and the UK. She is a qualified teacher trainer for teaching Business from the University of South Carolina in the USA.
Research areas
Jumana’s interests span any and all aspects of second language acquisition and applied linguistics. More specifically she is interested in learning strategies and their roles within the broad domine of language acquisition, their role in promoting learning and creating better learners, their impacts on learners’ autonomy and motivation and the learners' cultural background. Additionally, Jumana is also interested in Arabic Applied Linguistics with focus on diglossia, Arabic language variation and dialectal mutual intelligibility, teaching Arabic as a second and as a foreign language, methods of grammar teaching, second language teacher education, the application of the Common European Framework of Reference to the teaching of Arabic as a second and foreign language.
Opportunities to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil/PhD exist in the School of Arts and Humanities and further information may be obtained from the NTU Graduate School.
External activity
Jumana’s external roles include:
- Member of the Editorial Board of TESOL International Journal
- Occasional reviewer for leading international journals (e.g. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Elsevier)
- Member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
- Member of the Association of University Language Centres (AULC)
- Member of the British Association of Lectures in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP)
- Member of the British Association of Teachers of Arabic (BATA)
- External examiner for a number of UK universities
Jumana has presented papers regularly in the conferences and published in the international journals.
Selected Conference Presentations:
4th April 2019: Co-presented a paper in the 2nd Arabic Language Teaching and Learning in UK Higher Education Conference at King’s College, London
13 -14th July 2018: Presented a paper “Investigating the Role of Grammar Language Strategies in Promoting Better Grammar Learning” at the Professional Competencies in Language Learning and Teaching Conference, The University of Nottingham
30th August 2014: International Conference on Motivational Dynamics and Second Language Acquisition, The University of Nottingham
15th May 2014: Research and the researchers Breaking the Boundaries presented The Role of Grammar Strategies in Promoting Better Learning, Nottingham Trent University
21st June 2013: Language E-learning, Nottingham Trent University
19 -21st April 2013: BALEAP Conference the Janus Moment in EAP: Revisiting the Past and Building the Future, The University of Nottingham
18th January 2013: The 2nd Annual Learning and Teaching Conference, College of Arts and Science, Nottingham Trent University
2010: Language Project Routs into Languages Project, Bring up Secondary School Students' Awareness of Learning Foreign Languages, Nottingham Trent University
Sponsors and collaborators
Free University Nottingham (FUN) project. Worked with a number of external partners and advisors included Nottingham City Council (with co-funding) and over 20 academic volunteers. The project contributed to the University’s vision of Creating Opportunity, Enriching Society and Empowering People. The project won the Collaboration / Partnership NTU Team Award.
Publications
The recent publication:
Ghannam, J. (2019) Enhancing independent learning competence and grammar language learning strategies. In C. Goria, L. Guetta, N. Hughes, S. Reisenleutner and O. Speicher (Eds.), Professional competencies in language learning and teaching (31-40). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2019.34.912