Dr Lina Adinolfi

Professional biography

Dr Lina Adinolfi (SFHEA, PhD, MA, PGCE, BA Hons) is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics & English Language in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University, UK.

She has extensive global experience of both language education and language-in-education in both in-person and online environments, with particular expertise in instructional design and the role of language supportive pedagogies - such as the use of translanguaging - in multilingual contexts.

Also of note is her experience of technology-enhanced mass-scale teacher professional development - with specific reference to the use of OER, 360 degree video, digital badges and augmented/immerisive realities.

Reseach interests

Lina’s research specialisms embrace the following areas:

• Learner translanguaging
• Multilingual education - policies and practices
• The Multilingual University
• Lexical chunks (formulaic sequences) in language learning and teaching
• Learner-driven language instruction (process syllabuses)
• Peer language learning and teaching
• Technology-enhanced mass-scale teacher development, encompassing the use of OER, 360 degree video, digital badges and augmented/immersive realities.

Lina has considerable experience as a doctoral supervisor, examiner and exam panel chair. She has been the OU's Doctorate Area Lead of both its Language and Literacy programme and its Teacher Development and Professional Learning programme. She welcomes expressions of interest in the above and related areas of research.

Teaching interests

Lina has led and contributed to the design and oversight of multiple teaching programmes from early years to postgraduate level, in both in-person and distance learning contexts in the UK and overseas.

She is currently a member of the production team of the OU’s new MA in Applied Linguistics module, Applying Linguistics in Society (L805), and is Chair of English for Academic Purposes Online, (L185).

She was Convenor of BAAL's (British Association for Applied Linguistics) Language Learning and Teaching SIG from 2013-2016 and Treasurer of the Multilingualism SIG from 2019-2022.

Prior her current post as Central Academic, she was Staff Tutor for Languages in Region 06 (Cambridge and the East of England). Before joining the OU, she worked for the British Council as Deputy Teaching Centre Director in Thessaloniki, Greece and a Senior Teacher in Quito, Ecuador, and before that taught at the universities of Venice and Naples, Italy.

Projects

Current

Learner translanguaging in online modern language learning environments

This study explores instances of spontaneous learner translanguaging in an online modern language instructional environment, with a view to informing the creation of a typology of language learning and social functions that this practice represents in this educational space.

Co-investigator: Dr Caroline Tagg (The Open University)

See publications list for associated outputs

ARIDLL: Augmented reality instructional design in language learning

Launched in 2023 and supported by €400k funding from the ERASMUS+ programme, this project is composed of a consortium of educational partners, among these the Technical University of Trondheim, the Open University, UK, the Technical University of Cyprus and the University of Cadiz, whose aim is to equip language teachers with the skills to apply advanced digital technologies in their practice as users and creators of educational materials.

Co-investigator: Prof Fridolin Wild (The Open University)

See publications list for associated outputs

https://aridll.eu/news/

Transforming teacher professional development at scale with innovative technologies

Awarded £22 905 by the Open University's Open Societal Challenges initiative in 2024, this project explores the use of 360 degree video as a teacher development tool in India. 

Co-investigators: Prof Freda Wolfenden, Dr Simon Cross (The Open University) and colleagues at TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences), India

See publications list for associated outputs

Selected previous

TESS-India: Teacher education through school-based support in India 

A £10m UKAid-funded Open University-led, British Council/Save the Children-supported mass-scale, multilanguage award-winning OER-based teacher professional development programme for which Lina was responsible for the creation of 15 language and literacy units and over 50 commentary-enhanced video clips exemplifying authentic classroom practice across a range of subject areas, which have received almost 3.7 million YouTube views.

Co-investigator: Prof Freda Wolfenden (The Open University)

See publications list for associated outputs

TESS-India – Programme overview

TESS India - YouTube

English medium primary education in low and medium income countries

Co-investigator and lead fieldworker for India element of £50 000 British Council/Education Development Trust funded study of the rapid growth of English medium education in primary schools in Ghana and India (2015-2017). 

Co-investigators: Prof Kristina Hultgren (The Open University), Prof Beth Erling (University of Vienna, Austria)

See publications list for associated outputs