Vicky Wright

Professor Vicky Wright is a faculty member at the University of Southampton within the School of Humanities and Department of Modern Languages. She holds the position of Professorial Fellow-Education and serves as the School of Humanities Study Abroad coordinator.

Her research focuses on Learner Autonomy, Teacher Autonomy, and Computer Assisted Language Learning. Key themes include language learning innovation, multilingual transcultural social contexts, and linguistic strategies among international students. Her work examines how autonomous learners set personal goals and take responsibility for their educational journeys.

Her publication record spans from 1993 to 2022, showing consistent research in language learning autonomy. Early work explored open learning systems in higher education, while recent studies analyze Chinese-speaking students' linguistic and social integration strategies in UK religious settings and universities. This demonstrates an evolving focus from systemic language education to individualized learner experiences in multicultural environments.

She actively supervises 12 PhD students across Applied Linguistics/ELT and Modern Languages programs. Her external leadership includes serving as Vice-Chair of the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) and chairing the national Routes into Languages Committee, which addresses declining language learning in UK schools through university-school partnerships.

At institutional level, she contributes to the Centre for Linguistics, Language Education and Acquisition Research and Centre for Language Study. Her work extends to national language strategy development, promoting language learning uptake within the University of Southampton and across the UK higher education sector.