According to Prof Irma Eloff - Dean of the Faculty of Education - Prof Carstens will play a central role in the strengthening of the University’s B Ed programme, while at the same time building on the significant capacity for research and postgraduate work in the department.

“We welcome her as a fellow-Tukkie and as the latest member of the leadership team of the Faculty of Education on the Groenkloof campus,” said Prof Eloff.

Prof Carstens has published 33 articles in accredited journals and is highly regarded for her expertise in the academic literacy of undergraduate students in the social sciences. She is regularly invited to share her expertise in empirically based writing courses, multilingual dictionaries, genres and text types in the humanities, multilinguism and plurilinguism environments.

Prof Carstens has been a board member of the Linguistics Association of South Africa, the African Association for Lexicography, and the Consortium of Human Sciences Societies of Southern Africa. She is also currently a member of the Southern African Applied Linguistics Association as well as the Linguistics Association of Southern Africa. Prof Carstens has strong collaborative ties with the Universities of Twente, Nijmegen and Tilburg and she has successfully obtained funding for research from SANPAD and the NRF.