Skip to main content

Staff profile

Overview

Anna Johnston

Associate Professor - French/Co-Deputy Head of School

Affiliations
AffiliationTelephone
Associate Professor - French/Co-Deputy Head of School in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures

Biography

Teaching and module convening
  • Convening:
  • CFLS 1F31 French Stage 3
  • CFLS 1F51 French Stage 5
  • Teaching:
  • CFLS 1F31 French Stage 3
  • CFLS 1F51 French Stage 5
  • FREN2051 French Language 2A
Other academic and administrative roles
  • Current roles:
  • Deputy Head of School (People and Workplace Culture)
  • CFLS Programme Director
  • French coordinator (CFLS)
  • Department Progression Committee member
  • External Examiner at Cambridge University's Language Centre (2024-2027)

 

  • Past roles :
  • DELF-DALF coordinator (2018-2023)
  • DELF-DALF examiner (2018-2023)
  • External Examiner at London Metropolitan University (2013-2017), Sheffield University (2018-2022), Leeds University (2019-2023), Nottingham University (China & Malaysia Campuses) (2023-2026)
  • Unilang examiner
Esteem indicators
  • Senior Fellow of the HEA
  • External Examiner at Cambridge University's Language Centre (2024-2027)
  • President of FLEUR, the Association of French Teachers in Further and Higher Education in the UK, since its creation in 2023
  • Convenor of the AULC working group for Executive Committee Members of Language Associations and Networks

 

Scholarship interests

Languages in higher education: the value, sustainability and strategic positioning of language learning within universities, particularly IWLP.

Curriculum design and curriculum resilience in modern languages: content-and-language integrated learning, multi-disciplinary approach to teaching and learning, translation studies, creative writing

Graduate attributes and employability, particularly the contribution of language learning to intercultural communication, global citizenship, and professional development.

Student engagement, belonging, and learning experience in language programmes.

Digital language education: online and hybrid learning, and critical and ethical engagement with AI and digital tools.

Language education leadership and professional practice: language centre leadership, working conditions, communities of practice and disciplinary networks.

Advocacy for language learning: Communities of practice and disciplinary networks, including supporting national language associations and professional learning communities

Conferences and publications

Conferences:

  • April 2023: FLEUR: towards a network for teachers of French in Adult and Higher Education in the UK, AULC Language for All in Higher Education: Inclusion, Diversity, and Sustainability Conference, Edinburgh University
  • September 2023 :  Ecriture Créative et Enseignement FLE : Ecrire Autrement, FLEUR conference
  • September 2023 : FLEUR : mission et objectifs, FLEUR conference
  • October 2023: October 2023 : Redynamiser l’enseignement du FLE à travers l’écriture créative, Séminaire Écriture Créative En Formations (Ecf), Cergy University Paris, with Crahay, G.
  • November 2023: IWLP and Degree Student collaborations through extra-curricular projects, IWLP-Degree programme AULC SIG
  • September 2024: Avenir de FLEUR et du FLE, bilan de l’enquête sur le secteur, FLEUR Conference, Liverpool University
  • September 2024: Le français FLE au Royaume-Uni dans l’enseignement supérieur et la formation continue : défis et opportunités, CercleS Conference, Durham University, with Chaurin, T. & Salin, S.
  • September 2024: Quel(s) objectif(s) pour les enseignant·e·s en centre de langues ? CercleS Conference, Durham University, with Crahay, G. and Tavars, C.
  • May 2025: Défis et Opportunités pour le FLE, FLEUR Forum with Chaurin, T.
  • June 2025: Conception d'un module d’écriture créative inclusif : Approches et considérations, Journée d’étude organisée par les universités de Durham, King’s College London, Royal Holloway et St Andrews  with Crahay, G. and Tavars, C.
  • June 2025: Fostering language skills and transferable skills through creative writing, MLAC Away Day with Crahay, G. and Tavars, C.
  • January 2026: Language Educator Networks in the Age of Austerity and AI, roundtable, AULC conference, Oxford University
  • May 2026: Defining and Advancing Scholarship: Building a Culture of Scholarship in MLAC, Scholarship lab, with Lewis, L.
  • September 2026: Durham University Teaching and Learning Conference, Beyond the Peripheral: Designing Resilient Language Pathways for students in HE, with Lewis L.
  • September 2026: Language Capital and Beyond: Repositioning Language Courses Within Students’ Academic Pathways, University of Law, Language Capital Conference, with Lewis, L.    

 

Publications:

  • Johnston, A. (2026). Perceptions of IWLP students towards translation.  Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 4, 58-80
  • Johnston, A. (2025). From ungrading to unlearning poor habits: local strategies to recentre student learning around dialogic feedback. Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 3, 4–22.
  • Crahay, G., Johnston, A. and Tavars, C. (2026). Creative writing as a way of rethinking the teaching of languages. Patterns of Practice, Volume 1, Issue 2, Creativity in Higher Education
  • Chaurin, T., Force, C., Gaci, K., Johnston, A., Jolivet-Balon, M., and Trégoat, C. (2026), 2026 Survey on Teaching French as a Foreign Language in UK Higher Education: Survey
  • Chaurin, T., Force, C., Johnston A., Salin, S. and Trégoat, C. (2024), 2024 Survey on Teaching French as a Foreign Language in UK Higher Education: Survey Report

Publications

Journal Article