Sarah Mercer
# Sarah Mercer

Sarah Jane Mercer (born 1974) is a British linguist. She is currently the head of the Department of English Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research focuses on applied linguistics, with a special focus on psycholinguistics from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory approach.

## Career

Mercer attended the Bolton School, Bolton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in European Studies (French, German & Politics) at Royal Holloway, University of London. She received a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English as a second or foreign language (TEFL) at the University of Reading and a PhD degree in Applied Linguistics at Lancaster University.

Between 1998 and 2015 Mercer was a lecturer at the University of Graz. In 2013 she became the co-editor of the journal 'System'. Between 2012 and 2018 she became the Deputy Head of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Graz. Between 2015 and 2017 she was the joint co-ordinator for the Research SIG at IATEFL.

In 2012 she was awarded Habilitation at the University of Graz. The title of her submission was Emerging complexity in language learning psychology.

## Research

In 2011 Towards an Understanding of Language Learner Self-Concept was published by Springer Publishing. In this book, Mercer investigates the nature and development of language and learner self-concept. The book provides a deep insights into how learners view themselves, and how these self-beliefs can develop and affect the progress of an individual's language learning process.

In her most-cited journal article entitled Language learner self-concept: Complexity, continuity and change, published in System in 2011, Mercer investigated the nature and dynamics of self-concept in language learning. She found that self-concept is perhaps best conceived of as a complex, multilayered, multidimensional network of interrelated self-beliefs.

## Publications

Mercer has published in several major journals such as System, The Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, ELT Journal, Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching and Language Learning Journal.

