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Richard Pinner

Thank you for visiting my ePortfoilio. This is a place for anyone interested in my research to find out more. You may be a teacher, student, researcher or just someone with an interest in my work. This page is especially for you.

About Me

I completed my PhD at The University of Warwick's Centre for Applied Linguistics in April 2017. My thesis was entitled Social Authentication and the Synergies Between Teacher and Student Motivation: A narrative of teaching at a Japanese university. The study looked at the relationship between authenticity and motivation by specifically viewing the process of mutually validating the act of learning as social authentication, which in turn can often lead to positive motivational synergy between students and teacher(s).

I am also an Assistant Professor at the Department of English Literature at Sophia University in Tokyo. I have been teaching EFL since 2004, working at university level since 2009. I have only ever worked in the UK and Japan, although I have given presentations in Europe, Asia and South America. Recent publications include articles in Language Teaching Research and English Today and I also have an individually authored monograph called Reconceptualising Authenticity for English as a Global Language, published by Multilingual Matters in 2016. Thanks for reading and please do get in touch.

Research Interests and Teaching

As a teacher and a researcher, it's difficult to say what I am interested in. It might be quicker to say what I am not interested in. Basically I'm interested in Content and Language Integrated Learning, Autonomy, Self-assesment and Feedback, Language Assessment and the use of Educational Technology, particularly for Blended Learning. Of course, my main interests are my research fields, Authenticity and Motivation. Because Autonomy is so closely linked with those two, I would say that Autonomy is another one of my three main interests.

My research is mainly based around the classroom. I am interested in Exploratory Practice and Reflexivity. I am also very interested in Narrative Inquiry. On the whole, most of my research is qualitative in nature, and I am interested in understanding things at personal and social levels of interaction.

Selected Publications


Pinner, R. S. (2017). Re-learning from experience: using autoethnography for teacher development. Educational Action Research, 1-15. doi: 10.1080/09650792.2017.1310665

Pinner, R.S. 2016. Reconceptualising Authenticity for English as a Global Language. Multilingual Matters: Bristol.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'Trouble in paradise: Self-assessment and the Tao'. Language Teaching Research 20/2: 181-195.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'The Quest for 'real' Authenticity in EFL'. Modern English teacher 25/1: 73-75.

Lowe, R. and R. Pinner. 2016. 'Finding the Connections Between Native-speakerism and Authenticity'. Applied Linguistics Review 7/1: 27-52.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'Using self-assessment to maintain motivation in a dynamic classroom environment: An exploratory practice inquiry of one Japanese university speaking course'. Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics 3/1: 27-40.

Pinner, R.S. 2016b. 'The smart way to use Smartphones in the language classroom'. Modern English teacher 25/3.

Pinner, R.S. 2016c. 'Give few thy voice: why language teachers should learn to love our larynxes'. English teaching professional 104/May.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'The connections between authenticity and native-speakerism: Students’ reactions to international English varieties.' Paper presented at Center for English Language Communication (CELC) Symposium, Singapore.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'The nature of authenticity in English as a foreign language: a comparison of eight inter-related definitions'. ELTWO Journal 9/1: 78-93.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'Understanding Meaning: Defining expectations in vocabulary teaching'. Lingua 27/1.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'A rose by any other name: A contemporary assessment of the scope of Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis'. Sophia English Studies 53/1.

Pinner, R.S. 2016. 'Constructing and managing transportable identities on social networking sites'. Explorations in Teacher Education 23/2.

Pinner, R.S. 2015. 'Authenticity in a Global Context: Learning, Working and Communicating with L2 teachers of English' in J. Angouri, T. Harrison, S. Schnurr and S. Wharton (eds.) Learning, Working and Communicating in a Global Context. London: Scitsiugnil Press for the British Association for Applied Linguistics.

Pinner, R.S. 2014. 'The Authenticity Continuum: Empowering international voices'. English Language Teacher Education and Development 16/1: 9 - 17.

Pinner, R.S. 2014. 'What Is The Difference Between an LMS and a VLE?' in C. Pappas (ed.) eLearning Industry. http://elearningindustry.com: eLearning Inustry Network.

Pinner, R.S. 2014. 'The authenticity continuum: Towards a definition incorporating international voices'. English Today 30/4: 22-27.

Pinner, R.S. 2013. 'Authenticity of Purpose: CLIL as a way to bring meaning and motivation into EFL contexts'. Asian EFL Journal 15/4: 138 - 159.

Pinner, R.S. 2013. 'Authenticity and CLIL: Examining authenticity from an international CLIL perspective'. International CLIL Research Journal 2/1: 44 - 54.

Ikeda, M., R.S. Pinner, P. Mehisto and D. Marsh. 2013. 'Editorial: CLIL in Japan'. International CLIL Research Journal 2/1: 1- 3.

Pinner, R.S. 2012. 'Unlocking Literature through CLIL' in S. Izumi, M. Ikeda and Y. Watanabe (eds.) CLIL: New Challenges in Foreign Language Education. Tokyo: Sophia University Press.

Pinner, R.S. 2012. 'Teachers’ attitudes to and motivations for using CALL in and around the language classroom'. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 34/: 188-192.

Pinner, R.S. 2012. 'Examining Authenticity and Motivation from an International Perspective'. JACET ESP Annual Report 14/: 26 -35.

Pinner, R.S. 2011. 'A Two Year Cross-Section of Student Use of Self-Access eLearning'. Studies in self-access learning 2/3: 30 -34.

Pinner, R.S. 2011. 'Teaching with social networks'. Modern English teacher 20/3: 37-39.

Pinner, R.S. 2011. 'Making the most of moodle'. English teaching professional 73: 64-66.

Pinner, R.S. 2011. 'The importance of instructional technology in language teaching'. Modern English teacher 20/1: 42-45.

Pinner, R.S. 2011. 'VLE or LMS: Taxonomy for Online Learning Environments'. CALL Review 2011/Summer: 5 - 9.

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'Stuck in a rut: adding a dash of culture to help motivate students to progress'. Modern English teacher 19/4: 33-35.

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'Teachers’ attitudes to and motivations for using CALL in and around the language classroom'. Dissertation, King's College, London.

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'Regular peer-tutorials as a way of encouraging self-assessment and an alternative to traditional portfolios'. Independence 49: 13 - 16.

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'Setting up Self-Access through eLearning' in T. Pattison (ed.) IATEFL Conference Selections: 44th International Conference. IATEFL Publications.

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'Teachers’ Attitudes and Motivations for Using CALL in and around the Language Classroom' in A. Aerts, J. Colpaert and M. Oberhofer (eds.) Motivation and Beyond. Antwerp: Linguapolis, Universiteit Antwerpen

Pinner, R.S. 2010. 'A Longitudinal Study of Student Uptake Using Self-access eLearning' in A. Aerts, J. Colpaert and M. Oberhofer (eds.) Motivation and Beyond. Antwerp: Linguapolis, Universiteit Antwerpen

Pinner, R.S. 2009. 'ELT and the global recession'. ELT Journal 63/4: 390-392.

RPinner teaching profile

Richard Pinner

rpinner at sophia dot ac dot jp

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