Language Policy and Political Issues in Education

Prior to taking up his position at The University of Auckland, Professor Stephen May was Foundation Professor and Chair of Language and Literacy Education in the School of Education, University of Waikato (2001-2009). In the 1st semester of 2008, he was also a New Zealand Fulbright Senior Scholar, based at Arizona State University, Teachers College, Columbia University and City University New York, where he undertook a comparative ethnographic study of successful school-based bilingual education programs. In 2001, he was a visiting scholar at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Stephen began his professional career in the 1980s as a secondary teacher of English and ESL in New Zealand and has subsequently taught in universities in New Zealand, Britain, USA and Canada. From 1993-2001 he taught in the Sociology Department, University of Bristol, UK, where he remains affiliated as a Honorary Research Fellow.

• Language, Society and Education.- Language Variation, Acquisition and Education.- Language, Culture, Discourse and Education.- Language, Interaction and Education.