Dr. Rebecca Hughes is Director of the Centre for English Language Education, at the University of Nottingham, and a Senior Lecturer in the School of English Studies. Previous books include English in Speech and Writing: Investigating language and literature (Routledge, 1996) and, as co-author with Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy, Exploring Grammar in Context (CUP, 2000). She is an advisor to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on the incorporation of spoken grammar into the National Curriculum. Outside academic life, Rebecca Hughes is a past winner of national competitions for poetry and prose. Her work has also been broadcast on BBC's The Best of Morning Story.