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Why this matters

Multilingual capability is one of the greatest strengths of globally connected universities, workplaces and communities. Multilingual individuals contribute diverse perspectives, intercultural understanding, and valuable communication capabilities that enrich education, professional communities, and society.

As multilingual participation continues to grow across educational and professional contexts, institutions increasingly recognise the need for more effective ways to cultivate communication confidence, engagement, leadership and belonging among multilingual communities.

Our approach

At UNSW, we respond to this opportunity through personalised, reflective, and identity-affirming approaches to multilingual communication development across educational and professional contexts.

PELE

To support multilingual students at UNSW, we have offered Personalised English Language Enhancement (PELE) since 2016.

PELE research over the past decade demonstrates that targeted, identity-affirming communication development within a safe and supportive learning community leads to sustained gains in confidence, engagement, and belonging among multilingual university students across disciplines.

PACE

Drawing on this research-based evidence, we also developed and trialled Personalised Autonomous Communication Enhancement (PACE) in 2024, tailored for multilingual professionals in workplace contexts.

Research findings indicate that PACE significantly strengthens communication confidence, leadership presence, participation in high-stakes communication, and a sense of belonging within professional communities.

Founding Vision

Developed and led by Professor Mira Kim at UNSW, both PELE and PACE bring together applied linguistics, wellbeing research, and personalised learning to empower highly capable multilingual individuals to become confident, visible, and influential communicators.

Professor Kim is a leading expert in personalised autonomous language learning, translation studies, and systemic functional linguistics, as well as a compassionate educator recognised with multiple teaching and leadership awards. Her research consistently shows that communication confidence and wellbeing are inseparable from professional participation, engagement, and leadership.

With more than a decade of delivery and over 3,000 participants across UNSW, PELE and PACE combine academic rigour with reflective practice and are supported by a strong body of published research demonstrating their impact.

What our participants say

"In the new era of AI, human empathy is our superpower. PACE and PELE are good examples of how to use this superpower to develop an essential, practical ability to communicate in English in both professional and casual contexts. Being at PACE in the pilot program has been one of the most meaningful educational experiences of my life due to the empathetic, supportive and caring instructor and peer mentors. The support I received from them has allowed me to strengthen my communication skills and encouraged me to pursue leadership roles."

Dr Eduardo B. Sandoval
Deputy Director, Creative Robotics Lab, ADA UNSW, 2024 PACE participant

"The PACE program greatly improved my confidence in communication and presentations. Professor Mira was an excellent convenor, and her engaging teaching style helped me gain valuable skills and insights. More importantly, the warm and welcoming PACE community encouraged me to continue learning and growing. It was one of the most valuable development programs I have taken, and I still apply many of the skills I learned in my current teaching role.”

Dr Armin Chitizadeh
Lecturer in Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney, 2024 PACE participant

“PACE blends a personalised curriculum with mindfulness and community-building, making it easy for all of us to find our feet while focusing on improving our communication skills. It reconnected me with my greatest passion: reading! I think I read around eight books in English during the eight or nine weeks of training. I treasure all the memories we built together and appreciate how Mira and her team dedicated so much time to each of us in a personal and caring way. It is the fondest memory of my time at UNSW.”

Dr Gladymar Pérez Chacón
Research Fellow, Faculty of Health, Charles Darwin University, 2024 PACE participant

"Before joining PACE, I never realised how much potential I had as a communicator. PACE is so much more than a language course — it’s an empowering journey that builds confidence, a positive mindset, and personal growth. The program showed me how small, consistent improvements can create remarkable change over time. I now communicate with far greater confidence and energy. I highly recommend PACE to anyone wanting to unlock their full potential."

Mr Stephan Tseng
Lecturer in the School of Marketing, UNSW Business School, 2024 PACE participant

Collaboration areas

Educational and professional communication programs

We collaborate with universities, organisations, and professional communities to design and deliver personalised communication development programs for multilingual students and professionals. Programs are tailored to specific educational and workplace contexts and focus on strengthening communication confidence, participation, leadership presence, wellbeing, and belonging.

Collaboration includes:

Curriculum design and short courses

Workshops and mentoring initiatives

AI-supported communication development

Research and knowledge partnerships

We welcome collaborative research projects exploring multilingual communication, identity, confidence, participation, leadership, wellbeing, and professional development across educational and organisational contexts.

Partnerships include:

Collaborative research projects

Cross institutional grant applications

Knowledge exchange and research translation

Program evaluation and impact studies

We collaborate with institutions and organisations to evaluate the impact of multilingual communication initiatives through evidence-informed research and program evaluation.

This includes:

Communication confidence

Engagement and belonging

Leadership development

Long-term educational and professional outcomes

Teacher and facilitator development

We support educators, mentors, facilitators, and professional development leaders in implementing personalised and reflective approaches to multilingual communication development.

This includes:

Facilitator training

Mentoring frameworks

Reflective practice models

Through collaborative initiatives, we aim to support multilingual individuals in becoming confident, visible, and influential contributors within their academic, professional, and community environments.