Sascha Stollhans

Profile

I am an Associate Professor of Language Pedagogies in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of Leeds. Before joining Leeds in May 2022, I taught German, linguistics, translation and interpreting at various universities and other institutions in the UK, South Africa and France, and have gained some experience working in the translation industry and as an educational consultant and teacher trainer. I am the elected EDI Officer and chair of the Working Group on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) matters for the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland.

At Leeds, I am the Director of Scholarship in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, having strategic oversight of scholarship within the School. I also lead the Centre for Excellence in Language Teaching (CELT), a centre dedicated to promoting the scholarship of language teaching and learning, and supporting innovations in language education. In 2022/23, I was the School’s Digital Education Academic Lead.

Responsibilities

• Curriculum Redefined Lecturer
• Director, Centre for Excellence in Language Teaching (CELT)
• Director of Scholarship, School of Languages, Cultures and Societies

Research interests

Linguistics in language teaching and learning

I co-lead (with Anna Havinga from Bristol) the German strand of the Linguistics in Modern Foreign Languages Project, a national research project which investigates the potential of linguistics in school-based language teaching. I have also been interested in exploring the role of linguistic variation (dialects, colloquial language, forms of online communication etc.) in language teaching and learning. Recently, I have been working more in-depth on gender and LGBTQ+-inclusive approaches to language teaching and learning.

Language pedagogy and digital approaches to language teaching and learning

One of my interests is the pedagogically grounded use of digital teaching and learning methods. I was one of the editors of an open-access book on innovative language teaching and have been working in particular on the use of audiovisual ‘screencast’ feedback. In one of my recent papers, I reflect on the effects of the pandemic on the delivery of language programmes and the digitsation of language teaching at UK universities. In June 2023, I co-organised (with Rasha Soliman) a national symposium on language education in the (post-)digital era.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

I am interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as a form of reflective, action-oriented and collaborative research that has a direct impact on student education and staff professionalisation.

Recent and upcoming talks and presentations

• A manifesto for linguistics in language teaching (with Michelle Sheehan, also on behalf of Alice Corr, Anna Havinga, Jonathan Kasston and Norma Schifano). Invited presentation at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, House of Lords, 17 July 2023.
• Raising awareness of gender-inclusive language pedagogies: a staff and student reflection on the potential ‘impact’ of pedagogical research (with Rona Jamieson, final-year student). Pedagogic Research in the Arts (PRiA) Slow Conference 2023, University of Leeds, 24 April 2023.
• Locating Modern Languages in Higher Education institutions: potential for collaboration and joint pedagogical research (with Oranna Speicher). Panel at “Where are we now? The Locatin of Modern Languages and Cultures”, Durham University, 20 April 2023.
• Studying German in the (post-)digital age: pedagogical and linguistic reflections / Didaktische und linguistische Überlegungen zum Deutschlernen im (post-)digitalen Zeitalter. Invited keynote presentation at the German Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference 2022, University of Galway, 5 November 2022. 
• Digital Language Pedagogies: the past, the present and the future. Invited keynote presentation at School of Modern Languages Teaching and Learning Conference 2022, Newcastle University, 1 July 2022.
• Linguistic diversity in the German language classroom / Sprachliche Vielfalt im DaF-Unterricht. Invited workshop at the Goethe-Institut’s Virtual German Teachers’ Day Northwest Europe, online, 21 May 2022.
• The Digitisation Of Language Education – Lessons Learnt From UK Higher Education During The Pandemic. Invited keynote address at Shaping the Future of Modern Foreign Languages in Education, Institute of Government & Public Policy, online, 9 March 2022.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland (AGS)
• Forum for Germanic Language Studies (FGLS)
• Association for Learning Technology (ALT)
• European Association of Computer Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL)
• British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)

Student education

I teach modules in German and (applied) linguistics, and also contribute to the Leeds International Summer School (LISS). An aspect of my role at Leeds involves work with the Curriculum Redefined project.

Research groups and institutes

• German
• Language pedagogy
• PRIA
• Language variation
• Language at Leeds
• Language acquisition
• Languages
• Linguistics and Phonetics
• Linguistics and Translation

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>