Michèle de Courcy

Professor of Applied Linguistics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2004-

Dept of Education, Communication and Language Studies
King George VI Building
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7DU
England

m.decourcy@unimelb.edu.au

Website

Biodata

Michèle de Courcy has recently returned to work at the University of Melbourne as a Senior Lecturer in TESOL in the Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education of the Faculty of Education.

After completing her BA majoring in French and Music at the University of Queensland, Michèle travelled to France to work as an Assistante de Langue Anglaise in Bordeaux, and then worked in Edinburgh, Scotland, for two years before returning to Australia. She taught French, Music, English and Geography in high schools in several Australian states before moving into tertiary ESL and language teacher education in 1988.

Michèle's research, teaching and publications centre on bilingual education with an emphasis on second language acquisition processes and content-based language instruction.

Short CV

Current Senior Lecturer (Level C) in TESOL, Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education, University of Melbourne.

2001-2 Senior Lecturer (Level C) in Literacy Education/TESL, Institute for Education, School of Arts and Education, La Trobe University, Bendigo Campus. (converted to continuing status in March 2001.)

July 2002 -> Course coordinator of Graduate Diploma of TESOL and Masters of Applied Linguistics programs at Bendigo

1999-2000 Deputy Head (paid Level C1) and Lecturer in Literacy Education/TESL, Department of Education, School of Arts and Education, La Trobe University, Bendigo Campus.

1998 Lecturer (Level B) in Literacy Education/TESL, School of Arts and Education, La Trobe University Bendigo.

1995- 1997 Lecturer (Level B), Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne. (3 year contract)

1994 Lecturer (Level B), TESOL Centre, Faculty of Education, University of Canberra. (contract)

1991-3 Full time higher degree student and sessional tutor, lecturer and research assistant in ESL and Applied Linguistics, Griffith University - Faculty of Education, Centre for Applied Linguistics and Languages and Conservatorium of Music ; Examiner for IELTS, University of Queensland.

1990 Acting Teacher in Charge of French at Somerville House, South Brisbane. (one year contract) Also ESL tutor for girls from overseas.

Also regular examiner for IELTS (at University of Queensland)

1988-1989 Employed at Brisbane College of Advanced Education (Mt. Gravatt campus). Part-time tutor in ELICOS and LOTE; ASLPR Tester in the Institute of Applied Linguistics. Research Assistant to Dr. Eric Chappell. Study Skills Tutor to first year B.Ed. students.

1979-1988 Teacher of French, Music, English and ESL in high schools in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, France and Scotland.

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

de Courcy, M. C. (2002). Learners’ experiences of immersion education: Case studies in French and Chinese. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. ISBN 1-85359-561-6 (hbk) ISBN 1-85359-560-8

Truckenbrodt, A. & de Courcy, M. (2002). Implementing a bilingual program. Melbourne: Association of Independent Schools Victoria. ISBN 0-9579041-6-9

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

de Courcy, M. C. and Mård-Miettinen, K. (in press). Output-related teaching strategies emphasized by late immersion students. In Siv Björklund & Martina Buss (eds) Kielikylpyä: Kasvua ja kehitystä/Språkbad: Samverkan skapar styrka. Vaasa: Levón-Institute.

de Courcy, M. C. (in press). Language teachers’ experiences of language learning and their effect on practice. Bigelow, M., & Walker, C. (Eds.). Creating teacher community: Selected papers from the third international conference on language teacher education. Minneapolis, MN: Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition.

de Courcy, M. C. (1997). Benowa High: A decade of French immersion in Australia. In Johnson, R. K. & Swain, M. (Eds.). Immersion: International perspectives, pp. 44-62. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58655-0

de Courcy, M. C. (1995). "You just live in French": Adolescent experiences of French immersion. In Berthold, M. J. (Ed.) Rising to the bilingual challenge, pp. 77-97. Canberra: NLLIA.ISBN 1-875-57840-4.

PAPERS IN REFERED JOURNALS

de Courcy, M. C. (2004). Challenges for bilingual and immersion education in Australia: Policy, Northern Territory, Auslan and Italian. in Hornberger, N. (Ed.) “Heritage / Community Language Education: US and Australian Perspectives”. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. special issue. Volume 7(3), June 2004. (invited article which was also refereed)

de Courcy, M. C. (2003) French Takes Over Your Mind: Private Speech and Making Sense in Immersion programs. Journal of Educational Thought. Vol. 37, #3. (invited article which was also refereed)

de Courcy, M. C., Warren, J. & Burston, M. (2002). Children from diverse backgrounds in an immersion programme. Language and Education. 16(2), 112-127. (I held the pen. Agreed % 70-30-30)

de Courcy, M. C, & Burston, M. (2000). Learning Mathematics through French in Australia. Language and Education. 14(2), 75-95. (50-50)

de Courcy, M. C. (1999). L’immersion en Australie. Babylonia. 4, 43-44. Basel, Switzerland: Fondation Langues et Cultures. (invited article)

de Courcy, M. C., Burston, M. & Warren, J. (1999). Language development in an Australian French early partial immersion program. Babel: Journal of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations. 34(2), 14-20, 38.

de Courcy, M. C. (1997). Four adults’ approaches to the learning of Chinese. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 20(2), 67-94.

de Courcy, M. C. (1997). Teaching and learning with different scripts: Cross cultural conflict in a Chinese late immersion classroom. Language and Education 11(4), 242-259.

de Courcy, M. C. (1996). Reading strategy use by French late immersion students in Australia. Le Journal de l'Immersion Journal, 19(2), 14-17.

de Courcy, M. C. (1995). The Chinese puzzle: Learning experiences of a class of adult beginners. Babel. 30(1),32-37.

de Courcy, M. C. (1995). French with a little help from their friends: Learning together in Queensland late immersion programs. Canadian Modern Language Review, 51, 537-554.

de Courcy, M. C. (1994) English in Music: Content-based ESL for tertiary music students. Prospect: A Journal of Australian TESOL. 9(1), 39-51.

de Courcy, M. C. (1993). Making sense of the Australian French immersion classroom. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 14(3), 173-185.

