Dr Clive W. Earls

    German Studies, School of Modern Languages

    Lecturer / Assistant Professor

    Callan Building
    1st Floor
    2.104
    (01) 474 7512

    Biography

    Clive Earls is currently Programme Director for MA and PhD Programmes in Applied Linguistics & Intercultural Studies having completed a 3-year term as Head of German Studies at Maynooth University. He graduated with a First Class Honours from his BA in Applied Languages, majoring in German, Spanish and Linguistics, from the University of Limerick in 2006. He then proceeded to spend one year in Eastern Germany teaching English and German as a foreign language at a national language academy. Upon completion of this year, Clive returned to the University of Limerick where he successfully obtained a highly competitive Irish Social Sciences Platform (ISSP) Government of Ireland Scholarship, the largest doctoral and post-doctoral scholarship scheme in the history of the Irish state, to pursue his interdisciplinary doctoral thesis. In 2013, Clive was awarded a PhD in German and Applied Linguistics, under the external examinership of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ammon of the Universität Duisburg-Essen. Prior to joining Maynooth University, Clive spent one and a half years working as a Senior Research Associate in a professional research firm in the private sector honing his research skills and industry experience. 

    Clive's recent monograph published with Palgrave MacMillan in 2016 explores English-medium higher education in Germany, following a high degree of interdisciplinarity by drawing upon methodological and theoretical frameworks from the disciplines of Applied Linguistics, Internationalisation, Sociolinguistics particularly Language Policy and Planning, Intercultural Studies, and Language Pedagogy. This has led to Clive's invitation as an international consultant to the Ministry of Education in Georgia to develop a strategic plan for the roll-out of English-medium higher education in the country. His most recent publications focus on the language-in-education policy context ("Languages Connect") in Ireland, as part of the HELECs (Higher Education Language Educator Competences) project funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

    Research Interests

    Clive Earls’s research interests are manifold, owing to the interdisciplinary orientation of his doctoral research. His primary areas of research interest encompass Teaching German as a foreign language, Sociolinguistics of German and English as international languages, Intercultural Communication, and Language Policy and Planning. His recent monograph published with Palgrave MacMillan in 2016 explores English-medium higher education in Germany, following a high degree of interdisciplinarity by drawing upon methodological and theoretical frameworks from the disciplines of Applied Linguistics, Internationalisation, Sociolinguistics particularly Language Policy and Planning, Intercultural Studies, and Language Pedagogy. His latest publication is an edited volume published in 2016 addressing the relationship between multilingualism and English in 21st-Century Europe.

    Research Projects

      Project Role Funding Body / Program Description Start Date End Date Award (€)
    Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs) Funded Partner / Government State Bodies 01-APR-19 30-SEP-20 150000

    Books

      Year Publication
    2016 Evolving Agendas in European English-Medium Higher Education: Interculturality, Multilingualism and Language Policy.
    Earls C. (2016) Evolving Agendas in European English-Medium Higher Education: Interculturality, Multilingualism and Language Policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. [DOI] [Details]

    Peer Reviewed Journals

      Year Publication
    2021 'Dynamic complexity: The changing face of higher-education language teaching in the Republic of Ireland'
    Earls, C. W., Riordan, E., Flynn, C., Furlong, A. (2021) 'Dynamic complexity: The changing face of higher-education language teaching in the Republic of Ireland'. All Ireland Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (AISHE-J), [Details]
    2020 'Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs)'
    Dr. Emma Riordan, Dr. Clive W. Earls, Dr. Colin Flynn, Dr. Aine Furlong (2020) 'Higher Education Language Educator Competences (HELECs)'. TEANGA: THE IRISH YEARBOOK OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, 27 :193-203 [Details]
    2019 'Languages Connect: Addressing a missing experiential dimension'
    Dr. Clive W. Earls (2019) 'Languages Connect: Addressing a missing experiential dimension'. Education and Society Publications, 1 [Details]
    2018 'Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2018) 'Popping the Erasmus Bubble: Perceptions of Intercultural Awareness and Competence of Incoming Erasmus+ Students and the Preparation Challenge'. Higher Education Research, 3 (3):45-54 [full-text] [Details]
    2015 'When English just is not enough: ‘Multilingualism with English’ in contemporary European higher education'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2015) 'When English just is not enough: ‘Multilingualism with English’ in contemporary European higher education'. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 25 [full-text] [Details]
    2014 'Striking the balance: The role of English and German in a multilingual English-medium degree programme in German higher education'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2014) 'Striking the balance: The role of English and German in a multilingual English-medium degree programme in German higher education'. Current Issues in Language Planning, 15 :153-172 [full-text] [Details]
    2013 'Setting the Catherine Wheel in motion: An exploration of Englishization in the German higher education system'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2013) 'Setting the Catherine Wheel in motion: An exploration of Englishization in the German higher education system'. Language Problems and Language Planning, 37 :125-150 [full-text] [Details]

