Jonathan Owen is a Senior University Lecturer in English with over twenty-four years of teaching experience. Originally from Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, he has taught at the University of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Wrocław. His academic career has centred on glottodidactics, materials development, syllabus design, and assessment on both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. He is also a certified Cambridge examiner.
Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Humanities from the University of Nottingham, a Master of Arts in English Philology; specialism: Linguistics from the University of Wrocław (IFA), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Audiology from the University of Manchester, a science degree which further broadened his academic perspective. His MA thesis, completed at the University of Wrocław under the supervision of Dr hab. Michał Szawerna, prof. UWr, examined characterisation in Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins’ celebrated graphic novel Watchmen. Drawing on Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan’s typology of textual indicators and Fauconnier and Turner’s Conceptual Blending Theory, his research demonstrated how the text reconfigures the idea of the super-hero, foregrounding the role of cognition in the reader’s interpretation and underscoring the centrality of cognitive linguistics in literary and cultural analysis.
Having lived and studied abroad, Jonathan brings empathy and insight to his teaching, recognising the challenges students face when adapting to new academic and cultural environments. His teaching and research interests span English language education and linguistics, particularly Cognitive Linguistics, with a focus on how language, culture, and learning intersect.