العربية
Dr Shumaila Memon
Biography
Dr. Shumaila Memon has been serving as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Language Studies at Sohar University, Oman, since September 2024. Alongside her teaching responsibilities, she also serves as a Quality Assurance Committee member, contributing to academic quality enhancement and institutional development. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) and brings over 17 years of teaching, research, curriculum development, and academic leadership experience.
Before joining Sohar University, Dr. Memon served as an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for English Language and Linguistics (CELL) at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan. She also held the position of Chairperson of the ESL Curriculum at the Directorate of Curriculum, Government of Sindh, where she specialized in ESL curriculum and materials development. In this capacity, she led the committee responsible for developing and reviewing the English textbooks for Grades X and XI in Sindh’s government schools, making significant contributions to English language education in Pakistan.
Dr. Memon was awarded the Humphrey Alumni Impact Award 2024 in recognition of her leadership and contributions to ESL curriculum development. She also served as the Principal Investigator of the U.S. Government-funded project, The Society for Gender Equity in Linguistics–Pakistan, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP). Through this initiative, she established the Pakistan Society for Gender in Language, an ongoing platform promoting research and dialogue on language and gender. In addition to her academic leadership, she served as Deputy Student Advisor at Mehran University, where she mentored and supported students, particularly those from rural backgrounds.
Her academic journey includes several prestigious international fellowships and professional development programs. In 2019, she received the Fulbright Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Penn State University, USA. Alongside leadership training in higher education, she worked with the Penn State University Press production department, gaining valuable experience in academic publishing and journal production management.
In 2023, Dr. Memon was selected as a Fellow in the Visiting International Professional Program (VIPP), Aspiring Leaders: Empowering Pakistani Women Leaders in Higher Education, at Michigan State University’s College of Education, further strengthening her expertise in higher education leadership.
She has also completed two U.S. State Department-funded professional certifications: Creating and Implementing Online Courses from Arizona State University, focusing on online instructional design, and Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), delivered in partnership with the U.S. Mission to Pakistan and the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN).
Dr. Memon founded Repertus, Mehran University’s first social sciences research journal in more than four decades, reflecting her commitment to strengthening research culture and academic publishing. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Applied Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, language and gender, discourse studies, curriculum development, language policy, and language education. She has published extensively in these areas and remains committed to advancing equitable, socially responsive, and research-informed language education through scholarship, curriculum innovation, and academic leadership.
Qualifications
Professional Certifications
- Creating and Implementing Online Courses, Arizona State University, USA, 2024.
- Certification in Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Lahore University of Manegemnt Sciences, Pakistan, 2024.
- Visiting International Professional Fellow under Aspiring Leaders: Empowering Pakistani Women Leaders in Higher Education MSU, College of Education, Michigan State, USA, 2023.
- Fullbright Hubert Humphrey Fellow at Penn State University, Pennsylvania, United States of America, 2019.
Professional Degrees
- Ph.D. in applied Linguistics, University of Bedfordshire, UK, 2014.
- M.A Honors in English Literature, University of Sindh, Sindh, 2006.
- B.A Honors in English, University of Sindh, Sindh, 2003-2005.
Teaching Interest
- Gender, and Language
- Teaching English as a Second Language
- Curriculum Design in ELT
- Discourse Analysis
- TESOL
Research Interest
- Language and Gender
- Cultural Context in ELT
- Curriculum Design in second language
- Language Policy
- Reading in Second Language
Publications
- Memon, S (2026) Voices Behind the Pages: Exploring curriculum gatekeepers’ perspectives on gender inclusive narratives in Sindh’s ESL textbooks, Changing English Routledge Taylor and Francis https://doi.org/10.1080/1358684X.2026.2650750 [Scopus Q2]
- Memon, S., Fatima, S., & Ayesha, A. (2026). Collaborative Writing in Omani ESL Classrooms: A Quasi-Experimental Study from a Sociocultural Perspective. World Journal of English Language, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v16n1p403 [Scopus Q1]