Note: Since all the authors in this issue are, in one way or another, related to the HOU, we have opted to use the acronym HOU throughout to denote that association.
Thomai ALEXIOU is a Lecturer at the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She holds an MA in TEFL from Canterbury Christ Church University and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Wales Swansea. She has been teaching English for about 10 years in Greece and Britain and she has published several articles throughout Europe. Her research interests concern the methodology of teaching languages while her expertise is on cognitive development and individual differences in language learning for very young learners. She is also a Tutor at the HOU since 2005.
Marie-Christine ANASTASSIADI holds a PhD in Foreign Language and Cultures Teaching from the University of Paris III - Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris). She specialises in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, Discourse Analysis and Intercultural Communication. She works as an Assistant Professor in French at the Faculty of French Studies, University of Athens. Her publications include learning material for the Master in Teaching French as a Foreign Language of the HOU. Her current research interests include Teaching French to young Learners and Translation Studies.
George ANDROULAKIS holds a PhD in Sociolinguistics from the University of Paris 7. He taught linguistics, sociolinguistics and language teaching at the Universities of Paris 7, Thessaly, the Aegean, Aristotle of Thessaloniki, the HOU and is currently Associate Professor of Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching and Director of the Language Laboratory at the University of Thessaly (Volos, Greece). His research interests include issues of attitudes and policy in migrant communities, code-switching, intercultural communication, and task-based language teaching.
John ANTONOPOULOS holds a PhD in History from the University of Paris I-Sorbonne. He studied at the University of Athens and the Universities of Caen and Paris I-Sorbonne in France. His specialty is European History and Culture, Military History, History of International Relations and History of Education. He has worked as a Researcher at the National Center for Social Research and as a professor in college and Panteion University. He has published papers and studies in the aforementioned fields.
Paul BOUNIOL was born in Paris, France, and has been working in Greece for more 30 years as an EFL /FFL teacher, International Baccalaureate Coordinator, Director of Studies and Trainer. He holds a B.A. in English Literature, a B.A. in French Literature, a Master’s Degree in TESL from Saint Michael’s College, Vermont, USA, and his current PhD research revolves around Learner Autonomy and Self-Regulation in EFL. His special fields of interest are the application of Educational Psychology to EFL and Teacher Training. He has been an active member of the TESOL GREECE Board for years, an examiner for a number of Examination Boards since 1992, and a Tutor of the HOU (MEd in TESOL) from 2000 to 2008. He is the author/co-author/reviewer of several EFL titles, and since 2007, a member of the RCEL research team of the Faculty of English Studies at the University of Athens.
Christine CALFOGLOU is an HOU tutor. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics (L2 acquisition) from the University of Athens and an MA in Translation and Translation Theory. She has co-authored Language Learning Skills and Materials, Oracy and Literacy, Vol.2, HOU, 2004, currently taught in the HOU MEd Programme and is also the writer of Discovering and using conventions for good writing practice: An interactive meaning-making approach, which is taught at the English Dept of the University of Athens. She has written a number of articles on linguistics, methodology and translation theory published both in Greece and abroad.
Marios CHRISSOU is Assistant Professor at the Department of German Language and Literature of the University of Athens, Greece. He holds a Magister Artium and a PhD from the University of Essen, Germany. He has published three books and nine articles. His fields of interest include phraseology and the teaching of German as a foreign language with the aid of new technologies. He is a tutor and a module coordinator at the HOU (Teaching of German as a Foreign Language) and also teaches at the postgraduate program of the Department of German Language and Literature of the University of Athens.
Ourania CHRYSANTHOPOULOU holds an MA in teaching French as a foreign language from the HOU. She works as a teacher of French in secondary education. Her research interests include intercultural education and the introduction of French-speaking culture in the French class.
Richard FAY studied English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and then TESOL at the University of Manchester. In 2004, he completed his narrative-inquiry-based doctorate on intercultural aspects of distance learning projects (using the collaboration between the University of Manchester and the HOU as a case study) at the University of Manchester, where he has been a Lecturer in Education (TESOL and Intercultural Communication) since 1994. His main teaching areas for the Manchester MA TESOL programme are centred on the courses exploring TESOL perspectives on intercultural communication and the development of researcher competence. He has also been involved since 1998 in cultural and intercultural curriculum projects in Bulgaria in collaboration with Leah Davcheva. His research interests include: appropriate distance learning methodology; computer-mediated intercultural communication, and narrative inquiry.
John FRAGKIADAKIS is a certified translator-interpreter and is currently completing his post-graduate studies in Translation Science at the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University, Corfu, Greece. His primary fields of theoretical and research interest, in the last four years have been, among others, intercultural and interpreter-mediated communication, technical translation and communication facilitation. He has also been engaged in primary social science research both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with an emphasis on computer-assisted data collection, analysis and reporting. He currently lives and works in Athens.
