Rate My Professor Rachael Ruegg

Rachael Ruegg is an Associate Professor and Writing Programme Director in the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. She earned her PhD in Linguistics from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and holds BA and MA degrees from Victoria University of Wellington. Her academic career includes prior roles as Professor of English for Academic Purposes at Akita International University in Japan from 2012 to 2017, and Associate Professor of English at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan from 2007 to 2011. She joined Victoria University of Wellington as a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics and Applied Language Studies in 2019 and has since advanced to her current position. Ruegg's research focuses on the instruction and assessment of writing, language testing and assessment, English for Academic Purposes, and English medium instruction.

Ruegg has made significant contributions to applied linguistics through numerous peer-reviewed publications. Key works include 'The provision of student support on English Medium Instruction programmes in Japan and China' (2020, with N. Galloway), which has garnered over 300 citations; 'The effect of peer and teacher feedback on changes in EFL students’ writing self-efficacy' (2018); 'The relative effects of peer and teacher feedback on improvement in EFL students’ writing ability' (2015); and 'Differences in the uptake of peer and teacher feedback' (2015). Other notable publications are 'English medium instruction (EMI) lecturer support needs in Japan and China' (2022, with N. Galloway), 'Beyond comprehension: Reading requirements in first-year undergraduate courses' (2022, with A.I. Karakoç and P. Gu), and 'Organization of ideas in writing: what are raters sensitive to?' (2013, with Y. Sugiyama). She co-authored 'The concise APA handbook' and edited 'Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in Japan' (2018). Her scholarship has influenced discussions on feedback mechanisms in second language writing, student support in EMI contexts, and lexical demands in academic reading across disciplines. Ruegg also engages professionally as an abstract reviewer for conferences such as Vocab@Vic and contributes to peer review for journals like Studies in Higher Education.