Rate My Professor Melissa Reed

Dr. Melissa Reed serves as Lecturer in Applied Linguistics (Teaching and Leadership) in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University. Her academic journey includes a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Macquarie University, awarded in June 2024, with a thesis titled "Sharing through the tough times: Teacher professional development in a social media community during COVID-19." She also earned a Master of Research in Applied Linguistics from Macquarie in 2020, focusing on "Teacher-centred professional development: exploring teacher cognition and autonomy in Australian English language centres," and an MA in TESOL from the University of Technology Sydney in 2016. Before joining academia full-time, Reed was Director of Studies at Kaplan International English in Sydney from 2016 to 2018. Her extensive practical experience as an English language teacher, academic manager, and exams centre manager deeply informs her teaching and research.

Reed's research centers on professional development in TESOL, teacher education, learner and teacher autonomy, sociocultural learning including activity theory, and reflective practice. She actively contributes to the field through publications such as "Teachers driving their own professional development: theory and practice" co-authored with Philip Chappell in the English Australia Journal (2021), and "Microteaching in isolation: fostering autonomy and learner engagement through VoiceThread" with Agnes Bodis and Yulia Kharchenko in the International Journal of TESOL Studies (2020). Recent and forthcoming works include "Action research for teaching grammar" in The Routledge Handbook of Language Teacher Action Research (2025), "Sustainability in English language teacher education: preparing teachers for an unknown future" in Adaptable English Language Teaching (2025), and "Form follows function: systemic functional linguistics for L2 teaching and learning" (2026). Reed has been recognized for innovative teaching, receiving Highly Commended status in the Faculty Learning and Teaching Award for Learning Innovation (2021) and as a finalist in the Vice-Chancellor's Learning and Teaching Award (2021), alongside colleagues for developing adaptable online microteaching practices. Additionally, she was a finalist in Macquarie University's 3 Minute Thesis competition in 2023. At Macquarie, she teaches key postgraduate units in the Graduate Certificate in TESOL and Master of Applied Linguistics and TESOL programs, promoting dialogic teaching, collaboration, and knowledge construction.