Talia Isaacs, Ph.D.

Associate Professor: TESOL

Dr. Talia Isaacs is a TESOL Associate Professor in the Anaheim University Graduate School of Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Education from McGill University and serves as Associate Professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London. She has designed and taught a wide range of courses in applied linguistics and TESOL at four UK and Canadian universities, including in language testing, aural/oral communication, TESOL pedagogy and curriculum, second language acquisition, and research methods. Her work on assessing second language speech (particularly pronunciation) has been shaped by her language teaching and learning experience and background in voice performance, particularly taking diction courses for opera singers. She has a strong track record of leading research and consultancy projects on language and communication and often serves in an assessment advisory capacity, most recently as a core expert group member for the OECD's PISA 2025 foreign language assessment questionnaire, and as a member of the TOEFL Committee of Examiners (ETS, 2020-24). With growing research interests in computer-mediated assessment and language for specific and academic purposes, she is increasingly active in the UK clinical trials methodology community, injecting a social sciences dimension into a complex, interdisciplinary research area. Her research is methodologically eclectic and mostly resides within the mixed methods paradigm.

Stephen Ryan, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor: TESOL

Dr. Stephen Ryan is a TESOL Assistant Professor in the Anaheim University Graduate School of Education and a professor in the School of Culture, Media, and Society at Waseda University in Tokyo. Stephen Ryan has been involved in language education for over 25 years, and for most of that time, he has been based in Japan. His research and publications cover various aspects of psychology in language learning, including the award-winning Exploring Psychology in Language Learning and Teaching, co-authored with Marion Williams and Sarah Mercer, and The Psychology of the Language Learner Revisited, co-authored with Zoltan Dörnyei. He is also series editor for the Multilingual Matters book series Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham School of English Studies and an M.A. in Linguistics (TESOL) from the University of Surrey.

