Faidra is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She teaches and supervises students on the MSc in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition (ALSLA), on the MSc in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching (ALLT). Faidra has founded and convenes the Creative Approaches to Teaching English (CreATE) Group, which explores the relationship between language learning and the arts.
Faidra’s research explores the linguistic, cognitive, and educational factors that underpin (pre)school-aged children’s acquisition of English as a second language, with a focus on how children’s knowledge of a first language affects their development in the second language. She is also interested in how children’s second language knowledge can be improved through the arts. To this end, Faidra is currently engaged in designing and implementing a drama-based intervention aimed at developing young children’s oral language and communication skills.
Prior to joining the Department as a Lecturer, Faidra received a BA in Linguistics from UCL, as well as an MSc in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition and a DPhil in Education from the University of Oxford. Furthermore, she has a CELTA from UCL’s Centre for Languages and International Education and possesses substantial experience of teaching English to adults and children in diverse educational settings. Faidra is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Doctoral Applications
Faidra accepts DPhil applications, and welcomes informal contacts from students who are interested in one or more of the following broad topics:
- Crosslinguistic transfer in early second language acquisition.
- Lexical, grammatical, and social development in (pre-)primary school children.
- Arts-related language interventions in (pre-)primary school settings.
Research Funding
- ‘Oral language development through drama: Practitioner needs and perspectives’ (£2,754.00). Funding Scheme: Department of Education Small Grants. Role: Principal Investigator (Co-Investigator: V.A. Murphy). Funding Period: January 2024 – December 2024.
- ‘Improving the oral language skills of children with English as an Additional Language through a drama-based intervention’ (£44,676.39). Funding Scheme: John Fell Fund. Role: Principal Investigator (Co-Investigator: V.A. Murphy). Funding Period: September 2022 – September 2023.
- ‘From the page to the stage: A feasibility study on using theatre to improve EAL children’s communicative skills’ (£2,996). Funding Scheme: TORCH Theatres Seed Fund 2019-2020. Role: Co-Investigator (Principal Investigator: V.A. Murphy). Funding Period: January 2020 – March 2020 (Interrupted due to COVID-19).
Publications
Journal Articles
- Faitaki, F. (accepted in principle). “We’re creating a third culture”: Exploring the use of languages in a multilingual rehearsal room. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training.
- Faitaki, F., Liggins, S., & Murphy, V.A. (2025). Piloting a drama-based oral language intervention. First Language, 0(0), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1177/01427237251326982
- Chen, Z. & Faitaki, F. (2024). The effects of the French grammatical gender system on French-English bilingual adults’ perception of objects. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 28(2), 201-214. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728924000464
- Chalmers, H., Faitaki, F., Murphy, V.A. (2023). Setting Research Priorities for English as an Additional Language: What do research users want from EAL research?. Language Teaching for Young Learners, 6(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00043.set
- Faitaki, F. & Murphy, V.A. (2023). Subject realization in Greek preschool learners of English. Second Language Research, 40(4), 911-933. https://doi.org/10.1177/02676583231195308
Book Chapters
- Faitaki, F. & Murphy, V.A. (2022). “Using theatre to improve English as an Additional Language learners’ communication skills: A feasibility trial”, in B. Cortina-Pérez, A. Andúgar, A. Álvarez, S. Corral, N. Martínez & A. Otto (Eds.). Addressing Future Challenges in Early Language Learning and Multilingual Education(pp.141-148). Dykinson.
- Faitaki, F., Hessel, A.K. & Murphy, V.A. (2022). “Vocabulary and grammar development in young learners of English as an Additional Language”, in M. Schwartz (Ed.). International Handbook of Early Language Education(pp. 428-444). Springer.
- Faitaki, F.& Murphy, V.A. (2020). “Oral elicitation tasks in language acquisition research”, in H. Rose and J. McKinley (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (pp. 360-369). Routledge.
Proceedings Papers
- Faitaki, F., Nation, K., & Murphy, V.A. (2021). Immersion in the Early Years: The future of education and children’s key to success. Proceedings of the Yidan Prize Doctoral Conference, 1, 125-136.
Online Publications
- Faitaki, F.(2023). Developing Oral Language through a Drama-Based Intervention. Oxford Education Deanery Digests.
- Faitaki, F.(2021). Using theatre to improve children’s communication skills: Reflections on the project and plans for the future. TORCH Blog.
- Faitaki, F.(2018). Becoming bilingual at preschool: Greek children’s acquisition of subject pronouns in English. EAL Journal.
Book Reviews
- Faitaki, F. (2023). Review of ‘Performative Language Teaching in Early Education: Language Learning through Drama and the Arts for Children 3-7’ by J. Winston. Language Teaching for Young Learners, 5(2),245-251. https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00036.fai
Edited Volumes
- Tawell, A., Davison, K., Faitaki, F., Oldaç, Y.I. (Eds.). (2019). Proceedings of the 2018 STORIES Conference: Technology Matters. Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford: STORIES Conference.
Other Materials
- Faitaki, F. & Liggins, S. (2023). 15 practical activities for incorporating drama into the classroom. Oxford: Department of Education.
