Christine Nuttall

Born Christine Elizabeth Nuttall in 1931 in Holcombe Brook, Bury, Manchester to Alfred Nuttall, a stockbroker, and Marjorie (née Broome), a teacher. She had a younger sister, Barbara. Her father died when she was five years old.^[1]

Nuttall went to Bury Grammar School before going to St. Andrew's University graduating in English and philosophy in 1953, and then completed a Masters (M.A.) in linguistics at Manchester University.^[1]

Nuttall spent a year teaching English in Finland, then four years in Nigeria as a lecturer in English and studied the Hausa language.^[8]

Starting in the 1960s she became an English Language teaching advisor and by 1994 was also a product development manager for the British Council.^[9] Her postings were in Nigeria, Milan, Ghana, Iran and Malaysia as well as working in China and Namibia. Her work Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language was published in three editions and quoted by language teachers and linguistics specialists in different countries from 1982 up to at least 2017.^{[4][5][6][7][10]}

She was awarded an OBE in 1982,^[1] and joined the University of Edinburgh applied linguistics department in 1985, becoming the director of the MSc course before retiring in 1989. She moved to her home in Broughton-in-Furness, Cumbria (which she had lent to friends to use during the years when she had travelled) and joined development committee the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.^[1]

Nuttall died on 21 May 2020, aged 89.^[1]