Sebastian Kozbial

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Tutor, Nottingham Recognition Scheme Director, PGCHE Academic Director

英语语言教学中心 / 研究生院

BA in English Language Studies (First Class Honours Degree);

MA in TESOL with Applied Linguistics (TEFL-Q Distinction);

Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (Level 7 – Distinction),Fellow and Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy;

PhD Student at the University of Liverpool (2018-present)

I have been involved in EFL and EAP since 2012, and I have worked in the UK, Poland and now China.

In previous role (Assessment Officer at the University of Liverpool 2017-2019), I was responsible for overlooking all assessment processes and procedures at both Liverpool and London campuses. This included but was not limited to reviewing programme progression and awarding data, designing and reviewing assessment tasks for the EAP and ESP yearlong programmes, with a particular emphasis on authenticity and formativeness, as well as on aligning the internal assessments with external points of reference such as CEFR, IELTS and Pearson Global Scale of English. I also taught pre- and in-sessional courses, and I had been asked to supervise some MA TESOL dissertations and teach and assess several TESOL and Applied Linguistics UG and PG modules (e.g. Course and Materials Design and English in the Digital Age).

I also acted as an Interim Pre-sessional Director between December 2017 and September 2018. During this time, I had undertaken a complete redesign of teaching materials as well as setting of the ground a brand new EASP pre-sessional programme at Liverpool University in London. At the same time, I was tasked with producing various documentation necessary to obtain British Council accreditation that was being carried out during summer 2018. This task was very successful as we were awarded 13 areas of strength including 6 areas directly related to assessment and/or the pre-sessional programme.

Between 2013 and 2017, I had been working at Manchester Met, where I was involved in designing, co-ordinating and teaching courses to a variety of audiences. These included pre- and in-sessional courses (focused on EAP for both native and non-native learners), short study tours (GE and ESP) and internal CPD sessions (staff training based on my own interest/research). I was also involved in delivering credit-bearing modules that were related to Academic English (Level 4) and TESOL (Level 5 and 6). I also supported colleagues from the School of Arts with embedding and running the Trinity Certificate for BA TESOL students.

I also work as an External Examiner at ONCAMPUS Cambridge Education Group for the UK and Europe, where the main duties include reviewing English programme progression and award data, adjudicating as necessary on individual cases, confirming internal assessment processes within English modules and programmes, reviewing student profiles and exercising discretion, advising on curriculum, assessment design and change or considering performance indicators.

Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (credit-bearing university teacher-training programme): My main duty as the UNNC PGCHE Academic Director involves convening and delivering Module 1 and Module 2 sessions.

Undergraduate: At the moment I am involved in delivering Reading and Writing in Academic Context and Oral Communication Skills classes

My main research interest focuses on assessment in general and use of formative assessment in particular – the latter is the leading theme of my PhD thesis at the University of Liverpool. However, I am also dedicated to expand my knowledge in relation to phonological mapping, teaching reading skills to low-level students, Exploratory Practice and use of technology in EFL/EAP.

Won a PhD research scholarship for ‘Implementation of Formative Spirals in HE’ at Manchester Metropolitan University January 2017

Won a research scholarship for ‘Exploratory Practice’ (English UK) February 2016

Awarded Gilbertson Scholarship for achieving first-class honours degree June 2010

Kozbial, S. (2018) ‘My short journey through the enchanted waters of creativity’, Creative Academic Magazine, pp. 89-93.

Leigh, T. and Kozbial, S. (2017) ‘The long road to UK higher education: Using Exploratory Practice as a tool to improve academic language and skills for lower level language learners’, Cambridge English Language Assessment, pp.55-63.

Leigh, T., Kozbial, S. and Edgoose, C. (2016) ‘Independent vocabulary learning: A ‘teacherless’ approach’ Cambridge English Research, pp. 32-48.

Kozbial, S. (2015) ‘Phonological Error Mapping - an English - Polish contrastive study’, Psychology Diffusion, pp. 12-19

• Inform Conference presenter– Who cares? A curious case of Formative (not) Assessment – Trent University, UK [online]; July 2021

• CEAPA-BALEAP Conference workshop leader– Under the Formative Sun: How has EAP pedagogy changed in recent years and how does this impact us? [online]; June 2021

• CEAPA-BALEAP Conference presenter– Under the Formative Sun: The current situation of formative assessment within a context of high-stakes English pre-sessional programmers in the UK [online]; June 2021

• CamTESOL Virtual Conference presenter – Under the Formative Sun - Inquiry into Formative Feedback from a Student’s Perspective – 3-day Virtual Conference [online]; February 2021

• UNNC 2020 International T&L Conference presenter – Formative Assessment – EAP professionals’ beliefs (UK and China perspectives) – University of Nottingham Ningbo, China; September 2020

• UoL PGR Conference presenter – ‘Formative Assessment from Vinnetka Plan to Mastery Learning’ – University of Liverpool, UK [online]; June 2020

• Teaching and Learning Conference presenter – Creativity and teaching reading skills to low-level learners – Nottingham University, UK [online]; January 2020

• UoL PGR Conference presenter – ‘Formative Feedback – understanding and misconceptions’ – University of Liverpool, UK; June 2019

• BALEAP PIM workshop leader – The curious case of formative feedback – Birmingham, UK; February 2019

• BALEAP PIM presenter – Assessing note-taking without wading through the notes – Birmingham, UK; February 2019

• Pedagogical Research Conference presenter – ‘Exploratory Practice – a novel way to support creativity in EAP teaching’ – University of Liverpool, UK; January 2019

• Inform Conference presenter (Transition into University) – Under the Formative Sun – using ePortfolios to enhance students’ engagement with assessment – Birmingham, UK; June 2018

• English UK conference presenter – ‘Exploratory Practice as a teaching tool’ – London, UK; November 2016

• Learn English in Wales conference presenter – ‘Teaching reading skills to low-level learner using Nation’s Four strands’ – Cardiff, UK; October 2016

• IATEFL conference presenter – ‘English for Policing (Training Qatari Cadets)’ – Athens, Greece; October 2016

• English UK PIM presenter – ‘Exploratory Practice as a teaching tool’ – London, UK; June 2016