Christine Nuttall | |
---|---|
Born | Christine Elizabeth Nuttall 1931 |
Died | 21 May 2020 |
Education | University of St. Andrews, University of Manchester |
Occupation(s) | specialist in Teaching English as a Foreign Language and applied linguistics |
Years active | 1950s to 1980s |
Employer(s) | British Council, University of Edinburgh |
Notable work | "Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language" |
Honours | OBE |
Christine Nuttall (1931 - 2020), OBE[1] was a British academic and teacher of English as a Foreign Language who worked for over 30 years globally, and had published a guide to Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language[2] which remains a key resource[3] for international teaching and learning a foreign language.[4][5][6][7]
Born Christine Elizabeth Nuttall in 1931 in Holcombe Brook, Bury, Manchester to Alfred Nuttall, a stockbroker, and Marjorie (née Broome), a teacher. She had a younger sister, Barbara. Her father died when she was five years old.[1]
Nuttall went to Bury Grammar School before going to St. Andrew's University graduating in English and philosophy in 1953, and then completed a Masters (M.A.) in linguistics at Manchester University.[1]
Nuttall spent a year teaching English in Finland, then four years in Nigeria as a lecturer in English and studied the Hausa language.[8]
Starting in the 1960s she became an English Language teaching advisor and by 1994 was also a product development manager for the British Council.[9] Her postings were in Nigeria, Milan, Ghana, Iran and Malaysia as well as working in China and Namibia. Her work Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language was published in three editions and quoted by language teachers and linguistics specialists in different countries from 1982 up to at least 2017.[4][5][6][7][10]
She was awarded an OBE in 1982,[1] and joined the University of Edinburgh applied linguistics department in 1985, becoming the director of the MSc course before retiring in 1989. She moved to her home in Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria (which she had lent to friends to use during the years when she had travelled) and joined development committee the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.[1]
Nuttall died on 21 May 2020, aged 89.[1]