poole

Dr. Brian David Poole

  • Associate ProfessorSchool of Education

Contact Info:

  • Education
  • Bachelor’s Degree
Bachelor of Arts in English and Linguistics (Joint Honours) Nottingham University, UK October 1976 – July 1979
  • Teaching Certificate
Postgraduate Certificate in Education Leeds University, UK September 1981 – July 1982
  • Master’s Degree
Master of Arts in Linguistics for English Language Teaching Lancaster University, UK September 1986 – September 1987
  • Master’s Degree
Master of Philosophy (by thesis) Second Language Lexical Acquisition University of Portsmouth, UK September 2001 – November 2002
  • Doctoral Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD) By taught courses and a thesis on doctoral education University of Bath, UK July 2006 – October 2012
  • Work Experience
  • Aug 2021 – date
Associate Professor, English Language, AKFA University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
  • Jan 2021 – July 2021
Self-employed consultant, based at home in Bangkok. I completed various work projects for Majan University College and the University of Nizwa in Oman, and for Study Group and the University of Northampton in the UK.
  • Jan 2016 – Dec 2020
Associate Dean (Learning, Teaching & Research), Majan University College, Muscat, Oman
  • Oct 2015 – Nov 2015
Teaching Consultant, Singapore Management University.
  • Mar 2014 – Aug 2015
Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Quality Assurance, Caledonian College of Engineering (University College), Oman
  • Jan 2012 – Dec 2013
Lecturer, Centre for English Language Communication (CELC), National University of Singapore.
  • Oct 2010 – Dec 2011
English Language Specialist (Senior Education Officer), English Language Institute of Singapore (Ministry of Education, Singapore).
  • Jul 2009 – Jul 2010
Quality Assurance Manager, Sohar University, Oman.
  • Jun 2007 – Jun 2009
Lecturer, CELC, National University of Singapore.
  • Aug 2005 – Jun 2007
Quality Assurance Advisor, Ministry of Manpower, Muscat, Oman.
  • Jun 2004 – Jun 2005
Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Asian University, Thailand.
  • Jul 2003 – Jun 2004
Senior Coordinator, Quality Assurance, University of the South Pacific, Fiji.
  • Sep 2002 – Jun 2003
Head of English / Head of Quality Assurance, Majan University College, Oman.
  • Sep 1999 – Aug 2001
Head of English / Head of Quality Assurance, Majan University College, Oman. On unpaid leave from University of Portsmouth, UK (see below).
  • Sep 1993 – Aug 2002
Senior Lecturer and Head of English & Linguistics, School of Languages & Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, UK. I was on unpaid leave from Portsmouth (Sep 1999 – Aug 2001) at Majan University College, Oman (see above).
  • Oct 1992 – Aug 1993
Teaching Fellow (TESOL), English Language Institute, University of Surrey, UK.
  • Sep 1989 – Jul 1992
EFL Examinations Development Officer, British Council, Moscow.
  • Oct 1988 – Aug 1989
Visiting Assistant Professor (EAP), POSTECH (now Pohang University of Science & Technology), Pohang, South Korea.
  • Oct 1987 – July 1988
Tutor in English for Academic Purposes, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey.
  • Sep 1985 – Jul 1986
British Council EFL post at a girls’ secondary school in Istanbul, Turkey (Beyoglu Anadolu Lisesi).
  • Sep 1984 – May 1985
EFL teacher at Riyadh Schools (in the boys’ section) – a prestigious private school in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia whose pupils included one of King Fahd’s sons.
  • Sep 1983 – Jun 1984
British Council EFL post at the English-medium High School, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
  • Sep 1982 – Aug 1983
Bishopsgarth Secondary School, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, UK.
  • Sep 1979 – Jul 1981
Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) English language teaching post at Dendo Secondary School, Agaie, Niger State, Nigeria.
  • Consultancy
  • May 2017
Atatürk University, Erzurum, Turkey. Five-day campus visit. Meetings with the Rector, representatives of senior and middle management, lecturers, and students. Evaluative report submitted to the British Council in Ankara as part of the British Council Quality Development Programme for Turkey’s higher education sector.
  • English lexicology
  • Professional doctorates like DBA and EdD
  • Higher education policy and quality assurance
  • English-medium higher education.
Single-authored Journal Papers
  • Poole, B. (forthcoming, June 2022). Vague quantification in academic writing in English: the case of the phrase ‘a number of’. International Journal of English for Specific Purposes.
  • Poole, B. (forthcoming). Should we regard question-based media headlines as clickbait? English Today. Appeared online via First View, 28.7.2021. doi: 10.1017/S0266078421000201
  • Poole, B. (2020). Mining a poem to boost vocabulary awareness. English Australia, 36(2): 77-81.
  • Poole, B. (2020). One lump or two? A discussion of solid, hyphenated and open compounds. English Today, 36(1): 51-54.
  • Poole, B. (2018). Doctorateness and the DBA: What next? Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 8(2): 211-223.
  • Poole, B. (2017). Emerging preoccupations, developing lexicon. English Today, 33(2): 9-13.