Maria-Eleftheria GALANI is a teacher of French as a Foreign Language in public education and a tutor on the French Studies postgraduate programme at the HOU. She holds a PhD and a master’s degree in French language and literature from the University of Lyon 2 in France and a second MEd from the HOU. She has published many articles on teaching French as a Foreign Language (FFL) and she has taken part in several conferences and run workshops focused on Language Teaching and Learning.
Anastasia GEORGOUNTZOU holds a BA in English Language and Literature (University of Athens), an MA and a PhD in Phonetics (University College London). She has published a number of articles in linguistics journals and has participated in several conferences in Greece, Great Britain and the USA. Her research interests focus on speech acquisition, enhancement of oral skills (pronunciation, intonation), speech pathology, learning disabilities and ESP. She is a full-time instructor of English at the Language Centre (UOA) where she is coordinating the English Proficiency classes. She is also teaching oracy and literacy skills at the HOU (MEd in TESOL) as well as phonetics at the English Department (UOA). She has also contributed to several research projects at the UOA.
Diana KAKARI has been a French teacher at the University of Thessaly since 2005. She also teaches for the second year the course of Pedagogy Methodology at the Department of Agriculture, Crop Production and Rural Environment. She collaborates with the HOU as a tutor in the MEd in Teaching French as a Foreign Language. She holds a PhD from the University of Franche-Comte, in France, in the department of Sciences of Language, Humanities and Society. Her areas of interest are the planning and designing learning environments and experiences, and the use of the Internet in education.
Christine KALOGERAKOU graduated from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Philosophy and Faculty of English Studies in 1996. During her studies she attended a six-month Lingua programme at a university in the Netherlands. She is a graduate of the M.Ed in TESOL of the HOU. From 1995 until 2001 she worked as an English teacher in private English language schools, in state IEK and in state Secondary schools as a substitute English teacher. She has participated in school exchange programmes (Comenius). In 2002 she was appointed at the county court of Sparta where she has been working as a court secretary. She lives in Sparta with her husband and two children.
Ourania Ch. KALOURI is a Professor in the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE) and a distance tutor at the HOU. She holds a BA in literature from the University of Athens and a MA and DEA in Sciences of Education, Psychology and Orientation and Counseling from the University of Caen and of INETOP, France. She holds a PhD in Sciences of Education and has published over 80 papers and 12 books.
Maria KATSANTONI is presently teaching as associate lecturer at the University of Athens (Department of French Language and Literature). She is also teaching staff at the HOU. She holds an MA (PgDip) and a PhD in Language Sciences from the University of Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle and an MA (PgDip) in the Sociology of Cultural project development from the University of Paris X-Nanterre. Her scientific interests focus on text linguistics, stylistics, pragmatics/speech-acts theory and teaching French as a foreign language. She has participated as speaker in numerous conferences in Greece and abroad and her latest published articles and reports are based on the role of language and its educational functions, modern literary practices analysis, creative writing and, in particular, implications of interactive models for reading and writing skills in language learning. Throughout her academic teaching she was also involved in projects and research activities at the Academy of Athens (Modern Greek Dictionary) and the language testing and assessment programme in the KPG exam for the French language.
Barbara KOZIORI is a graduate of the University of Athens, Department of English Language and Literature. She holds an MEd in TESOL from the HOU. She has been an EFL teacher in Greek state primary and secondary schools since 1992. She has published a number of articles relating to practical aspects of the teaching of English as a Foreign Language in state schools in Greece in the “English Matters” and “Aspects” journals. Her academic interests include skills development in EFL, methods and practices in ELT, as well as teacher training and development.
Maria (Melina) LAINA is a teacher of German at Greek secondary state schools. She holds an MEd in Teaching German as a Foreign Language and an MEd in Education Studies from the HOU. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Athens.
Theodora NIKOU is currently a State School Advisor for the French language in the region of Thessaly, a distance tutor at the HOU and a teacher trainer. She holds a PhD from the University of Montpellier III (2002). She is also a member of the Dipralang research team of linguistic science of the above university. She has given scientific presentations in many international conferences and has published articles in scientific journals in France. Her research mainly interests revolve around the implementation of intercultural approach in the foreign languages classroom.
Vassiliki PANTAZI has been a permanent French teacher at the Experimental High School of Kalamata. As a PhD holder in Sciences of Education from the University of Paris VIII (2003), she has been given the opportunity to tutor in-service teachers of French at the HOU. Furthermore, her academic knowledge in cross-cultural education enabled her to collaborate with the University of Crete, the University of Peloponnese and the Technological Institute of Kalamata as both course tutor and dissertation supervisor. In addition to her academic teaching abilities, she has a great number of publications in various Greek and foreign journals on cross-cultural education and teaching methods in French as a foreign language. Finally, she has participated in various congresses, seminars and educational meetings both in Greece and abroad with scientific announcements.
