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Language study boosted by British Council
The researchers, including Dr Naeema Hann and Dr Ivor Timmis at Leeds Met, will investigate the impact of English Language on the learning and wider lives of students of English as a second language in Leeds and Salford in the UK as well as in China, Columbia and UAE.
Dr Hann commented: "The impact that learning to speak English has on people's wider lives needs to be investigated - research in this area is normally tied to work and career but we are opening this up to find out what difference it can make to people's lives. We live in a globalised world where English is the common language of business, commerce and transnational families. Additionally, the majority of English speakers are non-native."
The team will use an innovative focus group technique and in-depth interviews to compile results which will be published in September 2013. Dr Hann added: "The results will be used by the British Council to inform policy worldwide. We are very curious ourselves to find out what impact learning English has on people's lives as all members of the team are bilingual and so the impact for us has been huge in both our careers and personal lives."