Research design workshops
Original exercises with invented examples, explicit analytical choices, and reusable ways to document your reasoning.
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From reading notes to an argument: an evidence matrix workshop
A useful literature review explains relationships between studies. This workshop shows how to move from a stack of summaries to a comparison you can defend, without erasing differences in context or design.
16 October 2026 6 min read Read → -
Coding classroom talk: a worked workshop for language researchers
A transcript does not arrive with its meanings labelled. Use this worked exercise to see how a research question changes what you code, what you count, and what you can reasonably claim.
16 October 2026 7 min read Read →
Writing for publication
Getting work past desk rejection and through review, with particular attention to authors writing in English as an additional language.
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Build a journal shortlist: a worked example beyond quartiles
A journal can have an attractive metric and still be a poor home for your paper. Work through a shortlist that begins with the manuscript’s audience and evidence, then records the practical checks behind a submission decision.
16 October 2026 6 min read Read → -
Writing for international journals: what “improve the English” usually means
Editorial requests to “improve the English” are among the most common forms of feedback given to authors writing in an additional language, yet the underlying problem frequently concerns what the text is doing rather than how its sentences are formed.
15 August 2026 11 min read Read →
Applied linguistics foundations
Substantial guides connecting key concepts and theoretical frameworks with language teaching, learning, and research.
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Pragmatics in applied linguistics: key concepts and theoretical frameworks
How do language users communicate more than their words say? Explore the concepts and frameworks that explain meaning in context, and what they offer language teachers and applied linguistics researchers.
13 October 2026 12 min read Read → -
Discourse analysis in applied linguistics: key concepts and theoretical frameworks
Language does more than convey information: it organises interaction, builds identities, and shapes institutions. This guide connects major approaches to discourse with practical questions in language education and research.
13 October 2026 14 min read Read →
AI in research practice
Where generative AI genuinely helps in research work, and where verification has to take over.
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Generative AI for novice researchers: a task-by-task guide
Generative AI tools tend to be least reliable in precisely the areas where a user is least able to evaluate their output. This guide is organised around the implications of that asymmetry for researchers early in their careers.
15 August 2026 11 min read Read → -
Declaring AI use in a methods section: wording that withstands peer review
Disclosure statements often fall short in one of two directions: they are too vague to be verified, or so detailed that they imply the model contributed more than it did. Both problems can generally be avoided.
12 August 2026 9 min read Read →
Metrics and publishing
What the indicators actually measure, and how they are misread in the decisions that matter most.
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What SJR actually measures, and why a quartile may mislead
A quartile is not a measure of quality. It indicates a journal’s rank within a field, based on a weighted citation average, and the distinction matters most in the situations where quartiles are most heavily relied upon.
14 August 2026 9 min read Read → -
SSCI, SCIE, AHCI, ESCI: what your promotion committee actually counts
Three of these indexes are parallel and differ by discipline. The fourth applies different inclusion criteria. Much of the confusion surrounding them, and many of its consequences for careers, arises from conflating these two facts.
13 August 2026 8 min read Read →
Teaching and learning
Practical consequences for course design, assessment, and feedback.