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In My Student Experience, our Success Connectors speak to subject heads within the School of the Media, Arts and Humanities (MAH) to find out more about their experiences as a student, their opinions on the School, and their advice for students studying in MAH.

This week, our connectors speak to Eljee Javier, Head of English Language.

Eljee Javier 

Eljee Javier is a lecturer in English Language Teaching (Sussex Centre for Language Studies) and the current Head of English Language. She teaches across Undergraduate, Masters and PhD, and her research interests include language teacher identities, raciolinguistics, intercultural communication, and narrative-based methodologies.

What was your experience as an undergraduate student?

As an undergraduate I was clueless in the beginning, I was 17 turning 18 so I was usually one of the youngest in the class. I’m Canadian so the Canadian system is different to the UK where you make your own class schedule and the requirement is to meet a certain number of credits. So, I chose the courses that interested me. A key part was learning what you don’t like and what you don’t know. Also, as an undergraduate it is important to remember that everyone is in the same boat and that everyone is figuring it out as they go along.

What is your opinion on Media, Arts and Humanities (MAH) students?

MAH students are very critically engaged, this sometimes needs to be drawn out from students, but they have fantastic critical ideas. Also, MAH students can be quite hesitant to speak up, so I find that switching to smaller groups and having more of a structure is key to get MAH students to share ideas. 

What do you think makes a successful MAH student?

A successful MAH student is someone who asks questions when they need help and they strive for what they want, it is important that students don’t struggle by themselves and that tutors want to help them. A marker of success is knowing when to ask for help. 

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I am a gamer; I really enjoy video games. I like to play games that are not just euro-centric stories and that are escapist, I really enjoyed Dark Soul and I am currently playing Elden Ring. I also enjoy graphic novels such as Saga and Trese – they’re different stories, different worlds.