Laura Manzie

Laura Manzie is a Senior Lecturer in English as a Foreign Language at the School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent University, where she is affiliated with the Nottingham Institute of Languages and Intercultural Communication. She serves as Subject Coordinator for TESOL in the BA Joint Honours program and actively contributes to language teaching and teacher education across multiple platforms, including the Cambridge CELTA and Trinity Cert TESOL training programs.

Her research focuses on academic literacy, particularly the development of criticality in academic writing and reading. She explores pedagogical innovations such as blogging and Academic Reading Circles as tools to foster critical engagement among students. Additionally, she investigates how language classrooms can serve as spaces for building intercultural competence (ICC), linking language learning with broader sociocultural awareness.

Laura has extensive international teaching experience, having taught in Sri Lanka, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Japan, and China. She played a key role in establishing NTU’s Pre-Sessional English Language Programme at the Communication University of China in Beijing. Her professional work extends to community outreach, where she connects trainee teachers with opportunities to teach refugees and asylum seekers in Nottingham.

She is also involved in external professional activities, working as a freelance teacher trainer in the UK and Turkey, and supports Syrian academics through CARA’s Syrian programme by providing English language assistance.

Teaching Responsibilities:

• MA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
• BA Joint Honours TESOL modules
• Cambridge CELTA
• Trinity Cert TESOL (as trainer and course director)

Professional and Community Engagement:

• Freelance teacher trainer (Nottingham, UK; Izmir, Turkey)
• Participant in CARA’s Syrian programme
• Collaborator in NTU’s community outreach projects with refugee and asylum seeker communities