Rate My Professor Sonya Hamel

Sonya Hamel is a Teacher in the English Language Centre, Te Puna o te Kī, at the University of Otago, where she has been listed in the university calendars for 2023 and 2024. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts and a Master of Arts from the University of Otago, along with a CELTA certification from Cambridge. Her appointment to the English Language Centre is noted as 2019. Hamel completed her MA in Linguistics under the Department of English and Linguistics, focusing her research on sociolinguistic aspects of identity formation among immigrants. She has been teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages since 2002 and is profiled as a postgraduate alumnus currently working at the University of Otago Language Centre.

Hamel's MA thesis, completed in 2008, is titled 'Language and Identity: New Zealand Immigrants Constructing New Identities in Multilingual Context.' This work explores how New Zealand immigrants use language to construct new identities within multilingual environments. Extending this research, she authored the 2009 article ''If I'm like Them, They Will Accept Me More': How New Zealand Immigrants Negotiate and Perform Gendered Social Identities,' published in The Journal of New Zealand Studies. The article details how long-term adult immigrants adjust their gender identities in key social domains including intimate relationships, parent-child interactions, and friendship networks. These areas serve as critical grounds for negotiating and performing adapted identities to foster acceptance in New Zealand society. Hamel's contributions bridge academic research in linguistics with practical ESOL pedagogy at the University of Otago Language Centre and Foundation Studies Ltd., supporting international students and pathway programs.