Dr Deborah Darling, BA, MA, MSc, PhD

Profile

Debbie Darling has spent over two decades teaching in international contexts at various levels of education. At Queen Mary University of London, she is a part-time Lecturer in Applied Linguistics. She is also an Honorary Research Associate at the Institute of Cornish Studies (Penryn, University of Exeter). She previously lectured in English for academic and professional purposes, sociolinguistics and multicultural/lingual education at the University of Helsinki.

Teaching

Since first training to teach in 2003, Debbie Darling has taught English in various contexts to include private language schools, further and community education colleges, and higher education institutions (since 2008) across the UK and internationally. She completed her teacher training in Australia (CELTA), Spain (CELTYL) and Britain (DELTA).

Since 2020, she has been teaching applied/sociolinguistics and education modules. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and has completed courses in university pedagogy.

At Queen Mary, University of London, she teaches:

Undergraduate Teaching

GMH/LIN6060 Language and Health Communication

Postgraduate Teaching

EAL7213 Research Methods in Language Teaching

EAL7210 Methods of Text and Corpus Analysis

Research

Research Interests:

Debbie Darling’s research interests include conversation analysis, discourse analysis, interculturality, language ideologies, language policy, language teaching and plurilingual pedagogies. She has incorporated these interests into her published work on the use of different languages in higher education.

Current projects

March 2025 - December 2026: AI and interculturality in Higher Education led by Minzu University of China. This project explores conceptual, epistemological and methodological entry points into the links between artificial intelligence and interculturality in higher education. As part of this project, she will be working with students interested in the intercultural implications of language and dialect hierarchies found in AI technologies.

January 2025 - present: corpus-based discourse analysis study that focuses on Cornish language legitimacy in the British print media and in government policy. This is part of a collaborative project with the multinational FORTHEM Multilingualism Lab.

Previous projects

January - August 2024: she collaborated with researchers from University of Helsinki (Finland), Åbo Akademi University (Finland) and the University of Cape Coast (Ghana) on the Coco-Ed project. This project was funded by the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) and aims to develop research-based hybrid teaching and learning in Ghanaian teacher education with an emphasis on practical solutions to remote education.

Peer review

She is a regular reviewer for journals that are aligned with her research interests, for example the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Intercultural Education and Comparative and International Education.

Publications

Books

Darling, D.C. (contracted, 2025). Plurilingual and Intercultural Approaches for Non-Language Specialists: Teaching Today in the International University. Routledge.

Journal articles and book chapters

Darling, D.C. (forthcoming, 2025). Inter-Epistemic Wealth. In F. Dervin, H. R'Boul & N. Chen (eds.), The Concise Routledge Encyclopaedia of New Concepts for Interculturality. Routledge.

Darling, D.C. & Liu, H. (2025). A framework for embedding interculturality as a process into language courses. Kieli, koulutus ja yhteiskunta, 16(1). Saatavilla: https://www.kieliverkosto.fi/fi/journals/kieli-koulutus-ja-yhteiskunta-helmikuu-2025/a-framework-for-embedding-interculturality-as-a-process-into-language-courses. 

Darling, D.C. & Liu, H. (2024). What’s in a concept? An exploration of ‘interculturality’. In F. Dervin (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Interculturality in Communication and Education. Routledge, pp. 51-66.

Liu, H. & Darling, D.C. (2024). Intercultural learning as a process in Chinese language education. In F. Dervin (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Interculturality in Communication and Education. Routledge, pp. 243-258.

Darling, D.C. & Dervin, F. (2023). Glimpses Into the ‘Language Galaxy’ of International Universities: International Students’ Multilingual and Translanguaging Experiences and Strategies at a Top Finnish University. In H. Bojsen, P. Daryai-Hansen, A. Holmen & K. Risager (eds.), Translanguaging and Epistemological Decentering in Higher Education and Research. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410909-toc 

Darling, D. (2022). (In)visibility of international student languages in Finnish higher education. Kieli, koulutus ja yhteiskunta, 13(5). https://www.kieliverkosto.fi/fi/journals/kieli-koulutus-ja-yhteiskunta-lokakuu-2022/in-visibility-of-international-student-languages-in-finnish-higher-education 

Darling, D.C. (2021). Language Tensions and Unseen Languages in a Multilingual University: The Perspectives of University Lecturers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1979014

