Mel Engman

Dr. Mel Engman is a Senior Lecturer at Queen's University Belfast's School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, affiliated with the Centre for Technological Innovation, Mental Health and Education (TIME). Her research focuses on Indigenous/heritage language revitalization, bilingual pedagogies in tribal schools, and the intersection of language with material and social environments. She employs critical and qualitative methodologies to study language use in land-based contexts and social media practices.

Current projects include investigations into family language development in Northern Ireland (as Principal Investigator) and the competences of Irish-medium practitioners. She has received awards including the AAAL Research Article Award (2023) and global training recognitions. Engman has advised on over 4 PhD projects and collaborates internationally through visiting research positions (e.g., University of Glasgow 2022-2023).

Her work spans 29 peer-reviewed publications and frequent conference presentations. Media engagements include BBC Radio 3 discussions on language loss and revival (2022-2023). Research collaborations highlight cross-disciplinary approaches to decolonizing language education through land-based paradigms.