  • Poole, B. (2015a). Examining the doctoral viva: perspectives from a sample of UK academics. London Review of Education, 13(3): 92-105.
  • Poole, B. (2015b). The rather elusive concept of ‘doctorateness’: a reaction to Wellington. Studies in Higher Education, 40(9): 1507-1522.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.873026.
  • Poole, B. (2015c). Lord Lucan: ‘missing’ or ‘on the run’? – Lexical choices and social class in British English. English Today, 31(2): 32-37. Doi: 10.1017/S0266078415000085.
  • Poole, B. (2012). Characteristic lexical choices in Singaporean English. English Today, 28(4): 55-59.
  • Poole, B. (2011). Notes on the emergence of EdD (Doctor of Education) programmes in the United Kingdom. Asian Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 1(1): 44-53.
  • Poole, B. (2010a). Commitment and criticality: Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis evaluated. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 20(2): 137-154.
  • Poole, B. (2010b). Quality, semantics and the two cultures. Quality Assurance in Education, 18(1): 6-18.
  • Poole, B. (2009). English railway announcements in Singapore. English Today, 25(2): 40-42.
  • Poole, B. (2008). Tiger Woods as a linguistic role model? English Today, 24(1): 59-61.
  • Poole, B. (2007). Comment article: Is your ‘within’ really necessary? ELT Journal, 61(3): 272-274.
  • Poole, B. (2006). Some effects of Indian English on the language as it is used in Oman. English Today, 22(4): 21-24.
  • Poole, B. (2005). ‘Quality’ problems. English Today, 21(4): 32-35.
  • Poole, B. (2004). How to tell ‘right’ from ‘wrong’. English Today, Vol. 20(2): 61-62.
Co-authored Journal Paper
  • Terry, J. & Poole, B. (2012) University education in physical geography across the South Pacific islands: multi-modal course delivery and student grade performance. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36(1): 131-148.
Book Chapter
  • Poole, B. (2015). Collectivism and coercion: The social practice of ‘sharing’ and distinctive uses of the verb ‘share’ in contemporary Singapore. In: Capone, A. and Mey, J. (Eds.) Interdisciplinary studies in pragmatics, culture and society. Switzerland: Springer International, pp.877-898. ISBN 978-3-319-12615-9.
Single-authored Papers in Edited Collections and Conference Proceedings
  • Writer Accountability and Discourse Voice in Academic English: A Study of the Verb ‘Emerge’ International Conference on Language, Education, Humanities and Innovation 5th & 6th August, 2017 http://proceedings.icsai.org/7iclehi/7iclehi-004.pdf
  • Two discourses of old age at work in contemporary English texts. ATINER (Athens Institute for Education and Research) conference on language and linguistics, July 7-8 2014. See http://www.atiner.gr/papers.htm, paper reference number LNG2014-1088.
  • Classroom observation, EAP course design and the context for instructed English language learning in the Sultanate of Oman. In: Deshpande, P. (Ed.) Excellence in academic English, Muscat: Sultan Qaboos University Press, pp118-127, 2001.
  • Verb polysemy or semantic transfer? In: Poole, B. (Ed.) Portsmouth University Working Papers in Linguistics, 4: 1-11, 1997.
  • Lexical combinability and the learner of English as a foreign language. In: Rastall, P.R. (Ed.) Portsmouth University Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 2, pp51-69, 1995.
Other Single-Authored Papers
  • The spellchecker isn’t always a saviour. IATEFL Voices. Forthcoming.
  • Writer accountability and discourse voice in academic English: a study of the verb ‘emerge’. International Journal of Language, Literature, Culture & Education, 2018 (1): Paper 3. http://icsai.org/ijllce/archive/2018/issue1/index.html
  • Mad about ambiguity. IATEFL Voices, 242, January 2015.
  • Targeting errors in consonant doubling. Modern English Teacher, 15 (4): 18-22, October 2006.
  • Collocational properties of singular and plural nouns in English: a problem for learners and lexicographers. Journal of English Studies, 1(2): 40-50, Bangkok: Thammasat University Press, 2005. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jsel/article/view/23178
  • Corpus, concordance, combinability. IATEFL Newsletter, 141: 13-14, February/March 1998.
  • Are all students equal? EFL testing perspectives in the former Soviet Union. Language Testing Update, Issue 12: 40-44, Institute for English Language Education, Lancaster University, UK, autumn 1992.
  • EFL testing in the USSR. British Council ELT Review, No. 2, p.28, autumn 1990.
Media Article
  • Is grade inflation weakening the value of higher education? Times Higher Education, 15th January 2019. Available at: https://bit.ly/2M8NhsD
Book Reviews
  • Baratta, A. (2019) World Englishes in English language teaching, Palgrave Macmillan; and Rose, H. & Galloway, N. (2019) Global Englishes for language teaching, Cambridge University Press. ELT Journal, 74(3): 351-355, August 2020.
  • Freeman, D. (2016). Educating second language teachers. Oxford: OUP. System, 70: 122-124, October 2017. De Bot, K. (2015). A history of applied linguistics. London & New York: Routledge. System, 68: 89-90, August 2017.
