Thomas Hayward is a full-time assistant professor at Si Wan College of National Sun Yat-sen University. He holds a PhD in applied linguistics from City University of Hong Kong and a Master of Arts from Durham University, UK. Dr. Hayward teaches both English for Academic Purposes and General English courses in the Center for EMI Teaching Excellence and is head of the International Forum on campus. A national of the United States, he has previously taught at universities in Germany (Christian Albrechts University, Kiel), Hong Kong (City University) and Japan (Nagoya University of Commerce and Business Administration), as well as in Taiwan. 

Dr. Hayward’s research falls into two areas. One area focuses on the discourses driving the internationalization of universities in East Asia, and the socio-political effects that this brings. His other area of interest is the dynamics of second language learning, and the ways that successful students learn. He is particularly interested in the generation of affinity spaces which lead to long-term language acquisition, and this is a primary motivation for the extra-curricular activities he manages for NSYSU.