Staff Profile

Teacher Educator wirking within the Applied Linguistics and Communication subject area. I specialise in Multimodal Conversation Analysis and my teaching and research focus is classroom interaction and Applied Linguistics in TESOL. I currently lead the modules Language Awareness and TESOL for Young Learners, and collaborate with colleagues on Research Portfolio (MA CCC) and Research Methods (TESOL).

I am actively involved in several TESOL-related research initiatives:

• Conversation Analysis in teacher training.
• Conversation Analysis and L2 Interactional Competence (IC) development.
• Conversation Analysis and L2 ssessment

Professional Memberships

• British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
• UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment (UKALTA)
• International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL)
• International Society for Conversation Analysis (ISCA), Member and Newsletter Editor

Peer Review Experience

I have served as a peer reviewer for the following journals and academic platforms:

• Research on Language and Social Interaction (ROLSI) – Taylor & Francis
• Learning, Culture and Social Interaction – Elsevier
• Linguistics and Education – Wiley
• Classroom Discourse Journal – Taylor & Francis
• Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal – Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas
• Language Learning – Wiley
• Encyclopaedia of Applied Linguistics (2nd Edition) – Wiley
• Conference proposal reviews for events in Latin America and the UK

Areas of Research Interest

• Classroom interaction
• Student participation and engagement in the classroom
• Multimodal practices in the classroom
• Conversation analysis
• Teacher training
• Reflective practices for teacher training 
• Personal Narratives of Teachers’ Professional/Identity Development
• Decolonial Education

Supervision of Dissertations and Theses

PGT Dissertation Supervision at NCL

• L2 International students’ repair practices in seminar discussions
• Teacher Code-Switching Functions and Student Self-Reported Classroom Participation in Chinese EFL Contexts 
• Challenges and Implementation of TBLT in Peer Teaching: Perspectives of International Student Teachers
• Novice Teachers’ Perceptions of Enhancing Intercultural Communicative Competence in the ESL Classroom: Strategies and Reflections
• Investigating TBLT in Teacher Training and Teacher Practices 
• Language Barriers and Coping Strategies in group work: Experiences of Chinese international students in UK Universities
• Chinese International Students’ Perceptions of Different English Accents in Various Academic Settings
• Navigating Cultural Differences in Academic Communication: Experiences of Chinese Postgraduate students in the UK
• IELTS Prep courses and L2 IC development

Current teaching

At Newcastle, I currently teach on the MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL:

• ALC8024 Language Awareness. Module Leader
• ALC8029 TESOL for Young Learners. Module Leader
• ALC8020 Research Methods. Lecturer
• SPE8155 MSc Linguistics. Lecturer 25/26 Sem2.

In 2025-2026 I will also collaborate in the MA Cross-Cultural Communication + pathways:

• ALC8033 Research Portfolio. Lecturer

• Articles

  • Leyland C, Walper K. Oral placement tests at an English language school: ‘Fifth position post-expansions’ creating affordances for additional displays of interactional competence and other beneficial activities. Linguistics and Education 2025, 89, 101420.
  • Walper K, Reed D, Marsden H. Designedly incomplete elicitations: verbal and embodied practices to mobilise student-next action in Chilean secondary EFL classrooms. Classroom Discourse 2023, 14(1), 24-44.
  • Walper K. From Communicative Competence to Interactional Competence: Conversation analysis to explore teacher talk in language classrooms. CALR Linguistics Journal 2022, (13), 3.
  • Lizasoain A, Walper K, Ortiz de Zárate A, Sepúlveda J, Catripán E. Relevancia de la comunicación 'no verbal' en el aula de ILE: ¿cómo hablan las manos en una lengua extranjera?. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal (CALJ) 2021, 23(1), 17-34.
  • Sandoval-Obando E, Dona AM, Walper K, Martinez DL, Bertone MS. Pedagogical Strategies to Promote Mediated Learning Experiences in Vulnerable Contexts. Universitas Psychologica 2018, 17(5), 1-13.
  • Ortíz de Zárate A, Walper K, Siebert F, Aros P, Hidalgo D, Rojas-Mora J. El papel de la interacción significativa y las técnicas dramáticas en la educación de estudiantes con discapacidad visual en la UACh. Columbian Journal of Applied Linguistics 2014, 16(2).
  • Lizasoain A, Ortiz de zarate A, Walper K, Yilorm Y. Estudio descriptivo y exploratorio de un taller de introducción a las técnicas teatrales para la enseñanza/aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera. Revista de Estudios Pedagógicos 2012, XXXVII(2), 123 - 133.

• Book Chapters

  • Ortiz A, Walper K. Training to Teach with Literature as Authentic Material in the Chilean Context: Diagnosing Trainees’ Classroom Interactional Competences in Literature Class Projects. In: Abukaker F; Carver M; El-Badri H, ed. International Perspectives on Literature in ELT. Cham: Palgrave, 2025, pp.207-231.
  • Walper K, Pinuer N, Velásquez C. Developing Chilean EFL Pre-service teachers' professional oracy in simulated co-teaching practice sessions. In: Reckermann, J; Siepmann, P; Matz, F, ed. Oracy in English Language Education: Insights from Practice-Oriented Research. Cham: Springer, 2024, pp.189-212.
  • Walper K. Reparación en el aula de lengua extranjera: Perspectivas desde el Análisis Conversacional Multimodal. In: Vázquez-Carranza A, ed. Sociolingüística para la Enseñanza de Lenguas. Guadalajara, Jalisco, México: Universidad de Guadalajara, 2022, pp.385-435.
  • Walper K. An exploration of Chilean EFL teachers’ interactional practices in feedback provision. In: Galhano, I.; Galvão, E.; Cruz, A, ed. Recent perspectives on gesture and multimodality. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019, pp.19-30.
  • Walper K, Ortiz de Zárate A. Relaciones Post-Género: Masculinidades y Feminidades en crisis en Cloud Nine (1978) de Caryl Churchill. En. In: Spíndola, J; Huerta, N; añez, C, ed. Conocimientos y saberes ¿para quién? Conflictos sociales y universidad. Serifa Editores, 2017.

• Report

  • Walper K. Questions with Gestures: examples from Chilean EFL classrooms. IATEFL, 2019. IATEFL Voices.