Publications

  • Ryan, S. (2020)). Individual differences and motivation. In M. Lamb, K. Csizer, A. Henry, & S. Ryan (eds.). Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Lamb, M., Csizer, K. Henry, A. & Ryan. S. (eds.). (2020) Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Ryan, S. 2019). Language learner motivation: What motivates motivation researchers? In J. W. Schwieter & A. Benali (eds.) The Cambridge handbook of language learning., pp. 409-429) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ryan, S. & Irie, K. Learning Across Generations: A Small-Scale Initiative. In Innnovation in English Education in Japan.(pp. 97-116). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Reinders, H., Ryan, S., & Nakamura, S. (eds.) (2019) Innovation in English Education in Japan. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Ryan S., Nakamura S., Reinders H. (2019) Innovation in Japan: Looking to the Future. In: Reinders H., Ryan S., Nakamura S. (eds) Innovation in English Education in Japan, pp. 283-289). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Reinders H., Nakamura S., Ryan S. (2019) he Scope of Innovation in Japanese Language Education.. In: Reinders H., Ryan S., Nakamura S. (eds) Innovation in English Education in Japan, pp. 1-8). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Lamb, M., Csizer, K., Henry, A. & Ryan, S.(eds). (in press). Palgrave handbook of motivation for language learning. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Irie, K., Ryan, S., Mercer, S. (2018). Using Q methodology to investigate pre-service EFL teachers’ mindsets about teaching competences. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8(3), 575-598.
  • Ryan, S. (2018). Motivation. In Richards, J. & Burns, A. (eds.). Cambridge Guide to Learning English as a Second Language. (pp. 55-62). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ryan, S. (2017). Emotion in Language Learning. Teaching Times. 7-8.
  • Ryan, S. (2016). Quantitative and qualitative methods. In A. Linn (Ed.) Investigating English in Europe. pp, 167-73. Berlin:De Gruyter Mouton.
  • Ryan, S.. (2016). Motivation and Foreign Language Learning: From theory to practice (Review). English Language Teaching Journal 70 (2), 225-227
  • Mercer, S. & Ryan, S. (2016). Stretching the boundaries: Language learning psychology. Palgrave Communications, 2, 1-5. Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (eds.) (2015) Psychology in language learning : Special issue. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 5(3).
  • Boo, Z., Dörnyei, Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). L2 motivation research 2005-2014: Understanding a publication surge and a changing landscape. System 55, 145-157
  • Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (eds.) (2015) Psychology in language learning : Special issue. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 5(2).
  • Ryan, S. (2015). An interview with Tomoko Yashima. The Language Teacher, 39 (4), 17-20.
  • Ryan, S. (2015). The horse, the water, and the horse’s reflection: Understanding language learner narrative identity in the classroom. Humanising Language Teaching., 17 (4).
  • Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (eds.) (2015) Psychology in language learning 1: Special issue. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching.
  • Williams, M., Mercer, S. & Ryan, S. (2015). Exploring psychology for language teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Dörnyei. Z., & Ryan, S. (2015). The psychology of the language learner revisited. New York: Routledge.
  • Yoshijima, S. & Ryan, S. (eds.) (2015). Foreign language education: Foreign language education in the era of glocalization. Asahi Press: Tokyo.
  • Irie, K. & Ryan, S. (2015). Identifying patterns of changes in self-perception: Q Methodology. In Sage research methods cases. London: Sage Publications.
  • Irie, K. & Ryan, S. (2015). Study abroad and the dynamics of change in learner L2 self-concept. In Z. Dörnyei, P.
  • MacIntyre, & A. Henry (Eds.), Motivational dynamics in language learning (pp. 343-366). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Ryan, S. & Irie, K. (2014). Imagined and possible self perspectives: Storied selves. In S. Mercer & M. Williams (Eds.). Multiple Perspectives on the Self in SLA (pp. 109-123). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
  • Yoshijima, S. & Ryan, S. (eds.) (2014). Foreign language education: Roles and challenges in general education. Asahi Press: Tokyo.
  • Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (Eds.) (2013). The role of the imagination in language learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching- Special Issue
  • Ryan, S. & Dörnyei, Z. (2013). The long-term evolution of language motivation and the L2 self. In A. Berndt (Ed.), Fremdsprachen in der Perspektive lebenslangen Lernens (Foreign languages in the perspective of lifelong learning) Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
  • Mercer, S. & Ryan, S. (2013). Praising to learn: Learning to praise. In M. Reitbauer, N. Campbell, S. Mercer, J. Schumm Fauster, R. Vaupetitsch (eds.) Feedback matters: Current feedback practices in the EFL classroom (pp. 21-36). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
  • Ryan, S. (2012). Motivation. In M. Byram & A. Hu (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.. London: Routledge
  • Ryan, S. (2012). Theories of motivation. In M. Byram & A. Hu (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning.. London: Routledge
  • Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (2012). Implicit theories: Language learning mindsets. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan & M. Williams (Eds.) Psychology in Language Learning: Insights from theory and research (pp. 74-89). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Mercer, S., Ryan, S., & Williams, M. (Eds.). (2012). Psychology in Language Learning: Insights from theory and research. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Ryan, S. & Mercer, S. (2012). Language learning mindsets across cultural settings: English Learners in Austria and Japan. OnCUE Journal 6 (1), 6-22
  • Mercer, S., & Ryan, S. (2011). Advanced learners’ perceptions of effective language learning strategies: Are they ‘fit for purpose’? In In E. Schwarz, & S. Mercer (Eds.), Language Learning at the Tertiary Level (pp. 9-32). Graz: ITAT.
  • Ryan, S., & Mercer, S. (2011). Natural talent, natural acquisition and abroad: learner attributions of agency in language learning. In G. Muray, T. Lamb, & A. Gao (Eds.), Identity, Motivation and Autonomy: Exploring their links (pp. 160-176). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
  • Ryan, S. (2011). Integrating an ELF perspective to English education in Japan: Motivational challenges and opportunities. Senshu University Annual Bulletin of the Humanities, 41
  • Mercer. S, & Ryan, S. (2010) A Mindset for EFL: Learners’ beliefs about the role of natural talent. English Language Teaching Journal 64 (4), 436-444