Minna Maijala profile picture
Minna
Maijala
Professor, Digital Language Studies, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish
FT, KT
Ethical and Sustainable Language Teaching (EKKO), funded by the Kone Foundation (2021-2024)

Contact

+358 29 450 3350
+358 50 428 5604
Arcanuminkuja 1
20500
Turku

Areas of expertise

Teaching and learning German as a foreign language
culture/grammar teaching and learning in foreign language education
research of textbooks and other teaching materials
pre-service language teacher cognition
sustainability in language teaching and learning

Biography

Current position: Professor in Language Teaching and Learning, School of Languages and Translation Studies. Head of the German Department.

Previous professional experience:

Deputy Vice Dean (study and international affairs) of the Faculty of Humanities, January 2022–June 2022

Associate Professor in Language Teaching and Learning, School of Languages and Translation Studies, August 2019–March 2022

University Lecturer in German, School of Languages and Translation Studies (SLT), Faculty of Humanities, University of Turku, August 2018–July 2019

University lecturer in German, Language Centre, University of Turku, August 2004 to July 2018 (on leave of absence August 2013 to July 2016, part time January 2018 to July 2018)

Pedagogical university lecturer (part time), Language Centre, University of Turku, January 2018 to July 2018

University lecturer in foreign language education, Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku, August 2013 to July 2016

Title of Docent in Foreign Language Education, Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku, December 2011

Since 2021, I have been a member of the executive committee (utuCYL) of the strategic research and education profile of 'Children, young people and learning' (https://www.utu.fi/en/research/thematic-collaborations-in-research/children-young-people-and-learning).

Teaching

Teaching German for BA/MA-students, research in the field of teaching and learning German as a foreign language, responsible for MA-studies for pre-service language teachers (especially pre-service teachers of German) Courses 2018–2019: BA/MA Theses, German Speaking Countries: History, Society, Culture; Written exercises in German, Workshop: Teaching German as a foreign language


Supervisor of doctoral students in the doctoral programme Utuling in SLTS.


Research


My main research fields are teaching and learning foreign languages, cultural aspects in foreign language teaching and learning, intercultural learning and research on textbooks and other teaching materials. In recent years, the scope of my research has been extended through research on various aspects of pre-service language teacher cognition. A new line of my research related to sustainability issues in language teaching emerged through the ongoing project ‘Ethical and sustainable language teaching’ (EKKO, 2021–2024) funded by the Kone Foundation (https://sites.utu.fi/ekko/). I am also responsible leader of the research project 'From Forest Words into Forest Action' (Kone Foundation, 2024-2027). Further, the collaboration in the RoboLang-research group (PI Marjut Johansson, ks. https://sites.utu.fi/robolang/) has led me to the research of robot-assisted language learning.

Moreover, I am the vice head of the steering group of the Centre for Language Learning Research Leala (SLTS), University of Turku (2019–2022, see https://sites.utu.fi/kielen-oppimisen-tutkimuskeskus/en/) and member of the executive committee of the strategic research and education profile ‘Children, young people and learning’ of the University of Turku (2021–2023).

Further, I am a member of the editorial committee of the journal Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache (Info DaF).

Publications

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