Dr Kingsley Ugwuanyi is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Director (International Foundation Programme) at the Afe Babalola Centre for Transnational Education, King's College London.

Kingsley’s work is concerned with how language standards shape access, participation, and legitimacy in global and transnational education. Trained in world Englishes and sociolinguistics, his research has examined linguistic ownership, identity, and the politics of normativity, particularly how speakers from multilingual contexts are positioned in relation to institutional definitions of “standard” academic English.

These concerns now underpin his work in transnational higher education at King’s where is leading the development of a new transnational foundation programme at the Afe Babalola Centre for Transnational Education.

He is also Module Lead for English for Scientific Academic Purposes, where he addresses the linguistic demands placed on students. His curriculum work translates sociolinguistic insights into practical pedagogic design, particularly around academic voice, disciplinary communication, and equity of access.

His current research interests extend into AI in Education. He is currently looking at how generative AI systems provide new spaces for enshrined standard language ideologies and reshape academic writing, assessments, and participation in global higher-education contexts.

He is an Affiliate of the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and a member of the AI in Education at Oxford University research group, where he is looking into the implications of AI-mediated academic language practices for access, standards, and equity in higher education and beyond.

Research

• Transnational education
• World Englishes
• Nigerian English
• Sociolinguistics
• Language education and academic literacies
• Multilingualism

Publications 

Book chapters

• Ngefac, A., & Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2025). Twenty years after the conception of the Dynamic Model: Investigating the factors that triggered the endonormative stabilisation of Cameroon and Nigerian Englishes. In S. Rüdiger, T. Neumaier, S. Leuckert & S. Buschfeld (Eds), World Englishes in the 21st Century: New Perspectives and Challenges to the Dynamic Model (pp. 68-84). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781399527866-009 
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2025). Nigerian English. In K. Bolton (ed.), The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of world Englishes. New Jersey: Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119518297.eowe00203
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2023a). Acceptability Judgement Tasks in New Englishes research: Focus on acrolectal Nigerian English. In G. Wilson & M. Westphal (eds), New Englishes, New Methods: Methodological considerations for the study of New Englishes (pp. 158–177). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g68.08ugw
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2023b). Perceptions, awareness and attitudes towards Englishes in Africa: The case of Nigerian English. In M. Akinlotan (ed.), Englishes in Africa (pp. 141–159). New York: Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b19008

Journal articles

• Ugwuanyi, K. O, Christian Mair, Sender Dovchin, Iker Erdocia, Maria Kuteeva, & Esther Airemionkhale (2026, forthcoming). Generative AI and linguistic diversity in academic writing and publishing: Perspectives from World Englishes. Journal of English for Research Publications Purposes, 6(2), 266–290. https://benjamins.com/catalog/jerpp.00035.ugw
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. & McKenzie, R. M. (2026). National identity and the ownership of English in Nigeria. World Englishes, 45(1), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12723
• Oyebola, F. & Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2023). Attitudes of Nigerians towards BBC Pidgin: A preliminary study. Language Matters, 54(1), 78-101. https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2023.2203509
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. & Oyebola, F. (2022). Attitudes of Nigerian expatriates towards accents of English. Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 58(3), 541–572. https://doi.org/10.1515/psicl-2022-0024
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2022a). (Socio)linguistic indices of the codification of Nigerian English. Language and Linguistics Compass, 16(10), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12475

Media articles

• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2024). The rise and recognition of Nigerian English. Emagazine: English and Media Centre (September 2024 edition), pp. 45-47. 
• Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2022, 26 June). Introduction to Nigerian English. The Oxford English Dictionary Blog.
• Ugwuanyi, K.O. (2020, 16 February). Giving back to English: How Nigerian words made it into the Oxford English Dictionary. The Conversation.