Australian linguist
Elizabeth A. Thomson (born 1961) is an Australian linguist. She is an adjunct professor in the Division of Learning and Teaching at Charles Sturt University, and Principal Honorary Fellow of the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong. She is known for her research in linguistics, language education and training, language other than English and curriculum &amp; assessment design, and has made contributions to the field of English and Japanese linguistics from the Systemic Functional perspective. She is a foundation member of the Japan Association of Systemic Functional Linguistics (JASFL), a member of the International Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ISFLA) and the Australian Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ASFLA), and also an associate member of The Council of Australasian University Leaders in Learning and Teaching (CAULLT, formerly CADAD) and The Australasian Council on Open, Distance and e-Learning (ACODE).
Education.
Thomson was educated at Macquarie University, Sydney, and completed a BA majoring in Linguistics in 1984. In the same year, she completed a course in Advanced I Intensive Japanese at the Japanese Language Institute, Yotsuya. Four years later, in 1988, she completed her MA (Merit) in Applied Linguistics (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages—TESOL) at the University of Sydney. She completed a PhD in Education at the University of Wollongong in 2002. She holds a Masters of Philosophy from the University of NSW, Canberra in 2014.
She is a speaker of Japanese and Wiradjuri, having complete a Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language and Culture, Charles Sturt University in 2017. Thomson is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK.
Contributions to linguistics and curriculum design.
Thomson is known for her work in systemic functional linguistics, in particular in relation to the Japanese language, and has worked both in Japan and as a lecturer in Japanese and English Language at the University of Wollongong. She has contributed extensively to the linguistic description of text coherence in Japanese language, specifically in relation to genre and across numerous registers (e.g. news, education, literature and in workplace genres). Her work exploring these theories of language in context and text genre in Japanese (Thomson et al. 2017) was reviewed and commended for ‘providing an insightful picture of Japanese culture from the viewpoint of genre’. In collaboration, Thomson developed a CD ROM on Academic Writing based in systemic functional linguistics in conjunction with a student workbook.
Thomson's work with the Australian Defence Force includes leading curriculum redesign as the Director of Studies at the Defence Force School of Languages (2008-2012), bringing the Languages Other Than English (LOTE) courses in line with the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) and conducting research into Defence language and culture as the 2013 Secretary of Defence Fellow.
Thomson is also known for her work in curriculum development and course design in higher education. In 2018, Thomson led two initiatives in curriculum innovation at Charles Sturt University, which resulted in the university being recognised in the Global Teaching Excellence Awards of 2018. The university received the following commendation from the Higher Education Academy judges:“The curriculum is impressively designed and undergoes regular constructive alignment with industry practice and backward mapping between learning outcomes and assessment activities, with specific graduate attributes in mind. Charles Sturt University is to be commended for its strategic focus on teaching and learning and support to enable this to its faculty, especially in online education.”
References.
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