ABOUT US
Principal Investigator
Sarah Mercer is the Head of the ELT Research and Methodology unit at the University of Graz. She is interested in all aspects of language learning psychology, in particular self-related constructs, motivation, affect, agency, attributions, mindsets and belief systems. In her research, she prefers to employ qualitatively-oriented approaches. Currently, she is engaged in considering aspects of language learner psychology through a complexity lens and exploring a diverse range of methodological approaches for this purpose. Furthermore, she is currently working on projects in the areas of language teacher psychology, socio-emotional intelligences, and mindests.
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Some of Sarah’s recent publications in the field of Langugage Learning Psychology include Exploring Psychology in Language Learning and Teaching (co-authored with Marion Williams and Stephen Ryan), Positive Psychology in SLA (co-edited with Peter MacIntyre and Tammy Gregersen), and Multiple Perspectives of the Self in SLA (co-edited with Marion Williams), and Language Teacher Psychology (co-edited with Achilleas Kostoulas). Sarah is also a series editor of Multilingual Matter’s Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching series alongside Stephen Ryan.
Additional information about Sarah’s research and publications can be found in her personal home page. Sarah can be reached at sarah.mercer(at)uni-graz.at.
Post-doc Research Assistant
Giulia Sulis is currently working as a post-doctoral fellow on the FWF- funded project “Psychological Capital of Foreign Language Teachers” at the University of Graz. She graduated from the University of Groningen with a Master’s in Applied Linguistics and pursued her PhD in Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University. Her PhD project examined dynamic variability in L2 motivation and four subsets of engagement (i.e. behavioural, cognitive, emotional and social) over the course of the L2 lesson and throughout the academic year, and explored the interrelationship between the two constructs. Alongside her PhD, she worked as Associate Lecturer in Literacy and Education and as a tutor of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at Lancaster University. Her research interests lie in the psychology of language learning and teaching; in particular, she is currently researching motivation, engagement, Willingness to Communicate (WTC), and teacher wellbeing.
Giulia can be reached at giulia.sulis@uni-graz.at.
Pre-doc Research Assistants
Astrid Mairitsch is a teacher for English as a foreign language, Psychology and Philosophy and has been teaching for three years both in secondary school and at university. She is currently working as a research assistant at the University of Graz on the FWF- funded project “Psychological Capital of Foreign Language Teachers” and will pursue her PhD alongside this project. Her research interests lie in (Positive) Psychology, wellbeing and life cycles of teachers, in order to better understand and support teachers in their development of Psychological Capital throughout their career phases.
You can contact Astrid via astrid.mairitsch(at)uni-graz.at
Sonja Babić is a PhD candidate at the University of Graz in Austria and is looking into positive psychological resources (psychological capital) that support third-age language teachers’ and teacher educators’ professional well-being. Fall 2018 she started working as a research assistant on “The Psychological Capital of Foreign Language Teachers” project at the University of Graz. She is also a certified TESOL teacher and has been teaching English as a foreign language for one and a half years. Her interests lie in psychology of language learning and teaching, teacher well-being, gerontology and psychogerontology.
Sonja can be reached at sonja.babic(at)uni-graz.at
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Former Collaborators
Jun Jin was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Graz in Austria. After obtaining an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (Distinction) at the University of Southampton in UK and earned a PhD in Education at the University of Hong Kong in Hong Kong, P. R. China, she worked as a post-doctoral fellow and an instructor at universities in Hong Kong. She was also a visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge in UK, with Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowship. Her research focuses on issues of teaching and learning in different contexts. Specifically, she is analysing the role of silence, technology-mediated interaction, small group settings (e.g. problem based learning, project based learning), identity and wellbeing. She would like to further explore multilevel perspectives on teaching and learning, combining micro (i.e. the use of language) and macro (i.e. social, cultural, and political practice) level analysis. The ultimate goal of her research is to improve and enrich teaching and learning experience in the process of curriculum development.
Sun Shin was working as a pre-doc research assistant at the University of Graz on the FWF- funded project ‘The Psychological Capital of Foreign Language Teachers’. She is a certified CELTA and TESOL teacher and has taught English as a Foreign Language in South Korea and Thailand. She worked as an English instructor at International Graduate School of English, Seoul, South Korea. She pursued her PhD at the University of Graz after receiving her Master’s in TEFL from the International Graduate School of English, Seoul, South Korea.
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International Partner and Co-investigator
Jim King is Programme Director of MA Applied Linguistics and TESOL courses at the University of Leicester, UK. Prior to gaining a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham, he taught English and trained language teachers in various countries around the world, including stints in Poland, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Australia. Jim’s research interests centre on situated psychological aspects of foreign language education, and he has led international collaborative research projects focusing on such issues as learner reticence, foreign language anxiety and the role that emotion regulation plays in language teachers’ professional practice. His books include Silence in the Second Language Classroom (2013) and The Dynamic Interplay Between Context and the Language Learner (2015) (both published by Palgrave Macmillan). Publications in the pipeline include Language Teaching: An Emotional Rollercoaster (co-edited with Dr Christina Gkonou and Professor Jean-Marc Dewaele) due to appear in 2019.
Jim can be reached at jk249(at)leicester.ac.uk
International Partner
Ursula Lanvers is a lecturer in language education at the University of York. She has published extensively on the language learning landscape in the UK, learner motivation, and the language learning crisis in the UK. She is interested in the linguistic and political effects of global English, both in Anglophone countries, and in countries adopting Englishization. She has edited a Special Edition in the European Journal of Language Education on lay perceptions of the Englishization of education in Europe.
Ursula can be reached at ursula.lanvers(at)york.ac.uk
International Partner and Co-investigator
in the 2nd and 3rd phase of the project
Kata Csizér holds a PhD in Language Pedagogy and works as an associate professor at the Department of English and Applied Linguistics at Eötvös University, Budapest. Her main field of research interest is the social psychological aspects of L2 learning and teaching, as well as second and foreign language motivation. She has published over 50 academic papers and has co-authored several books on various topics related to social psychological issues in foreign language learning and teaching.
Kata can be reached at wein.kata(at)btk.elte.hu
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