Clarke, D.C. (2020). Language Ideologies and the Experiences of International Students. In M. Kuteeva, K. Kaufhold & N. Hynninen (eds.), Language Perceptions and Practices in Multilingual Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 167-192. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38755-6_7 

von Boehm, S. Bradley, F. Clarke, D. C. et al. (2020). Variety in research, variety in practice: reviewing recent publications by English teachers. In: H. Mäkäläinen, H. Lehtonen & S. Karjalainen (eds.) Opetusta, ohjausta ja tutkimusta Kielikeskuksessa/Undervisning, handledning och forskning i Språkcentrum/ Instruction, guidance and research at the Language Centre. Helsingin yliopiston kielikeskuksen julkaisusarja, pp. 176-190. https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/318322/Kielikeskuksen_julkaisuja_9.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y 

Clarke, D. C. (2018). Student responses to vocabulary learning strategies on an ESAP course. ELT Journal, 72(3), pp. 319–328. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccy001 

Book reviews

Darling, D. C. (2023). Migration, Multilingualism and Education: Critical Perspectives on Inclusion. Mary, L., Krüger, A-B. & Young, A. S. (Eds.). Bristol, UK & Blue Ridge Summit, USA: Multilingual Matters, 2021. pp. 313. £39.95, $59.95, €54.95 (paperback). ISBN: 978-1-80041-293-4. Multicultural Education Review, 157-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2023.2250714

Clarke, D. C. (2015). Book review: Power and Meaning Making in an EAP Classroom by C. Chun. Reviewed for BALEAP (www.baleap.org).

Supervision

I am accepting applications for doctoral supervision as one of the supervisors for the PhD Applied Linguistics.

Current doctoral candidates

2024 Wang Xiaocheng 'Language Learning Process and Gender Ideologies: Interactions among Chinese High School Students, Teachers, and Teaching Materials'

Public Engagement

Blogs

Darling, D. C. (2023). Challenges in Learning Cornish. Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter. Institute of Cornish Studies: Challenges in Learning Cornish

Invited talks

The process of turning a PhD into a book (21st September 2023). Part of panel discussion: Turning a PhD into an excellent book? Challenges, realities and some solutions. Routledge (online) [Panel discussion/presentation]

Inclusive Language Use in Higher Education. Language belongs to everyone – Inclusive language use; Well-being Event. University of Helsinki. (16th November 2022).

Promoting Global Citizenship Education Through Linguistic Diversity. SDG4 Seminar: "From Education for Emergencies to the Emergence of Education". University of Jyväsklyä, Finland. (23rd November 2022).

Conference presentations

Exploring socio-emotional experiences in blended education: perspectives of Ghanian student teachers (August 2024). CocoEd seminar. Tampere, Finland.

Facilitating Interculturality as a Process on Language Courses (March 2024). Queen Mary University of London Language Centre Conference [online presentation].

The role of language ideologies in shaping Cornish language education (October 2022). Keskussulyans Skians/Skians Conference, University of Exeter, Penryn [presentation]

(In) visibility of International Student Languages in Finnish Higher Education (November 2021). Kieli-ideologisia näkökulmia korkeakoulujen yksi-, kaksi- ja monikielisyyteen/Linguistic-ideological perspectives on monolingual, bilingual and multilingualism in higher education. AFinLA 50th Anniversary Symposium, University of Jyväskylä, Finland (online) [Panel discussion/presentation]

Un/seen Languages in Multilingual Universities (October 2021). Learning with each other globally: An international dialogue on higher education, School of Education, Minzu University of China, Beijing [Online/ pre-recorded presentation]

Language Use at University: The International Student Perspective (April 2020). Part of panel discussion: Universities as sites of tensions between monolingualism and multilingualism. ASLA, Gothenburg University, Sweden (online) [Panel discussion/presentation]

Attitudes to and Experiences of Language Use: The International University Student Perspective (May 2019). Multilingual Theories and Practices, Ionian University, Corfu. [Presentation]

Creating Linguistically-Inclusive Environments: The International Student Perspective (May 2019). Sustainable Multilingualism, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. [Presentation]

Using Focus Group Methodology in Educational Research (April 2019). Kielikeskus Tutkimusseminaari. University of Helsinki Language Centre, Finland. [Poster presentation]

International Students Views on Language Policy (August 2018). IALIC, University of Helsinki, Finland. [Presentation]

The Love of Lexicon: Student Responses to Learning Vocabulary on an ESAP Course (October 2017). ICLHE, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. [Presentation]

Helping medical students to become better communicators in English (May 2017). Language Centre Days, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland. [Poster presentation]