Sultan Turkan

Dr. Sultan Turkan 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 equitable education for multilingual immigrant children, emphasizing translanguaging practices and culturally responsive pedagogies. She advocates for viewing language as a resource rather than a deficit, influencing teacher education and assessment design.

Her work addresses validity and fairness in educational assessments, particularly for bilingual learners, and explores how teacher training can better prepare educators to support multilingual students. Current projects include simulated classroom environments for science teacher training and investigations into Irish-medium practitioner workloads. Turkan has held leadership roles such as Director of the MSc TESOL/Applied Linguistics Programme and serves on the British Association for Applied Linguistics' Executive Committee.

• Research Interests: Bilingual education, translanguaging, culturally sustaining pedagogies, assessment equity
• Key Projects: Simulated Teacher Learning Environments (2020-2022) and Irish-medium Practitioner Competences (2023-)
• Notable Achievements: AERA Abedi-Thurlow Award, multiple invited keynotes, and editorial contributions to peer-reviewed journals

Turkan's interdisciplinary approach integrates Bakhtinian and Vygotskyan theories, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to quality education and reduced inequalities. She actively participates in global academic communities, delivering over 100 presentations and peer-review activities since 2004.