Chappell, E. R. & de Courcy, M. C. (1993). Using immersion to train primary school teachers of French in Australia. Canadian Modern Language Review. 49, 316-337.

de Courcy, M. C. (1992). Will "Unlocking the curriculum" achieve access in deaf education?: A response to Johnson, Liddell and Erting. Australian Teacher of the Deaf. 31, 37-51.

de Courcy, M. C. (1992). Learning Mandarin Chinese. On CALL. 6(2), 21-26.

de Courcy, M. C. (1991). The Benowa experience: Student views of an immersion school in Australia. BABEL, 26(1), 10-16.

BOOK REVIEWS

(2003). Review of D. Christian and F. Genesee, “Bilingual Education: Case studies in TESOL series”, Canadian Modern Language Review, 59 (3), 483-485.

(2002). Review of B. Mohan, C. Leung and C. Davison, “English as a Second Language in the Mainstream” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23, 560-561.

(2001). Review of Byram, M. and Risager, K. “Language teachers, politics and cultures”. Linguistics and Education, 12 (4), 461-462. (700 word version)

(2001). Turning inwards or outwards? Review of Byram, M. and Risager, K. “Language teachers, politics and cultures”. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 24(1), 95-98. (1300 word version)

(2001). Review of Weil, D. “Towards a critical multicultural literacy”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 22 (3), 290-292.

(1999/2000). Review of “Strategies in learning and using second languages” by Andrew Cohen. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 22(2), 143-144.

(1997). Review of "Educating second language children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community" edited by Fred Genesee. Canadian Modern Language Review, 53(3), 596-599.

(1996). Review of "Educating second language children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community" edited by Fred Genesee. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 17, 497-499.

(1996). Review of "Educating second language children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community" edited by Fred Genesee. Melbourne Papers in Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 81-84.

(1994). Review of "Framing marginality: Multicultural literary studies" by Sneja Gunew. Australian Educational Researcher, 52, 117-120.

RESEARCH GRANTS AND PROJECTS

(excluding that conducted for higher degrees)

2004 Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne , research grant.

Association for Independent Schools, Victoria - $500

Consultancy – commissioned to complete writing of book, “How to implement a bilingual programme” with Dr Andrea Truckenbrodt.

La Trobe University, Bendigo Faculty, large grants scheme - $9,000

“Language development and cultural adaptation of Arabic speaking (Iraqi) immigrants to Shepparton”- collaborating with Dr Lynda Yates and Dr Howard Nicholas.

2000 La Trobe University Faculty grants scheme - $8,000

"Enhancing connectivity between curriculum priorities in regional Victoria"

Third investigator – collaborating with Dr Bruce Waldrip and Assoc. Prof Vaughan Prain.

1999 Australian Research Council Small grants scheme – 11729 - $5,000

“The interaction of children’s first language, second language and cooperative learning strategies in reading in an Indonesian bilingual program”

Sole investigator; project completed in a rural primary school.

1998 University of Melbourne, Research Award - $9,000

"Language development in French bilingual programs".

Investigating language development of children at Camberwell Primary School, Melbourne.

First chief investigator. Collaborating with Assoc. Prof Monique Burston and Dr Jane Warren.

1998-2000 Department of Education, Victoria, consultancy - $9,000

Evaluation of Camberwell Primary School Bilingual program.
With Assoc.Prof. Monique Burston.

1998 Department of Education, Victoria, consultancy - $3,000

Evaluation of Benalla East Primary School Bilingual program.lk
With Prof. John Izard, ACER.

1998 Association of Independent Schools, NSW, consultancy - $2,000

How to integrate language and content instruction.

1997 Department of Education, Victoria, consultancy - $300

Course advice - LOTE topic tables

1997 Australia Research Council Small grant - S59711400 - $7,500

"LOTE and Mathematics in bilingual education: Solving problems in a second language."

Second chief investigator, with Monique Burston.

1996 School of Languages research Task Force Grant-in-aid - $2500

1996 Faculty Project Grant - $1395

“French Bilingual Education in Australia”. Completion of pilot project begun in 1995.

1995 Special Initiatives grant - $6000

"French Bilingual Education in Australia."

First chief investigator; working with Dr. Jane Warren and A/Prof Monique Burston from the Department of French and Italian Studies. Pilot year of project (at Camberwell Primary School) completed. See list of publications.

1993 Faculty research grant - $1500

"An investigation of strategy use by students in a Japanese immersion program." Principal researcher. Research project conducted with Mr. Gary Birch of the Faculty of Education, Griffith University. See list of publications.