Hello! My name is Zeynep. I am from Turkey but have been living in the UK since 2004. I have been working at the University of Manchester since 2006. Currently, I teach Psychology for Language Learning together with Juup. I am also involved in a research project, funded by the European Union and led by Gary, which aims to build a community of language learners and teachers in Second Life. I have previously worked on a project sponsored by Cambridge University Press with Gary and Diane where we researched technology use in adult English language classrooms worldwide.
I also teach in other departments in the School of Education; I teach undergraduate courses in Bilingualism and Research Methods. This year I will start teaching a module on the Acquisition of Literacy. I enjoy teaching very much and hope to add more modules to my repertoire!!
My research focuses mainly on teacher education and development. In my PhD I followed teachers throughout their first year of teaching English to young learners and through this experience I have developed a passion for working with teachers (the more multicultural the better!!).
If you keep track of surnames, and have read Juup’s blog entry, you may have noticed that we have a son, now 3 years old. I have been talking to him in Turkish since he was born and to my joy he is now talking in Turkish with me!! I love the fact that we have this language we share and not many people around us can understand what we say!! I love playing tennis but considering the uncountable number of years I have not played, I am pretty sure Julian would beat me hands down!
Publications:
Stelma, J. and Onat-Stelma, Z. (2010). Foreign language teachers organising learning during their first year of teaching young learners. Language Learning Journal, 38(2): 193-207.
Slaouti, D., Motteram, G, and Onat-Stelma, Z. (under contract, in preparation). Language Teachers, Technology and Context. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
McNamara, O., Howson, J., Gunter, H., Sprigade, A. and Onat-Stelma, Z. (2008). Women Teachers’ Careers. Birmingham: NASUWT.
Onat-Stelma, Z. and Stelma, J. (2007). Understanding dynamics supportive of learning in the young learner classroom. In Beaven B. (Ed.) IATEFL 2006 Harrogate Conference Selections (pp.142-144). Kent: IATEFL.
Conference papers:
Onat-Stelma, Z. and Stelma, J. (2010). Contextual influences on the professional development of Turkish young learner teachers. International ELT Conference on Teacher Education and Development. Maltepe University, Istanbul, 7-8 May, 2010.
Is that really what Manchester’s beaches are like?