  • Jenks, C. & Seedhouse, P. (Eds.) (2015). International perspectives on ELT classroom interaction. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. System, 61: 113-115, October 2016.
  • Sockett, G. (2014). The online informal learning of English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ELT Journal, 70(1): 113-115, January 2016.
  • England, L. (Ed.) (2012). Online teacher education. Abingdon & New York: Routledge. ELT Journal, 68(2): 216-219, April 2014.
  • Doiz, A., Lasagabaster, D. & Sierra, J.M. (Eds.) (2013). English-medium instruction at universities: global challenges. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. System, 41(3): 880-882, September 2013.
  • Hall, C., Smith, P., & Wicaksono, R. (2011). Mapping applied linguistics, London & New York: Routledge. System, 41(2): 489-491, June 2013.
  • Gardner-Chloros, P. (2009). Code-Switching, Cambridge: CUP. System, 39(4): 557-559, December 2011. Walsh, S. (2011). Exploring classroom discourse, London & New York: Routledge. System, 39(4): 573-575, December 2011.
  • Hunston, S. (2011). Corpus approaches to evaluation: phraseology and evaluative language, London: Routledge. System, 39(2): 266-267, June 2011.
  • Campoy-Cubillo, M.C., Bellés Fortuño, B., & Gea-Valor, M.L. (Eds.) (2010). Corpus-based approaches to English language teaching, London & New York: Continuum. ELT Journal, 65(1): 92-93, January 2011.
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre: Chitty, C. (2009, 2nd edn.) Education policy in Britain, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, December 2009 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre: Ross, A. (2008) A European education: citizenship, identities and young people, Stoke, UK: Trentham Books, October 2009 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Nerad, M. & Heggelund, M. (eds.) (2008) Toward a global PhD?, Seattle: University of Washington Press. Journal of Research in International Education, 7(3): 378-380, December 2008.
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre (2008): Burns, T. & Sinfield, S. (2008) Essential study skills: The complete guide to success at university, London: Sage Publications Ltd., July 2008 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre (2007): Crisp, G. (2007) The e-assessment handbook, London & New York: Continuum, November 2007 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre (2007): Bartlett, S. & Burton, D. (2007) Introduction to education studies, London: Sage Publications, August 2007 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre: Nicoll, K. (2006) Flexibility and lifelong learning, London: Routledge at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre: Macaro, E. (2003) Teaching and learning a second language: a guide to current research and its applications, London: Continuum, June 2006 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Higher Education Academy (UK), Education Subject Centre: Turner, D. (2004) Theory of education, London & New York: Continuum, March 2006 at http://escalate.ac.uk/reviews
  • Numerous book reviews in IATEFL Voices 2002-2005 such as: Flowerdew, J. & Miller, L. (2005) Second language listening, Cambridge: CUP; Bachman, L. (2004) Statistical analyses for language assessment, Cambridge: CUP; Swan, M. & Walters, C. (2001) The good grammar book, Cambridge: CUP. Mitchell, R. & Myles, F. (1998) Second language learning theories, London: Edward Arnold in ELT Journal, 53(4): 330-332, October 1999.
  • Ellis, R. (1997) SLA research and language teaching, Oxford: OUP, and Skehan, P. (1998) A cognitive approach to language teaching, Oxford: OUP, in IATEFL Issues, 147: 25-26, Feb/March 1999.
Conference Presentations
  • ‘Are all doctorates equal?’ Paper presented at the QS Worldwide 2019 conference, 19-20 September 2019 at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
  • ‘Using poetic texts to promote lexical competence.’ GlobELT 2018, Belgrade, Serbia, May 10-12 2018.
  • ‘Writer accountability and discourse voice in academic English: a study of the verb ‘emerge’.’ Invited Principal Speaker, 7th International Conference on Language, Education, Humanities and Innovation (ICLEHI 2017), 5-6 August 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23374.36161.
  • ‘Two discourses of old age at work in contemporary English language texts.’ 7th Annual International Conference on Languages & Linguistics, 7-8 July 2014, Athens, Greece: Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER).
  • ‘How can a quality assurance framework best address the quality of learning in the EFL/ESL context?’ Sixth international ELT conference, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, November 2006.
  • ‘Collocational properties of singular and plural nouns in English: a problem for learners and lexicographers.’ 3rd Thammasat ELT Conference, “Innovations in English Language Teaching,” Thammasat University, Thailand, July, 2005.
  • ‘Semantic indeterminacy in verbs: a small-scale corpus-based study.’ 13th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, AILA 2002, Singapore, December 16-21 2002.
  • Classroom observation as a precursor to EAP course design. First national ELT conference, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman, March 21-22, 2001.
  • ‘Computer concordances and the learning of verb meaning.’ Fourth international ELT conference, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, December 1-3 1999.
  • ‘Counting and judging in EFL testing.’ Joint British Council / Kiev State Pedagogical Institute conference (jointly organized by myself and Irina Ionova) on “The testing and teaching of EFL”, Kiev State Pedagogical Institute, Kiev, Ukraine, May 19-22 1992.