Stephen J Hall was born in Wairoa, New Zealand. After literature  and  linguistics study at Victoria University of Wellington, Stephen traveled extensively. A fascination with English language teaching began in Ubud, Bali.

On returning to Wellington, Stephen gained a Diploma TESOL  (A) from  Victoria University of Wellington. A  Post Graduate Certificate in Education was followed by teaching in multicultural schools in New Zealand. In the mid 80s he was one of many who could not find further teaching due to demographics so he taught in the Pacific for six years. 

Stephen returned to New Zealand to even greater intellectual rigor In 1991, a thesis based Masters in Applied Linguistics with Distinction was awarded by the School of Language and Applied Linguistics, formerly ELI, Wellington.

In the early 1990s  Stephen was a lecturer, then Language Specialist in Singapore and taught spoken English, teaching methodology and English for Business and Technology for SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.  He began to write and edit extensively and continues to write texts and academic articles. 

In  1995 Stephen became  Manager, Language and Communication Division , Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore . When this position was localized Stephen continued with teacher education,  cross cultural  training and specific purposes courses .

Specific English Training, Stephen’s registered company in Singapore offered customized client oriented training with clients such as Singapore Airlines Commercial Training, Singapore Airport Terminal Services, HBO Asia and Visa International.

Stephen moved to Kuala Lumpur in June 2001. He was the In Service Teacher Training Manager for CfBT Education Services Malaysia until end 2006 for the Malaysian Schools English Language Project. Stephen worked closely with the Curriculum Development Centre of  the Ministry of Education, teacher educators and teachers. He  completed a University of Leicester Doctorate on rural  in-service teacher training in 2009.

Dr Stephen J Hall  is currently Director, Language and Compulsory Subjects, Sunway University College, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.