Martha Wright

Lecturer

What Martha Wright does: Dr. Wright teaches the courses Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary Development, and Business Writing at Penn.

Experience: She has been teaching a variety of languages, including Irish Gaelic, French, and Karimojong (Uganda) since 1981. She has enjoyed teaching English to learners of many different kinds, including medical personnel in Eritrea, village women in Uganda, Wharton students at Penn, and preschoolers in rural Uganda. She has also been very involved in mother-tongue literacy in Ireland and East Africa, especially in materials development for people with limited access to print media.

Travels: Dr. Wright is a 4th-generation Philadelphian but has spent most of her adult life in the west of Ireland and East Africa. She was very involved in Irish Gaelic language and traditional music in Ireland and later moved to Eritrea to work at a hospital mission. She and her husband have spent most of the past 20 years in rural Karamoja in Eastern Uganda 

Education: 

  • PhD, Educational Linguistics, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
  • MA, Linguistics, Temple University
  • BA, Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania

Talk to Martha about: Speaking and listening skills, pronunciation, varieties of world English, business English, and study skills