Spyridoula Bella, Associate Professor in Linguistics

Teaching: I have been teaching Linguistics at the Department of Philology of the University of Athens since 2002. 
During this time I have systematically taught graduate courses that include Introduction to Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics as well as postgraduate courses that include Introduction to Applied Linguistics, Second Language Learning Theories, Second Language Teaching Methodology and Pragmatics.
From 1997 until 2014 I taught Greek as a second language at the Modern Greek Language Teaching Centre of the University of Athens.

Research interests: Pragmatics, Interlanguage Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics, Second Language Acquisition, Second Language Teaching, Discourse Analysis, Conversation Analysis, Sociolinguistics.
Most of my earlier and current work belongs to the fields of Pragmatics, Interlanguage Pragmatics, Second Language Acquisition and Language Teaching. 
My PhD thesis was on the phenomenon on deixis in Greek from a pragmatic-cognitive perspective. This thesis has been the starting point for my earlier work on tense which was mainly published in Greek.
I have co-authored two syllabuses on the teaching of Greek as a second/ foreign language at the Vantage and Advanced Level respectively, as well as a book on Second Language Learning Theories (in Greek).
One important strand of my research is centered on Interlanguage Pragmatics, a field that seeks to combine theoretical pragmatics with second language use and development. My research output in this area has appeared in international journals (Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics, Multilingua, Journal of Politeness Research) as well as various collected volumes both in Greek and in English. This research focuses on the use of speech acts by second and foreign learners of Greek from various linguistic backgrounds as well as the development of the sociopragmatic competence of Greek FL learners.
A big part of my research in these areas has culminated in a book on Pragmatics and language learning/ teaching published in Greek in 2015 under the title Πραγματολογία: Από τη Γλωσσική Επικοινωνία στη Γλωσσική Διδασκαλία [Pragmatics: From Language Communication to Language Teaching]. 
I have also published papers on theoretical pragmatics with an emphasis on linguistic politeness in the production of various speech acts and conceptualisations of politeness. 
My most recent research interests reflected in published papers as well as forthcoming publications involve Conversation Analysis, the use of conversation analytic methods in language teaching  and discursive approaches to politeness theory.