    Edited Books

      Year Publication
    2016 English and Multilingualism in 21st Century Europe
    Dr Clive W. Earls (Ed.). (2016) English and Multilingualism in 21st Century Europe Oxford: Peter Lang. [Details]

    Book Chapters

      Year Publication
    2016 'Competing transformative forces and discourses: Multilingualism and English in the 'knowledge economy' of a globalising Ireland'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2016) 'Competing transformative forces and discourses: Multilingualism and English in the 'knowledge economy' of a globalising Ireland' In: English and Multilingualism in 21st Century Europe. Oxford: Peter Lang. [Details]
    2016 'Introduction'
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2016) 'Introduction' In: Dr Clive W Earls (eds). Multilingualism and English in Twenty-First-Century Europe: Recent Developments and Challenges. Oxford: Peter Lang. [Details]

    Published Reports

      Year Publication
    2015 Report: English & Multilingualism in 21st-Century Europe, Maynooth University, June 2015.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2015) Report: English & Multilingualism in 21st-Century Europe, Maynooth University, June 2015. Hartung Gorre Verlag, Konstanz, Germany. [Details]

    Book Review

      Year Publication
    2016 Review of Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2016) Review of Die Stellung der deutschen Sprache in der Welt. Book Review [Details]

    Conference Contributions

      Year Publication
    2019 German Studies Association of North America Annual Conference.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2019) German Studies Association of North America Annual Conference. [Oral Presentation], Self-reflexivity and higher education language educator competences: Supporting a community of practice, Portland, Oregon [Details]
    2019 Widening Participation in Language Learning.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls, Dr. Emma Riordan, Dr. Colin Flynn, Dr. Aine Furlong (2019) Widening Participation in Language Learning. [Oral Presentation], Educating the educators : The training and support challenge in higher education language teaching in Ireland, University of Dundee [Details]
    2019 Crossing Boundaries in Language Teaching & Learning: Northern Ireland and Beyond.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls, Dr. Emma Riordan, Dr. Colin Flynn, Dr. Aine Furlong (2019) Crossing Boundaries in Language Teaching & Learning: Northern Ireland and Beyond. [Oral Presentation], A skills profile for higher education language teaching, Queens University Belfast [Details]
    2019 EMI Practices in Europe.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls (2019) EMI Practices in Europe. [Oral Presentation], Walking on eggshells – competing teaching and learning demands and expectations in the EMI environment, University of Copenhagen, Denmark , 03-APR-19 - 06-APR-19 [Details]
    2018 NUI-UCC Symposium on Ireland’s Languages Connect Strategy.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls (2018) NUI-UCC Symposium on Ireland’s Languages Connect Strategy. [Oral Presentation], Some reflections on language-in-education policy theory and the Languages Connect Strategy, University College Cork , 30-NOV-18 - 30-NOV-18 [Details]
    2017 Study Abroad in research and practice - 30 years of Erasmus in Ireland.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls (2017) Study Abroad in research and practice - 30 years of Erasmus in Ireland. [Oral Presentation], Fostering multilingualism in a hegemonic English-speaking bubble: The tight-rope act in English medium-of-instruction in Europe, University College Cork , 10-APR-17 - 10-APR-17 [Details]
    2016 EMI Winter School - Plenary Speaker.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2016) EMI Winter School - Plenary Speaker. [Plenary Lecture], Operationalising intercultural teaching and learning in English medium-of-instruction programmes: Challenges and benefits, University of Padova [Details]
    2015 Languages in a Globalised World.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2015) Languages in a Globalised World. [Oral Presentation], The Ever-Changing Face of English-medium Higher Education in Europe – The necessary Lingua Franca or Lingua Franca Trap?, Leeds Beckett University [Details]
    2015 AGS Annual Conference 2015.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2015) AGS Annual Conference 2015. [Oral Presentation], Addressing the elephant in the room – Global English and the minoritisation of German, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick [Details]
