Rachel Hu

Rachel Hu

EAP Teaching Fellow

Contact details

Email
r.hu@bham.ac.uk
Address
Birmingham International Academy
Priorsfield
Edgbaston Park Road
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Qualifications

  • PhD in Social Policy and Sociology (PhD award pending formal conferment)
  • MA Education (TESOL) (University 麻豆精选)
  • MA Applied Linguistics and English Teaching Methodology (Xi’an Jiaotong University)
  • BA (Hons) English Literature and English - Chinese Translation (Northwest university)
  • National Teaching Certificate for Higher Educational Purposes (China)
  • Associate Fellow of HEA

Biography

I have been teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at multiple UK universities since 2017. At the Birmingham International Academy (UoB), I have taught pre-sessional EAP since 2019 and the insessional Academic English Enhancement Programme since 2024. Alongside this, I have worked as a PGR seminar tutor and visiting lecturer at Birmingham Business School, teaching UG and PG modules on business management, leadership, entrepreneurship, and responsible business (2019–2024).

My teaching philosophy centres on inclusive, inquiry-based, and student-led learning, with a particular focus on developing critical thinking, academic communication, and intercultural competence. I am passionate about supporting learners from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds in navigating UK academic conventions and achieving success.

Previously, I was a Research Fellow at the School of Education (2014–2018), contributing to TLANG, an AHRC-funded sociolinguistic project on translanguaging among UK ethnic minority communities. I recently completed my PhD at UoB exploring the impact of intersections of gender, identity, and migration in entrepreneurial learning and transnational migrant entrepreneurial practices. Committed to widening participation and fostering a strong sense of belonging, I bring a warm, reflective, and research-informed approach to my teaching and academic practice.

Teaching

  • EAP Postgraduate Presessional
  • EAP Undergraduate Presessional
  • Academic English Enhancement Programme Postgraduate Insessional 

Publications

Journal Articles and Book chapter:

1) Trehan, K., Hu, R., and Kevill, A. (2021) ‘Migrant Enterprises: Diversity and Emotions at Work’, in Vershinina, N., Rodgers, P., Xheneti, M., Brzozowski, J. and Lassalle, P. (Ed.) Global Migration, Entrepreneurship and Society (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 13), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 71-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-724620210000013004

2) Lyons, A., Tagg, C., and Hu, R. (2019) ‘Chronotopic (non)modernity in translocal mobile messaging among Chinese migrants in the UK’, Internet Pragmatics, issn 2542-3851/e-issn 2542-386. https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00043.lyo Published online: 17 December 2019 © John Benjamins Publishing Company.

3) Blackledge, A., Creese, A., and Hu, R. (2017) ‘Everyday Encounters in the Market Place: Translanguaging in the Super-Diverse City’, in De Fina, A. et al (Ed.) Diversity and Super-Diversity: Sociocultural Linguistic Perspectives. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

4) Creese, A., Blackledge, A., & Hu, R. (2017). ‘Translanguaging and translation: the construction of social difference across city spaces’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. DOI: 10.1080/13670050.2017.1323445.

5) Tagg, C., Lyons, A., Hu, R., and Rock, F. (2017) ‘The ethics of digital ethnography in a team project’, Applied Linguistics Review, DOI: 10.1515/applirev-2016-1040.

6) Blackledge, A., Creese, A., and Hu, R. (2016) ‘The structure of everyday narrative in a city market: An ethnopoetics approach’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2016: 1–23.

Conference Papers:

1) 2022 ISBE Conference: From Experiences to Knowledge: A Fresh Perspective to Understand Migrant Entrepreneurial Endeavours. Authors: Rachel Hu, Kiran Trehan

2) 18th IMISCOE international conference (2021): Intersection of Gender, Class, Ethnicity and Body: A Global Multi-Scalar Perspective. Authors: Rachel Hu, Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Kiran Trehan

3) 2019 ISBE Conference: Critical Entrepreneurship: Unveiling Social inequalities through the study of power, emotions and social relations in minority groups Entrepreneurship in Minority Groups. Authors: Kiran Trehan, Rachel Hu, Alex Kevil, Francis Greene

Working papers: ()

1) Blackledge, A., Creese A., and Hu, R. (2015) Voice and Social Relations in a City Market (WP. 2)

2) Creese, A., Blackledge, A. and Hu, R. (2016) Noticing and commenting on social difference: A translanguaging and translation perspective. (WP.10)

3) Tagg, C., Lyons, A., Hu, R., & Rock, F. (2016) The Ethics of Digital Ethnography in a Team Project. (WP. 12).

4) Blackledge, A., Creese, A., and Hu, R. (2016) Protean Heritage, Everyday Superdiversity. (WP.13)

5) Tagg, C., Hu, R., Lyons, A. & Simpson, J. (2016) Heritage and social media in superdiverse cities: personalised, networked and multimodal. (WP.17).

6) Blackledge, A., Creese, A. & Hu, R. (2017). Translanguaging, Volleyball and Social Life. (WP.19).

7) Tagg, C. & Hu, R. (2017). Sharing as a conversational turn in digital interaction. (WP.29).

8) Blackledge, A., Creese, A. & Hu, R. (2018). Translating the City. (WP.34).

9) Tagg, C., Hu, R., Hanusova, J. & Jankowicz-Pytel, D. (2018). Polymedia and convergence: a study of social action and individual choice from the law phase of the TLANG project. (WP.34)