Alison Matai'a

Alison completed teacher training in 1971 and married Tavale the same year. She then spent 15 years in Western Samoa working with Tavale in establishing the Youth for Christ ministry there. On returning to New Zealand in 1986 she studied part time at Laidlaw College for two years. Alison taught English and Computing at UNITEC from 1989-1997, and joined the Academic Staff of Laidlaw College during 1997. She completed her Master of Applied Linguistics Studies in 2003, and is currently enrolled in the MTh programme with Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School. Alison's research interests include pragmatic linguistics and its application to theological understanding. Alison was the Director of the School of English Language Studies from 1997 to 2006.