Tamara Rathcke

Teaching

I care about research-led teaching and all of my postgraduate courses usually involve opportunities for my students to contribute empirical evidence on the relevant theoretical debates discussed in class.

Courses at the University of Konstanz

Undergraduate courses (BA and BEd)

  • English Phonetics
  • English Phonology
  • English Morphology
  • English Sociolinguistics
  • English Around the World
  • Introduction to Linguistics

Postgraduate courses (MA and MEd)

  • Language Variation and Change
  • Language Processing (Psycholinguistics)
  • Varieties of English
  • Cognitive Links between Language and Music
  • Perception of Speaker Characteristics
  • Speech Perception
  • Language Representations in Developmental Dyslexia
  • Exam Colloquium

Earlier teaching

University of Kent2013–2018; module convenor, lecturer and seminar leader; Kent Union Teaching Awards 2015 and 2017

Undergraduate courses

  • Foundations of Language-1: Sounds and Words (obligatory foundational 1-year module)
  • Sounds of English (obligatory foundational 1-year module)
  • The Study of Speech (2-year module)
  • Phonetics (2-year module)
  • Language Variation and Change (2-year module)
  • Research Dissertation (3-year module)
  • Speech Perception (2-year module)

Postgraduate courses

  • Sounds (obligatory foundational module)
  • English Phonetics
  • Language Processing

I was twice nominated by my students for the annual Kent Union Teaching Awards, and received an award in the category “Fantastic Feedback” in 2015 and an “Above and Beyond” award in 2017.

Kent Union Teaching Awards 2015 certificate for Fantastic Feedback
Kent Union “Above and Beyond” award certificate
University of Glasgow2010–2013; guest lectures on phonetics and phonology

Guest lectures on phonetics/phonology for undergraduate courses (Connected Speech Processes; Stress and Accent; Rhythm; Intonation 1&2).

Invitations to teachWaseda, Kobe, Ghent, Humboldt University of Berlin, UCL and others, 2013–2026
Mar 2026
Three guest lectures at Waseda University, Japan: “Perception of Speaker Characteristics”, “Auditory Illusions involving Speech”, “The Study of Speech Rhythm” (invited by Dr Clemens Poppe)
Jan 2024
Invited lecture in the postgraduate seminar “Spoken English: From Theory to Empirical Work” (invited by Prof Marcel Schlechtweg)
Jan 2020
Invited seminar “Phonetics and Phonology of English” at Kobe University, Japan (invited by Dr Ryoko Hayashi)
Nov 2016
Invited lecture in the series “Discovering Linguistics/Linguistic Discoveries” for MA students of Linguistics at the University of Ghent (invited by Prof Claudia Crocco)
Jan and June 2016
Invited seminar for MA students at the Humboldt University of Berlin “Modifikationen der Grundfrequenzmuster” (invited by Prof Christine Mooshammer)
Oct–Dec 2013
A series of PG seminars on phonology for “Advanced Core Training in Linguistics” (ACTL) at UCL (invited by Prof Klaus Abel)

Supervision and examination

I am one of the departmental examiners for Konstanz students graduating with a teaching qualification in English Language and Linguistics. I examine on phonetics, phonology, morphology, sociolinguistics, varieties of English and psycholinguistics. Please contact me if you want to discuss your examination topics and readings.

PhD supervisionFive theses at Konstanz, Ghent, Leipzig, Kent and Glasgow

I have (co-)supervised a number of student projects and am still in touch with some of my graduates.

2022 – 2025
Marina Rossi: Testing the role of rhythm in phonological deficits arising from developmental dyslexia. (1st supervisor, University of Konstanz, Germany)
2019 – 2023
Giuseppe Magistro: Jespersen gives and Jespersen takes: Experimentally tracking the role of focus in the renewal of negation. (external supervisor, Ghent University, Belgium)
2016 – 2018
Siri Moen Gjersoe: Grammatical tone in Nuer. (external/extended committee member, University of Leipzig, Germany)
2015 – 2018
Sumio Kobayashi: Rhythm in speech and music. (2nd supervisor, University of Kent, UK)
2013
Claire Nance: Phonetic variation, identity and Scottish Gaelic. (external supervisor of the study of intonation, University of Glasgow, UK)
PhD examinationThree theses at Münster and Kent
2026
Decai Xia: Singing Training and Its Influence on Foreign Language Pronunciation: A Longitudinal Study. (external evaluator, University of Münster)
2019
Ishrat Rehman: Urdu Vowel System and Perception of English vowels by Punjabi-Urdu speakers. (internal examiner, University of Kent)
2015
Jonathan Kasstan: Variation and change in Francoprovençal: A study of an emerging linguistic norm. (internal examiner, University of Kent)