Sophia PAPAEFTHYMIOU-LYTRA is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Faculty of English Studies, University of Athens. She is also Academic Responsible of the MEd in TESOL programme at the HOU. Her publications include six books, edited volumes, numerous articles in journals and edited volumes dealing with issues in learning, teaching and assessing English and M. Greek as foreign languages as well as teacher education. From 1989 until 1994 she was member of the specialists’ team to the European Commission for the Lingua programme. Her current research interests include classroom discourse analysis and learning, learning and communicating strategies, linguistic and cultural awareness and learning, self-access, autonomous and distance learning, the role of L1, assessment and certification, adult foreign language education as well as teacher education and training.
Maro PATELI holds a PhD in French from the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne (Paris). She specialises in speaking skills in French language teaching and French phonetics. She works as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of French Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She wrote learning material for the MEd in Teaching French as a Foreign Language of the HOU. Her research interests include phonetics and phonology of French and teaching phonetics.
Olga PATERAKI-CHATZIANTONIOU holds a BA in French Language and Literature from the University of Athens (1978), a DEA and a Phd in Linguistics from the University of Paris 7. She has studied translation and interpretation and has carried out many seminars on creative writing and on teaching French as a foreign language. She has taught French at schools of Secondary Education, the National School of Public Administration, the French Department of the University of Athens and the Athens School of Fine Arts. She has worked on a long-lasting research scheme at the Centre of Educational Research. She currently works as a distance tutor of the Open University, teaching the “Speaking skills in French language teaching” module at the MEd for teachers of French. She has published a series of articles, given papers at conferences and congresses and organised training seminars on linguistics and applied Linguistics.
Eleni SELLA holds a PhD in General and Applied Linguistics from Rene Descartes University (Universite Descartes - Paris V - Sorbonne). She specialises in general and applied linguistics. She works as a Professor of General Linguistics at the Department of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (since 2008). Formerly, she was Professor of General Linguistics and Problems of Bilingualism, at the Department of Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting of the Ionian University (1986-2008). Her research interests include problems of bilingualism or multilingualism, contrastive analysis of languages, bilingual-minority education, bilingualism and the teaching of grammar, issues of national identity and language, as well as theoretical and didactic issues of translation and interpreting.
Nicos SIFAKIS is an assistant professor in the School of Humanities of the HOU. He holds a PhD in language and linguistics from the University of Essex, UK. He has taught on and developed distance learning materials for the MEd in TESOL programme of the HOU since its inception in 1998. His research interests include intercultural communication and pedagogy, teaching and researching English as an international lingua franca, language teaching methodology, distance education, adult education and teacher education. He is Editor-in-Chief of Research Papers in Language Teaching and Learning.
Angeliki TSOKOGLOU is Associate Professor at the Department of German Language and Literature at the University of Athens, Greece. She holds a PhD from the same Department. Her fields of interest include theoretical/formal linguistics, comparative linguistics, syntax, theory of grammar as well as grammar teaching and teaching German as a foreign language. She has published three books and seventeen articles on relevant topics. She is tutor and coordinator at the MEd in Teaching of German as a Foreign Language of the HOU since 2000 and also teaches at two further postgraduate programs at the University of Athens.
Kosmas VLACHOS has been a distance learning tutor in the MEd in TESOL programme of the HOU since 2007. He holds a BA in English language and civilization from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an MEd in TESOL from the HOU and a PhD in applied linguistics and educational technology from the University of the Aegean. His post-doctoral research in blended learning was conducted at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has published more than 15 papers in international refereed journals, encyclopedias and conference proceedings and he is the author and co-author of two book chapters. He has been working as a teacher of English in Greek public schools for over 18 years. Since 2009 he has been the Head-teacher of the 4th Primary school of Glyfada, Athens and the Vice President of the Panhellenic Association of Teachers of the English Language in Greece. He has given training seminars to teachers in different events in Greece and abroad and has organized workshops for students of the Department of English language and civilization of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research interests include educational technology, teaching second/foreign languages to young learners, intercultural communication and pedagogy, CLIL, distance education and teacher education.
Dafni WIEDENMAYER is Assistant Professor at the Department of German Language and Literature of the University of Athens, Greece. She holds a PhD from the same Department. Her fields of interest include comparative linguistics as well as the teaching of foreign language with a focus on the evaluation. She has published two books and sixteen articles on relevant topics. She is a distance tutor and module coordinator at the HOU since 2000 (Teaching of German as a Foreign Language) and teaches at two further postgraduate programs at the University of Athens.
Keti ZOUGANELI has been an EFL teacher for over 30 years. She holds an MA in TEFL in Young Learners from the University of Warwick. She has been a distance tutor at the HOU for a number of years and co-author of the study materials for the “Teaching English to Young Learners” module. Currently employed at the Pedagogical Institute of the Ministry of Education, she gets involved in teacher training, educational assessment and evaluation. She has published articles on language teaching and evaluation in education.