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Staff Profile

Professor Tony Young

Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 7515
  • Address: School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences
    Room 2.06
    King George VI Building
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

Background

After my first degree from Sussex University in the UK, I was an English language teacher, Director of Studies, curriculum advisor and Head of School for the British Council and the Bell Education Trust, among others. I worked in the UK, USA, Spain, Italy and Malaysia in these capacities between 1984 and 2002. I then lectured in applied linguistics and the social psychology of communication at Birkbeck, University of London between 2002 and 2004. I also did an MA in Applied Linguistics (Distinction, 1999) and a PhD (Intercultural Communicative Competence and the Teaching and Learning of English as a Foreign Language, 2007), both part time, at Birkbeck. I joined Newcastle University in September 2004.


Roles and Responsibilities

  • Professor of Applied Linguistics and Communication 2020 - present
  • Reader in Applied Linguistics and Communication 2017 - 2020
  • Director of Excellence in Learning and Teaching, School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences 2015 - 2018.
  • Head of the Applied Linguistics Subject Area in the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences 2010 - 2015.
  • Senior Lecturer in Language and Communications, Chair of Board of Studies and Senior Tutor for the MA in Cross Cultural Communication (MACCC) programmes, and Degree Programme Director for the MACCC International Relations and MACCC Education. 
  • Founding convenor of the British Association for Applied Linguistics Intercultural Communication Special Interest Group in 2010.
  • Between 2012 - 2015 I was an elected member of the Newcastle University Senate.

Area of expertise

  • Communication, social inclusion and social justice. 
  • Intercultural and intergroup communication
  • Communication, care and neurological divergences, especially dementia.
  • The social psychology of communication

Qualifications

  • PhD University of London, 2007
  • MA (with Distinction) in Applied Linguistics, Birkbeck, University of London, 1999
  • Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults, Waltham Forest College, London, 1989
  • B.A.(Hons) English, University of Sussex, 1984

Memberships

  • International Association of Language and Social Psychology http://www.ialsp.org/
  • International Communication Association
  • International Association of Language and Intercultural Communication
  • British Association for Applied Linguistics


Google scholar: Click here.

SCOPUS: Click here.

Research

Research Interests

My research interests relate to critical perspectives on intercultural, intergroup and interpersonal communication and the social psychology of language and communication. My work has a strong social inclusion and social justice focus. 

My recent work has investigated:-

Intercultural communication and competence among professionals (teachers, language learners, health care providers, social carers/caregivers, medical educators).

Language and intercultural communication education for former refugees. 

The 'International' student and academic staff experience and the internationalisation of Higher Education worldwide from transcultural perspectives.

Global citizenship and multilingual competences. 

Communication and disability, especially dementia, from transcultural perspectives.



Current and Recent Projects


  1. Senior Research Mentor for a Medical Research Council funded project in sub-Saharan Africa, Identification of early cognitive change in diverse African populations: A harmonisation consortium to inform future dementia prevention studies. My role is to help develop communication strategies to promote community engagement and participation in projects in rural and urban settings. Project leads Dr Stella-Maria Paddick, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, UK, and Dr Bernard Mbwele, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (2023 to 2026).
  2. UK lead on a project funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ Programme to promote Global Citizenship and Multilingual Education in Europe, working with partners in Austria (Graz U, lead), Germany (NeoSmart), Italy (Bologna U) and The Netherlands (Mercator Institute). https://gcmc.global/. (2020 - 2023).
  3. With Dr Navaporn Snodin, Kasetsart University in Thailand - Newton Advanced Fellowship to investigate internationalisation and the staff and student experience in Thai higher education. This is a multiregional investigation and is jointly funded by the British Academy and the Thailand Research Fund (2017-2019).
  4. Principal Investigator of an Erasmus Project 'Critical Skills for Life and Work: Developing the Professional Intercultural Competence of Refugee Professionals'. This was an international, multiagency project funded by the European Commission (2017 to 2019).
  5. Principal Investigator of a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to co-design and develop assistive communications technology for people living with dementia and their carers in the UK and Malaysia.  https://demtalk-my.com/. Ongoing. 
  6. Principal Investigator on a project medical undergraduates attitudes towards dementia care and communication with people with dementia, collaborating with Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing and Health, the Newcastle University Medical School (NUMED) in Malaysia, and the University of Malaya.  Supported by the Global Excellence and International Partnership Funds. Ongoing. 
  7. Lead of a multiprofessional and lay team in the development of a conceptual framework and toolkit to optimise communication between professionals, carers and people living with dementia (with Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and Alzheimer's Society, UK). http://www.demtalk.org.uk/. Ongoing. 
  8. Which English - Investigating 'non native' speaking teachers' beliefs, attitudes and practices regarding appropriate models of English (English as a Lingua Franca, English as an International Language, 'Native speaker' varieties). Funded by the British Council (2014 - 16).


Esteem Indicators



My work on communication and dementia won the James J Bradac Prize from the International Association of Language and Social Psychology for its outstanding contribution to the field by an Early Career Researcher in June 2010.

I was elected President of the International Association of Language and Social Psychology and served between 2014 and 2016.

I was elected founding convenor of the Special Interest Group in Intercultural Communication for the British Association for Applied Linguistics in 2010, serving until 2012.

I have been an external examiner, advisor and/or external expert at Durham, Exeter, Leeds, Open, Northumbria, Brunel, Stirling, Sheffield, London (UCL and Birkbeck), Liverpool JM, de Montfort, Sydney (Australia), Melbourne (Australia), Hong Kong, Edinburgh and at Kasetsart (Thailand) universities. 

 

 

Teaching

Postgraduate Teaching

I am module leader for:-

The Social Psychology of Communication ALC8001

 Culture, Interculturality and Identity ALC8010

I also teach and supervise projects on Research Methods in Cross-Cultural Communication, Research Methods in Applied Linguistics and TESOL, Professional Communication and AGE2000 Newcastle University Ageing Generations Education (NU-AGE).

My work on dementia and communication features on Newcastle University's  free award-winning Massive, Open, Online, Course (MOOC) Dementia Care: Living Well as Dementia Progresses https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/dementia-care. 


I supervise a number of PhD projects investigating aspects of internationalisation in Higher Education worldwide and approaches to intercultural and intergroup communication in various contexts and countries.

Publications