Dr Harry Kuchah Kuchah

Dr Harry Kuchah Kuchah

School of Education
Associate Professor of Language, Social Justice and Education

Contact details

Email
h.k.kuchah@bham.ac.uk
Address
School of Education
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Harry Kuchah Kuchah is an Associate Professor of Language, Social Justice and Education in the Department of Education and Social Justice (ESJ) at the School of Education. Besides his work in Academia, he has also served as a consultant on language policy and practice with the British Council, the Council of Europe, and Windle Trust International. Harry is currently Chair of the British Council English Language Advisory Group.

His research looks at social and epistemic (in)justice in two main areas of Language education - the practice of TESOL and English medium education (EME). In relation to the first, he is particularly interested in classroom-based research and the role of teachers and learners in decentring and decolonising language education practice and developing context appropriate pedagogies. His EME research looks at the role of language-in-education policy and practice on the attainment of SDG 4 & 5 in multilingual contexts in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Recently he has been Principal Investigator on a British Council ELTRA project looking at multilingual learners' strategies in English medium primary schools in Cameroon and Co-Investigator on an ESRC New Investigator project, Exploring the opportunities for learning justice: a case study of girls' educational experiences in English Medium Rwandan Basic Education (led by Dr Lizzi Milligan, University of Bath).

He is co-editor of International Perspectives on Teaching English in Difficult Circumstances (Palgrave Macmillan 2018), Ethical and methodological issues in researching young language learners in school contexts (Multilingual Matters 2021) and Teacher Research in Africa: Voices from the Africa ELTA Mentoring Project (IATEFL, 2022). 

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy 
  • PGCert. in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. (University of Sheffield, 2014) 
  • PhD in ELT & Applied Linguistics (University of Warwick, 2013) 
  • MA (with Distinction) in Teaching English to Young Learners (University of Warwick, 2007)
  • MPhil, English Literary Studies, (University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon, 2000). 
  • MA in English Literature (University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon, 1996) 
  • PG Diploma in English Language Teacher Education (University College of Education, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 1996) 
  • BA (Hons) English Modern Letters, (University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon)

Biography

Harry joined the School of Education in November 2023 after more than 12 years of working as a Teaching Fellow at the Universities of Warwick and Sheffield and Lecturer at the Universities of Bath and Leeds. At Leeds, he served as Programme Lead for the MA in Education and MA in TESOL for Young Learners programmes and was also Research Impact Lead for the School of Education. 

Previously, he worked in the field of English language education and Applied Linguistics for 15 years, as an English language teacher, teacher trainer, and policy maker in his home country, Cameroon. His professional experience also includes school-based literacy support with young learners in the UK as well as in-service teacher education and material development projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. More recently, he has done consultancies on different aspects of language policy and practice for the Council of Europe in Albania; for Windle Trust International and ELT Consultants in South Sudan and for the British Council in countries in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

Harry was recognised as one of TESOL International Association's 30 up-and-coming leaders globally, in 2017. In the summer of 2022, he was funded by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRA) as African Diaspora Visiting Academic at Sol Plaatje University, South Africa.  He is Past President and Outgoing Vice President of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL); Joint-Coordinator of the Teaching English in Large Classes Research Network (TELCNet), Adviser to the Africa ELTA Board and Chair of the British Council English Language Advisory Group (ELAG).

Teaching

Harry is Module Leader for Second Language Teaching Methodology (MSc TESOL).

He also contributes to the following Modules: 

  • Research Methods in Education (PGT)
  • Researching Childhood and Education (UG)
  • MA Dissertation Supervision

Postgraduate supervision

Harry is open to supervising PhD candidates in the following areas:

  • Teaching and Researching Young Language Learners
  • Multilingual Education
  • English medium Education
  • Learner autonomy
  • Language teacher education and professional development

Research

How to nurture independent learners through pedagogic partnerships

Other activities

  • Chair, British Council English Language Advisory Group
  • CODESRIA African Diaspora Visiting Academic, (Sol Plaatje University, 2022) 
  • Past President, International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (2018 – 2022) 

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Kuchah, K & Pinter, A (eds) 2021, Ethical and Methodological Issues in Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts. Early Language Learning in School Contexts, vol. 6, Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411432

Article

Kuchah, K & Milligan, LO 2024, '‘Tu connais le answer?’: Multilingual children’s attempts to navigate monolingual English Medium classrooms in Cameroon', System, vol. 122, 103216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2023.103216

Coleman, H, Ahmad, NF, Hadisantosa, N, Kuchah, K, Lamb, M & Waskita, D 2023, 'Common sense and resistance: EMI policy and practice in Indonesian universities', Current Issues in Language Planning. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2023.2205792

Milligan, LO, Dorimana, A, Uwizeyemariya, A, Uworwabayeho, A, Sprague, T, Adamson, L & Kuchah, K 2023, 'Umuzigo w’inyongera: Girls’ differential experiences of the double burden of language and gender in Rwandan English Medium secondary education', Language and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2023.2288635

Banegas, DL, Bullock, D, Kiely, R, Kuchah, K, Padwad, A, Smith, R & Wedell, M 2022, 'Decentring ELT: teacher associations as agents of change', ELT Journal, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccab090

Kuchah, K, Adamson, L, Dorimana, A, Uwizeyemariya, A, Uworwabayeho, A & Milligan, LO 2022, 'Silence and silencing in the classroom: Rwandan girls’ epistemic exclusion in English medium basic education', Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2159031

Uworwabayeho, A, Milligan, LO & Kuchah, H 2021, 'Mapping the emergence of a gender gap in English in Rwandan primary and secondary schools', Issues in Educational Research, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 1312-1329. <http://www.iier.org.au/iier31/uworwabayeho.pdf>

Kuchah, HK 2020, 'Staying resilient, responding to a global Crisis', ELT Journal. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa032

Kuchah, K 2018, 'Early English medium instruction in Francophone Cameroon: The injustice of equal opportunity', System. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.10.001

Sanchez, HS, Kuchah, K, Rodrigues, L & de Pietri, E 2018, 'Pre-service language teachers’ development of appropriate pedagogies: A transition from insightful critiques to educational insights', Teaching and Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.11.024

Chapter

Kuchah, K & Milligan, LO 2021, Navigating cultural and methodological complexities in research with children in a Sub-Saharan African contex. in A Pinter & K Kuchah (eds), Ethical and Methodological Issues in Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts. Early Language Learning in School Contexts, vol. 6, Multilingual Matters, pp. 165-184. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411432-010

Kuchah, K & Pinter, A 2021, Researching young language learners in school contexts: Setting the scene. in A Pinter & K Kuchah (eds), Ethical and Methodological Issues in Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts. Early Language Learning in School Contexts, vol. 6, Multilingual Matters, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411432-002

Pinter, A & Kuchah, K 2021, Revisiting and expanding opportunities for participatory research with young learners in school contexts. in A Pinter & K Kuchah (eds), Ethical and Methodological Issues in Researching Young Language Learners in School Contexts. Early Language Learning in School Contexts, vol. 6, Multilingual Matters, pp. 243-253. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411432-014

Kuchah, K, Djigo, OM & Taye, B 2019, English language teacher education and collaborative professional development in contexts of constraints. in The Routledge Handbook of English Language Teacher Education.

Kuchah, K 2018, Teaching English to young learners in difficult circumstances. in The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners.