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Oxford Lifelong Learning

University of Oxford

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Professional headshot of Marion Sadoux, wearing glasses and a red scarf, looking at the camera against a blurred background.

Marion Sadoux

Director of the Language Centre

Planet icon https://www.linkedin.com/in/marion-sadoux-34b63435

Marion is a language graduate (UCL, Birkbeck College) and passionate lifelong learner of languages with over twenty years of experience in leadership and management in higher education in the UK and internationally, specialising in language education and digital education.  

As Director of the University of Oxford Language Centre, Marion leads the Centre’s strategic development, overseeing a broad portfolio of language programmes, academic support, and initiatives that promote multilingualism across the University. 

Beyond Oxford, she contributes to national discussions on language education through her involvement on the executive committee of the Association of University Language Communities (AULC), and internationally as a member of the executive committee for the API Forum (Action Oriented Plurilingual and Intercultural language education).  She is a member of the editorial board of Language Learning in Higher Education and Patterns of Practice 

Marion is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA). 

She was the recipient of two Lord Dearing Awards at the University of Nottingham (Team award for the Language Centre and personal award).   

Pivoting online: collaborative design and delivery of FIT (Flexible and Inclusive Teaching) modern language courses at the Language Centre was shortlisted for the 2022 Vice Chancellor Awards

Marion’s teaching is underpinned by the belief that language learning should be intellectually engaging, inclusive, and empowering. She aims to create learning environments that develop linguistic proficiency alongside intercultural competence, learner autonomy, and the confidence to communicate in authentic contexts. Her approach is informed by research in language pedagogy and by the core pedagogical values of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). 

In her leadership role, Marion fosters collaborative approaches to teaching by supporting language tutors in developing through engagement in communities of practice. She seeks to build sustainable, research-informed curricula that respond to changing learner needs while providing empowering opportunities for teacher agency and developing iterative cycles of quality enhancement.

At the Language Centre, Marion teaches, French Stage 7, French Stage 4 and French for Law.

Marion’s research focuses on innovation in language teaching and learning in higher education, with particular emphasis on the pedagogical use of digital technologies to enhance student engagement, learner autonomy, and intercultural competence. Her work explores how technology can transform language education through authentic communication, collaborative learning, and curriculum innovation, while critically examining its implications for teaching practice and institutional change. 

A recurring theme in her research is the relationship between digital innovation and pedagogy. Her publications have examined multimodal feedback, online language learning, virtual learning environments, mobile-assisted language learning, informal learning through social media, online language exchanges, and agile approaches to curriculum design. More recently, her work has explored the opportunities and tensions created by emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, for language education in higher education.  

Her research is closely connected to practice, informing curriculum development, assessment design, digital learning strategies, and professional development for language educators. It aims to bridge educational research and institutional leadership to improve the quality, accessibility, and sustainability of language provision in higher education. 

Projects:  

Teaching innovation fund, University of oxford 2024-25 Voice chatbot for language learning  

Small teaching and Learning grants at UNNC  

2014-15 Moods: Moodle navigational design with students (15,000 rmb)  

2015-16 Pre Departure to UNNC online course (14,000 rmb)  

2015-16 Integration project: Making the most of internationalisation (50,000 rmb)  

2016-2018 The Online Language Learning Exchange: from course to App (100,000 rmb over two years) 

  • Borthwick, K and Sadoux, M (2026 forthcoming) Liberator or terminator? The paradoxical role of digital technologies for languages in higher education in Sharpe, R., Bennett, S. and Varga-Atkins, T. (eds.) (2026 second edition) Handbook of Digital Higher Education. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing  
  • Sadoux, M. (2021). How to flip it… never again? Towards agile models of work. In A. Plutino & E. Polisca (Eds), Languages at work, competent multilinguals and the pedagogical challenges of COVID-19 (pp. 89-95). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2021.49.1222  
  • Sadoux, M (2017) Harnessing the power of informal learning: using WeChat, the semi synchronous group chat, to enhance spoken fluency in Chinese learners. In Borthwick, Kate; Bradley, Linda; Thouësny, Sylvie (Eds), CALL in a climate of change: adapting to turbulent global conditions – short papers from EUROCALL 2017 (pp. 265-270). Research-publishing.net. https://doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2017.eurocall2017.724  
  • Sadoux, M. (2017) Collaborative Design and Delivery of an online Language Learning Exchange at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo China. In A handbook of Multi-media in Language Teaching, Xiang Catherine (Ed), CGI Global.  
  • Sadoux, M. (2016). Intercultural language learning at work: a student-designed module. In Erika Corradini, Kate Borthwick, Angela Gallagher-Brett (Eds), Employability for languages: a handbook (pp. 29-37). Dublin Ireland: Research-publishing.net. http://researchpublishing.net/content.php?doi=10.14705/rpnet.2016.cbg2016.9781908416384 
  • Sadoux, M., Rzycka, D., Jones, M., & Lopez, J. (2016). Overcoming navigational design in a VLE: students as agents of change. In C. Goria, O. Speicher, & S. Stollhans (Eds), Innovative language teaching and learning at university: enhancing participation and collaboration (p. 85-91). Dublin: Research publishing.net. http://dx.doi.org/10.14705/rpnet.2016.000409 
  •  Sadoux, M (2015).  A Journey to the East?  Trials and tribulations of a personal journey with technology and languages.  In K.Borthwick, E.Corradini & A. Dickens (Eds),  10 years of the LLAS elearning symposium: case studies in good practice (pp.11-19).  Dublin: Research-publishing.net  doi:10.14705/rpnet.2015.000263 http://research-publishing.net/publications/10-years-of-the-llas-elearning-symposium-case-studiesin-good-practice/  
  • Sadoux, M. (2013) Hear, there and everywhere? An Investigation into the Use of Voice Tools in the Languages Field in the UK Higher Education Sector (Report commissioned by the Higher Education Academy published online https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/Hear_there_and_everywhere.pdf)
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