Associate Professor: TESOL

Dr. Talia Isaacs is a TESOL Associate Professor in the Anaheim University Graduate School of Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Education from McGill University and serves as Associate Professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London. She has designed and taught a wide range of courses in applied linguistics and TESOL at four UK and Canadian universities, including in language testing, aural/oral communication, TESOL pedagogy and curriculum, second language acquisition, and research methods. Her work on assessing second language speech (particularly pronunciation) has been shaped by her language teaching and learning experience and background in voice performance, particularly taking diction courses for opera singers. She has a strong track record of leading research and consultancy projects on language and communication and often serves in an assessment advisory capacity, most recently as a core expert group member for the OECD's PISA 2025 foreign language assessment questionnaire, and as a member of the TOEFL Committee of Examiners (ETS, 2020-24). With growing research interests in computer-mediated assessment and language for specific and academic purposes, she is increasingly active in the UK clinical trials methodology community, injecting a social sciences dimension into a complex, interdisciplinary research area. Her research is methodologically eclectic and mostly resides within the mixed methods paradigm.

Message to students:

I am delighted to share my passion for TESOL and applied linguistics through research-led teaching, helping students draw links between theoretical underpinnings, practical applications, and their experiences as language learners or teachers. Through helping students engage critically with core content to reflect on their own context and professional practice, I learn much from my students.

Books

Harding, L., & Isaacs, T. (under contract). Pronunciation assessment: An intelligibility-based approach. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Phakiti, A., & Isaacs, T. (under contract). Confidence and calibration in language learning and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Isaacs, T., & Trofimovich, P. (Eds.). (2017). Second language pronunciation assessment: Interdisciplinary perspectives. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.