Dr Helen West is Senior Lecturer in English Language in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education at the University of Chester, UK.  She is a research and knowledge exchange representative for the Division of Communication, Screen and Performance. She was Single Honours English Language Programme leader 2017-18 and Student Engagement Officer for English 2018-2024, organising educational visits and events to promote immersed teaching experiences, as well as promoting student as partners teaching and learning practice, and supportive methods of assessment. Helen's research is focussed in the field of sociolinguistics, specialising in phonetics (accent), exploring the processes of language variation and change using a combination of computational, and quantitative and qualitative approaches.