Dr Oksana Afitska

Senior Lecturer in TESOL

Profile

I am a Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor in TESOL and a Director of Postgraduate Taught (Masters) Programmes at the department of Linguistics and English Language. I am a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy. I joined Lancaster University in 2018. Prior to that I worked as a lecturer in applied linguistics at Sheffield University and as a tutor and a research assistant at the University of Bristol.

My research interests lie in the areas of educational linguistics, (formative) language assessment, curriculum design and materials development. I have extensive experience in teaching across various contexts (University level teaching as well as teaching in primary and secondary schools in the UK and abroad) and in research methods (action research, classroom-based research, intervention research, mixed methods research).

I also review manuscripts for academic journals such as Language Teaching Research, the International Journal of Educational Development, Journal of Applied Linguistics, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Language Assessment Quarterly, Science Education, Education Sciences and Sustainability.

Research Overview

My research interests lie in the areas of second language teaching methods, language in education (with specific focus on STEM subjects), (formative) language assessment, curriculum design and evaluation, and materials development.

Research Interests

Second/Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (TESOL/EFL)
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
English as an Additional Language Learning (EAL)
Educational Linguistics
Bilingual and Multilingual Education
Formative Language Assessment (Teacher Assessment, Self- and Peer-Assessment)
Development and Evaluation of Language Teaching Materials
Education Quality (including equity in education) and Curriculum Design
Approaches to Researching Language Classrooms (Action research / Classroom-based research / Intervention research / Mixed methods research)

Current Research

Over my academic career I have been engaged in five major research projects: Teaching science and language to multilingual children: supporting learning, accelerating progress and raising achievement (2013-2015 & 2018-2019, PI), Student Performance in National Examinations: the Dynamics of Language (ESRC/DfID funded, RA), EdQual - Language and Literacy (DfID funded, RA), Diploma Program Evaluation (QCA funded, RA) and Language Development and Classroom Embedded Language Assessment at Key Stage 2 for Learners with English as an Additional Language (PhD project, ORS and University of Bristol funded).

Professional Role

I am a member of several Professional Research Bodies:

The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL)
Materials Development Association (MATSDA)
International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL)
National Association for Language Development in Curriculum (NALDIC)

Current Teaching

I teach/contribute to the following modules on the MA in TESOL (distance) and the MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL programmes.

LING531: Trends and Issues in Language Teaching Methodology (by Distance)
LING404: Curriculum Design in Language Education
LING415: Principles of Language Teaching
LING417: Research Methods in Applied Linguistics and TESOL
LING402: Postgraduate Academic Study Skills

PhD Supervision Interests

I am interested in supervising classroom-based, preferably intervention, research projects adopting qualitative or mixed methods research methodologies in the areas of educational linguistics (with focus on CLIL, EAL, EMI), formative language assessment and curriculum development. The topics can include, but are not restricted to, evaluation and development of teaching and learning materials and curricula, use of formative assessment in the classrooms, examination of education policy documents and investigation of teacher professional practice.