UC Research Profile - University of Canterbury

Dr Ting Ma

Contact

Department: School of Teacher Education

Email: ting.ma@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3690982

Office:

Languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin)

About

Research / Creative works

Networks

Projects

Methods & Equipment

Fields of Research

metaphoric competence
metaphor in education
cognitive linguistics
academic writing
initial teacher education
metaphor in business discourse
discourse analysis

Researcher Summary

My interests are English literacy development, language teacher education, metaphoric competence of language learners, the role of metaphor in educational discourse, cognitive linguistics, and academic writing.
I am currently involved in projects that examine the effects of innovative learning environments in schooling, the complexities of teaching and learning, the factors influencing teacher efficacy, and the mentoring experiences of both student and associate teachers.
I led projects that investigated the role of metaphor in academic discourse and business discourse. As a metaphor researcher, I am adept at metaphor identification and interpretation, within frameworks of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, critical discourse analysis, and the three-dimensional model of metaphor.

Subject Area: Disciplines

Education: Assessment and Evaluation ; English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL); Literacy Education ; Primary School ; Teacher Education ; Tertiary Education

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

Fletcher J., Everatt J., Subramaniam Y. and Ma T. (2023) Learning and Teaching: Innovative Learning Environments. Christchurch Art Gallery, Christchurch: U3A Christchurch Central “University of the Third Age”, 19 Sep 2023. (Oral Presentations)

Fletcher J., Everatt J., Subramaniam Y. and Ma T. (2023) Perceptions about innovative and traditional learning spaces: Teachers and students in New Zealand primary schools. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40841-023-00280-9. (Journal Articles)

Williams N., Fletcher J. and Ma T. (2023) Advice from Māori experts for bicultural early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40841-023-00294-3. (Journal Articles)

Ma T. (2022) Chinese English-as-a-Foreign-Language Learners’ Metaphor Awareness and Metaphor Use in Writing. Zoom: 15th Researching and Applying Metaphor Conference, 22 Sep 2022. (Oral Presentations)

Ma T. and Zhang LJ. (2022) An international perspective on the turn and development of foreign language teacher education: An interview with Professor Lawrence Jun Zhang. Shandong Foreign Language Teaching 43(4): 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.16482/j.sdwy37-1026.2022-04-001. (Journal Articles)

Ma T. and Zhang LJ. (2022) Process genre pedagogy in teaching EFL/ESL writing: An interview with Professor Lawrence Jun Zhang. Second Language Learning Research (14): 1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.20054/j.cnki.sllr.2022.14.001. (Journal Articles)

Ma T. (2017) A Contrastive Analysis of Metaphor Use in English and Chinese Economics Research Articles. Auckland, New Zealand: The Applied Linguistics Conference 2017 (ALANZ / ALAA / ALTAANZ). (Oral Presentations)

Review and Refereeing

Displaying all items.

Cogent Education ( 2019 - 2023)

System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics ( 2019 - 2023)

Future Research

Innovative learning environments
Complexity of teaching and learning
Primary education
Mentoring in practicum

Key Methodologies

Mixed methods
Quantitative methods (surveys, language proficiency assessment)
Qualitative methods (interviews, journals)
Textual analysis (metaphor identification)
Quasi-experiment (classroom intervention)