Dr Nadia Mifka-Profozic

Profile

Biography

I joined the Department of Education in December 2014, after holding the post of a lecturer and Chair of Applied Linguistics and English Language at the University of Zadar (Croatia). Previous to that, I taught at the University of Auckland (Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics), and at high schools in New Zealand as a fully licensed secondary school teacher. I have more than fifteen years of teaching experience at different levels, supplemented by two Teacher Awards from the New Zealand Ministry of Education and an award from the French Embassy in New Zealand.

I am a member of the Department’s Centre for Research in Language Learning and Use. I hold a PhD in Applied Linguistics (Language Learning and Teaching) from the University of Auckland (2012), where I also obtained a Masters in TESOL (2006), a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (2003), and a Cambridge CELTA (2002). My BA was in Comparative Literature and English Language and Literature from the University of Zagreb (Croatia). Prior to embarking on my teaching and research career I was a professional journalist and editor in a daily paper in Croatia, working in the section of arts and culture.

I am currently teaching or have been involved in teaching on the following modules: Theories of Learning and Development, Motivation in Education, English Linguistics: Grammar/Syntax and Semantics, TESOL Methods, and I organise MA Research Seminars.

Research

Overview

My research is in the area of second language acquisition with a view to language pedagogy. I am interested in exploring the possibilities and applications of SLA research findings in language teaching, especially in foreign language classroom contexts.

My particular interest so far has been in the role of input and interaction, i. e. how these variables contribute to language learning in classroom settings and how they interplay with learner characteristics and the specifics of the target language. To that end I have investigated the relationship between motivation and noticing in collaborative tasks, and the effects of implicit forms of corrective feedback on the acquisition of particular language targets (for example, past aspectual distinctions in French as a foreign language). I am currently using self-paced reading task to examine how L2 learners process modal auxiliary verbs in English.

Further to this I am interested in investigating the role of cognitive factors in language learning (language aptitude, analytic ability and working memory) and their relationships or dependency on the type of task in terms of cognitive demands posed to language learners.

Research group(s)

• Centre for Advanced Studies in Language and Education (CASLE)

External activities

Memberships

I am a member of the British Association for Applied Linguistics and the European Second Language Association. I have been actively involved in the activities of Bilingualism Matters @Rijeka, the Croatian branch of Bilingualism Matters Centre at the University of Edinburgh.

Editorial duties

I am a reviewer for IRAL (International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching).

Invited talks and conferences

I regularly contribute to international conferences worldwide.

I presented at:

The 18^th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2017

Task-Based Language Teaching 7^th International Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 2017

TAML2, Acquisition of Tense, Aspect & Modality, York, UK, 2016

Second Language Association, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2016

EuroSLA 25, the European Second Language Association, Aix-en-Provence, 2015

The World Congress of Applied Linguistics, Brisbane 2014

The University of Sydney TESOL Research Network Colloquium, Sydney 2014  

Acquisition of Tense, Aspect & Modality, Montpellier 2014

EuroSLA 23, the European Second Language Association, Amsterdam 2013

32th Second Language Research Forum, Salt Lake City 2013

Georgetown University Round Table Conference, Washington 2012

Task-Based Language Teaching International Conference, Auckland 2011, etc.