Research Interests
- Multilingualism
- Multilingual identity
- Metaphor in relation to belief formation and change
- Language learning motivation
- Language teacher education
- Sociocultural approaches in relation to the above
- Policy in relation to the above
Professor Linda Fisher
Dr Linda Fisher is a University Professor of Languages Education at the Faculty of Education. She is a Fellow and Director of Studies in Education at Magdalene. Before moving to higher education she taught languages in three comprehensive schools.
Linda Fisher is Professor in Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her current research interests are in multilingualism, multilingual identity, creativity in language learning, metaphor in relation to belief schemata, second language teacher education, motivation, and the academic and social integration of English as an Additional Language learners. Her main teaching responsibilities lie in Modern Languages PGCE, MPhil in Research in Second Language Education (RSLE), and PhD supervision for students working in the areas of multilingual identity, language learner and teacher beliefs, teacher education and motivation. She is involved in extensive work with secondary age language learners and their teachers. She was Co-Investigator and Education Strand Lead on the MEITS project (Multilingualism Empowering Individuals Transforming Societies), part of the Open World Research Initiative funded by an AHRC large grant. This strand investigated participative identity construction in the language learning classroom. She was also Co-Investigator on a second OWRI AHRC large-grant project Creative Multilingualism, investigating creativity in the languages classroom.
Qualifications
- PhD University of Cambridge
- MBA University of Leicester
- PGCE Queen's University, Belfast
- MA (Hons) University of St Andrews
Career/Research Highlights
2016 – 2020 Education strand lead Multilingualism Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies (MEITS), [AHRC-funded large grant]
2016 – 2020 Co-investigator Education strand Creative Multilingualism [AHRC-funded large grant]
2014 – 2016 The education of disadvantaged EAL (English as an Additional Language) students: effective matching of needs to provision. Bell Foundation. Language development, social integration and educational achievement of EAL learners.
Professional Affiliations
British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
British Educational Research Association (BERA)
Association for Language learning (ALL)
Cambridge Language Sciences
Cambridge Bilingual Network
Selected Publications
Ayres-Bennett, W., & Fisher, L. (Eds.). (2022). Multilingualism and Identity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Cambridge Education Research). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108780469
Ayres-Bennett, W., & Fisher, L. (2022). Towards Interdisciplinarity in Multilingual Identity Research: Differing Perspectives and Common Ground. In W. Ayres-Bennett & L. Fisher (Eds.), Multilingualism and Identity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Cambridge Education Research, pp. 1-18). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108780469.001
Hedman, C., & Fisher, L. (2022). Multilingual Study Mentoring for Critical Multilingual Language Awareness among migrant adolescents: scenarios of possibility. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2104862
Hedman, C., & Fisher, L. (2022). Critical multilingual language awareness among migrant students: cultivating curiosity and a linguistics of participation. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2104862
Gayton, A., & Fisher, L. (2022). Multilingual Identity Construction through Participative Reflective Practice in the Languages Classroom. In W. Ayres-Bennett & L. Fisher (Eds.), Multilingualism and Identity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Cambridge Education Research, pp. 299-320). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108780469.015
Fisher, L., Evans, M., Forbes, K., Gayton, A., Liu, Y. & Rutgers, D. (2022). Language experiences, evaluations and emotions (3Es): analysis of structural models of multilingual identity for language learners in schools in England. International Journal of Multilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/14790718.2022.2060235
Rutgers, D., Evans, M., Fisher, L., Forbes, K., Gayton, A. & Liu, Y. (2021). Multilingualism, Multilingual Identity and Academic Attainment: Evidence from Secondary Schools in England. Journal of Language, Identity & Education. DOI: 10.1080/15348458.2021.1986397
Forbes, K., Evans, M., Fisher, L., Gayton, A., Liu, Y. & Rutgers, D. (2021). Developing a multilingual identity in the languages classroom: the influence of an identity-based pedagogical intervention. The Language Learning Journal. DOI: 10.1080/09571736.2021.1906733.