    2015 English & Multilingualism in 21st-Century Europe.
    Dr. Clive W. Earls (2015) English & Multilingualism in 21st-Century Europe. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], English & Multilingualism in 21st-Century Europe, Maynooth University [Details]
    2013 Nitobe Symposium: Languages and Internationalisation in Higher Education: Ideologies, Practices, Alternatives - Plenary Speaker.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2013) Nitobe Symposium: Languages and Internationalisation in Higher Education: Ideologies, Practices, Alternatives - Plenary Speaker. [Plenary Lecture], Crossing the linguistic Rubicon: English-medium degree programmes as a concomitant challenge to and mechanism of implicit German language policy?, National Museum of Iceland [Details]
    2012 Supporting Internationalisation through Languages and Culture in the 21st Century University.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2012) Supporting Internationalisation through Languages and Culture in the 21st Century University. [Oral Presentation], This is an English-only programme” - When ‘Internationalisation’ means ‘Englishisation’: Authenticity, Multilingualism and Interculturality, University of Central Lancashire [Details]
    2012 Mehrsprachigkeit in Gesellschaft, Arbeitswelt und Politik. Neue Herausforderungen an die universitäre Lehre.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2012) Mehrsprachigkeit in Gesellschaft, Arbeitswelt und Politik. Neue Herausforderungen an die universitäre Lehre. [Oral Presentation], Voices from the periphery: teacher and student experiences in the brave new world of English-medium international education in Germany, Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg [Details]
    2011 Crossing Boundaries: The Impact of Language Studies in Academia and Beyond.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2011) Crossing Boundaries: The Impact of Language Studies in Academia and Beyond. [Oral Presentation], Striking the balance: the role of English and German in multilingual international degree programmes in German tertiary education, Queens University Belfast [Details]
    2009 IRAAL Language Policy and Language Learning.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2009) IRAAL Language Policy and Language Learning. [Oral Presentation], English-medium degree programmes as a driver of language shift in the German higher education system?, University of Limerick [Details]
    2008 German Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference.
    Dr Clive W. Earls (2008) German Studies Association of Ireland Annual Conference. [Oral Presentation], Teaching through a foreign medium: What can possibly go wrong?, University of Limerick [Details]

    Professional Associations

      Association Function From / To
    German Studies Association of Ireland Co-Chair 01-JUN-16 / 10-NOV-19
    German Studies Association of North America Member 01-JAN-19 / 31-DEC-19
    Irish Association of Applied Linguistics Member 01-JAN-19 / 31-DEC-19
    Association of German Studies in the UK and Ireland Member 01-JAN-16 / 31-DEC-19
    German Studies Association of Ireland Secretary 10-NOV-16 / 01-APR-17

    Honours and Awards

      Year Title Awarding Body
    2019 Centre for Teaching and Learning Masterclass Fund Centre for Teaching and Learning
    2019 Post-Primary Outreach & Activation Initiative Post-Primary Languages Initiative
    2018 National Teaching & Learning Enhancement Fund National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education
    2016 Maynooth University Publication Grant
    2015 National University of Ireland Award
    2009 Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (UL) Bursary Recipient
    2008 Association of German Studies in the UK & Ireland Scholar
    2007 Irish Social Sciences Platform Government of Ireland Scholar

    Committees

      Committee Function From / To
    Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee Member 2015 / 2020
    Faculty Board Member 2017 / 2020
    Academic Council Member 2017 / 2020

    Education

      Year Institution Qualification Subject
    2013 University of Limerick Ph.D.
    2006 University of Limerick B.A. in Applied Languages

    Languages

      Language Reading Writing Speaking
    English Fluent Fluent Fluent
    Gaelige Fluent Basic Basic
    Spanish Fluent Fluent Functional
    German Fluent Fluent Fluent