Research by Professor Suzanne Graham of the Institute of Education (IoE) to improve modern foreign language teaching in schools was recognised at the 2018 O2RB Excellence in Impact awards in Oxford this April.
Professor Graham, Research Division Leader for the IoE, was highly commended for excellence in impact for her work to improve foreign language teaching in schools. Over many years she has conducted research into some of the factors that influence motivation for, and attainment in, language learning. She is currently working on the Creative Multilingualism project to look at the way in which modern foreign languages are taught and is considering creative alternative approaches.
The O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards are an opportunity for members of the University of Reading, the University of Oxford, the Open University and Oxford Brookes (together the O2RB) to come together to recognise and reward the successes of social sciences researchers who have achieved, or are currently achieving, excellent economic and societal impacts.
Professor Graham, a Professor of Language and Education at the IoE, said of the award:
“I’m thrilled that my work with language learners and teachers over the last decade or more has been recognised in this way. It will be a great boost for my current projects in modern languages classrooms, where colleagues and I are collaborating with amazing practitioners to bring about improved motivation for and attainment in learning another language.”
Chair of the O2RB Excellence in Impact Awards panel, Professor Mark Pollard of the University of Oxford (Associate Head of Division (Research), Social Sciences) said:
“The awards have been a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the exceptional impacts on society being made by social scientists from the four partner institutions. The panel has been impressed with the diversity and depth of the projects recognised, and hope that this will inspire even more social scientists to explore what impact might look like for their research, and the ways in which it might be achieved.”
The O2RB collaboration is designed to build and strengthen regional partnerships for research impact via Oxford’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).