Dr Diana Camps
- Lecturer in Education (School of Social & Environmental Sustainability)
Biography
Research focus
My own research vision is to understand the role of language and discourse in the production of injustice and inequality – my core interest is in better understanding the mechanisms, policies and practices that continue to (re)produce injustice and marginalisation to effect change and find mitigating solutions.
My research has directed attention to different marginalised groups and various social challenges including migration and access to education, the right to culture (cultural life) in Scotland, the legitimation of minoritised languages and access to justice for social rights. My work has maintained a central focus on how discourses are transformed through social action and their role in shaping contemporary programmes and practices.
My PhD in Sociolinguistics (2019), completed at the Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan (MultiLing) at the University of Oslo, entailed a multi-scalar analysis of pivotal policy documents related to minority language protection. The analysis shed light on the power dimensions of language policy and emphasised the value of examining the wider environment in which a policy is produced, as well as the multi-layered connections between texts, discourse and practice.
Prior to entering academia, my experience includes teaching various learner groups in TESOL (refugee adults and international students), as well as working with a large NGO in Chicago (IL) in refugee resettlement. My subsequent Master’s research (2010-2012) directed attention to better understanding the mechanisms that govern refugee resettlement in the US, illustrating how the framing in US policies of refugees and the role of language in integration (i.e. learning the dominant language) directly impacted and constrained the provision of English language education for refugee adults, and consequently their social mobility.
Research interests
My expertise:
- Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) & foreign language education (Dutch) - adult learning
- (Minority) language policy & planning
- Migration and education
- Linguistic and cultural rights (social rights)
- Language revitalisation
- Language and law
- Critical discourse analysis (Nexus Analysis)
- Qualitative & mixed-methodological research methods
Given my interest in the interrelationships between language and (in)justice, my research is interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing different theoretical underpinnings, methodological tools and a variety of stakeholders.
Current strands of work include:
- Investigating access to education and leisure for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in Scotland, in collaboration with colleagues at Glasgow Caledonian University and Queen Margaret University.
- Progressing the right to culture (cultural life) in Scotland, including collaborations with civil society and Scottish government, in relation to the Human Rights Bill for Scotland consultation and the relevance for minoritised and migrant language communities.
- Examining parliamentary debates discourse around the repeal of the Human Rights Act.
- Developing international comparative research on policy framings of refugees and asylum seekers in relation to (language) education.
Grants
- British Academy Early Career Research Network (BA-ECRN) (2023), Scotland Hub Seed Fund competition (Reference Number: BAS2023-41) - GBP 1,854
- Seed funding (Co-I) for scoping/ grant writing activities: Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children in Scotland: A Scoping Exercise to Understand how Separated Children Access Education and Participate in Leisure (March-July 2023)
- Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan (MultiLing), University ofOslo,Norway
- Completion Grant - 1 year, (2018–2019) - NOK 500,000 - comprising 50% research activities and 50% teaching and pedagogical training
- Internal departmental grant (September 2017) - NOK 18,000 - Research Stay, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), Freiburg, Germany
- Internal departmental grant (July 2016) - NOK 10,000 - Research Stay, Meertens Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Teaching
Possess a University Teaching Qualification (prerequisite certificate of pedagogical competence for university educators), 150 hours, University of Oslo,Norway (2019, March)
Teaching Experience
- Sociolinguistics - Various courses, guest lectures
- TESOL - English for Academic Purposes - international students, private university campus; refugee adults
- Dutch language and culture
- Academic writing workshop for Master's students
- Law (guest lecture) - Module on Human Rights in Practice: Economic, social and cultural (ESC) rights
Additional information
Selected membership:
British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL), Language Policy Special Interest Group (LP SIG)
- Secretary, June 2019 – present
Professional development (selected):
Equality, Law and Social Justice summer residence, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London (2023, June-July)
- Accepted upon successful application for a 3-week international, interdisciplinary summer residence