Rebecca Keogh PGDE, MA, SFHEA

Rebecca Keogh

Dubai Campus
Deputy Director Foundation Programmes
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) TNE Programme Manager

Contact details

Email
r.keogh.3@bham.ac.uk

Rebecca leads the English for Academic Purposes Programme in the Foundation Year and all related English enhancement in-sessional activities at the Dubai campus. She also is the Deputy Director for the Foundation Pathways (EPS, MLGS, SSBL, GEES) and the Academic Integrity Officer.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of International Business and Korean Language
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education
  • Master of Applied Linguistics
  • Senior Fellowship of Higher Education

Biography

Rebecca has worked in the higher education sector, in teaching, student support and managerial roles, for 25+ years. She has lived and worked in Australia, Japan, Korea, India and the UAE and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Applied Linguistics. Her experience includes:

  • International Development Assistance / Social impact
  • Development and management of donor-funded training projects for DFAT, World Bank, UNICEF, ADB and government scholarship bodies. Chief Sustainability Officer for Green School for Girls in India.
  • Teaching, Training and Consulting (TESOL focus)
  • Curriculum development, delivery and management of training for TESOL, EAP, ESP (Aviation English), CLIL, and other academic and professional programmes for the higher education sector. Language proficiency assessment, programme evaluations and cultural awareness training for the private and public sector, including consultancies delivered for Coffey International, Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and Citibank.

Teaching

  • Introduction to Global Environmental Issues ( GEES) – Module co-lead
  • Advanced Academic Skills (BIA)

Research

Ecolinguistics, Sustainable Literacy, Corpus Linguistics, Aviation English, Sustainability

Rebecca employs critical discourse analysis to scrutinize texts and narratives to evaluate how language shapes perceptions of nature and influences behaviors that may either harm or protect ecosystems. My current research in corpus linguistics is focused on the language used in media coverage of extreme weather events. I also look at the connections between linguistic diversity and biodiversity and discourses of deception, denial and delay in climate change coverage.

Other activities

Chief Sustainability Officer


Advisor for language proficiency testing of pilots and air traffic controllers


Youth pillar representative

IELTS examiner

Publications

  • Williams, Jeremy B and Keogh, Rebecca, School as Sustainable Enterprise: Building Climate Resilient Communities Through Investment in the Girl Child (July 1, 2023). Available at SSRN: or
  • Keogh, R., & Ryan, L. (2024). How to confront climate denial: literacy, social studies and climate change: by James S. Damico and Mark C. Baildon, New York, Teachers College Press, 2022, 176 pp., $36.95 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-8077-6720-7. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 1–4.