School of Languages and Area Studies (SLAS)

Profile

Qualifications
BA(hons), MA, MPhil, PhD

Professional background, research interests and activities

I specialize in English language studies, applied contrastive linguistics, intercultural studies and language education. My professional experience in higher education contexts has enabled me to explore innovative approaches to language learning and teaching and my affiliation with the University of Cambridge Language Centre initially sparked my fascination with the potentialities of autonomous and collaborative language learning and a very specific role the teacher assumes in that process. My approach to teaching essentially draws from the Constructivist paradigm. It is, therefore, interactive and dialogic, creating a supportive learning environment able to cater for a variety of learning styles and scholarly traditions. Since joining SLAS, the opportunity to interact with students, reaffirm their confidence in independent learning and support their academic development is a source of constant inspiration, professional and personal.

The focus of my research interests clusters around contrastive, comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to language, culture and society and issues surrounding their didacticisation. It is, therefore, strongly pedagogically oriented and data driven, with an emphasis on pragmatic and aesthetic dimensions of language in its naturally occurring socio-cultural context. I am particularly interested in identifying pragmatic principles governing the occurrence of grammatical structures, focusing in particular on their relevance in applied, primarily pedagogical, contexts, and even more specifically, in foreign language teaching and learning (focusing on ESOL/EAP predominantly). My current research work makes use of some more recent theoretical frameworks, such as contrastive and intercultural pragmatics and rhetoric, providing an analytical apparatus capable of explaining the interaction between grammar, pragmatics and culture specific processes of conceptualisation.

Together with a number of colleagues from several European countries I am currently involved in setting up, expanding and promoting the European Network for Intercultural Education Activities (ENIEDA). The Network explores the current dynamics in Europe at the interface of established and emerging perspectives on language-based learning and teaching, of local, regional and global processes, traditional and postmodern approaches, national and cross-European identities. ENIEDA’s mission is to develop innovative collaborative initiatives that promote the values of multilingualism and intercultural cooperation in a rapidly changing and communication-driven global society through cross-border encounters and trans-disciplinary dialogue.

Recent publications

To appear
"Key competences in foreign language learning: historical perspectives and theoretical frameworks". In Maria Eisenmann & Theresa Summer (eds). Basic Issues in EFL Teaching and Learning. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH.

2009
"New horizons for contrastive analysis: grammatical prototypes as tertium comparationis". In Anastasios Tsangalidis (ed). Selected papers from the 18th International Symposium on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics. School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; 233-241.

"Pragmatic competence for intercultural communication: a foreign language classroom perspective". Igor Lakic & Natasa Kostic (eds). Languages and Cultures in Contact: Conference Proceedings. Institute of Foreign Languages, University of Montenegro; 385-391.

2008
"An investigation into the pragmatics of grammar: cultural scripts in contrast". In Martin Pütz and JoAnne Neff van Aertselaer (eds.). Developing Contrastive pragmatics: interlanguage and cross-cultural perspectives, (Studies on Language Acquisition). Berlin: Mouton; 65-83.
"Linguistics across Cultures fifty years on: from cultural patterns to cultural scripts". In Ivana Trbojevic and Katarina Rasulic (eds). Proceedings of the International Conference English Language and Literature Studies: Structures Across Cultures (ELLSSAC); Vol. 1. Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade; 33-43.

2005
"Contrastive linguistics: a 21st century perspective", in Sophia Marmaridou et al. (eds.) 2005. Reviewing linguistic thought: converging trends for the 21st century. Berlin: Mouton; 255-278.

2004
"Semantics of hate speech: a model of analysis", in Martin Pütz, Teun A. van Dijk et al. (eds.) 2004. Communicating ideologies: language, discourse and social practice. Frankfurt: Peter Lang; 579-596

Recent invited presentations

Plenary presentation at the International Conference Philological Research Today: Language, Literature, Culture, Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia, 26-27 November 2010: "Developing key competences in language education: taking stock and looking into the future".

Invited presentation at the PhD Seminar Current Trends in Linguistics, Doctoral School of the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania, 17-19 June 2010: "Pragmatic transfer in second language learning: pedagogical implications".

Keynote presentation at the 10th International Conference Interdisciplinarity and Transdisciplinarity in Language, Literature, Pedagogy and Foreign Language Teaching Methodology, The Centre for Research and Innovation in Language Education (CIEL), Department of Modern Languages, University of Alba Iulia, Romania, 28-29 May 2010: "Linguistic and intercultural education in university curricula: learning objectives and outcomes".

Invited presentation "The role of language education in the development of cultural fluency: theoretical ramifications and their practical application" given at the Exploratory Workshop Linguistic and Intercultural Education in the Process of Europeanisation of Higher Education, The Centre for Research and Innovation in Linguistic Education (CIEL), Department of Modern Languages, University of Alba Iulia, Romania, 21-23 May 2009.