Alasdair Gillon

Teaching Fellow in English for Academic Purposes

Biography

Background

I teach English for Academic Purposes and Academic Language and Literacies to Foundation, Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. Courses I teach include Foundation EAP, Academic Writing for In-sessional Students and the Graduate Writing Centre.

I create tailored Academic Language and Literacies provision for students in the fields of education and sports, working in partnership with Moray House School of Education and Sports (MHSES). I also organise the Edinburgh University pre-sessional summer course for students preparing for Masters degrees in the Institute for Language Education.

I frequently work with students for whom English is an additional language and those who enter university from Widening Participation backgrounds. I am passionate about using English for Academic Purposes and Academic Language and Literacies for successful transitions into higher education.

Before joining the University of Edinburgh, I worked as an editorial journalist in print newspapers, a secondary school teacher, an English language teacher and Spanish-to-English translator, with clients in the higher education, heritage and government sectors.

Qualifications

MSc Applied Linguistics, University of Glasgow (Distinction award, 2022).

  • Dissertation: An Academic Language and Literacies Anxiety Scale: an Evaluation of Three Sources.  

MSc English: Nation, Writing, Culture, University of Edinburgh (Distinction award, 2005).

  • Dissertation: Class Identity and the Scots Vernacular in the Poetry of Tom Leonard.

PGCE (Secondary) English, University of Strathclyde (2002).

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Associate Fellow in Teaching English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP) 

Current research interests

The relationship between learner emotions and language use in HE institutions, particularly in the contexts of Widening Participation and internationalised HE.

Spanish - full professional proficiency

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