Dr Zsuzsanna Bárkányi

Professional biography

My enthusiasm towards languages led me to become a linguistic researcher and a Spanish language teacher. I have a keen interest in the spoken side of language, speech technology and online and mobile learning. I joined the Open University as a Lecturer in Spanish in 2016 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2022. 

Before joining the Open University, I was a Speech Linguistic Project Manager at Google's text-to-speech synthesis team from 2015. Before relocating to the UK, I was a Lecturer in Spanish and Theoretical Linguisitics at Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest and senior researcher of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics to which I'm still affiliated.

Research interests

• Linguistic Theories in Language Learning and Teaching
• Interface of Phonetics and Phonology, Laboratory Phonology
• Acquiring Speaking Skills in L2 / FL
• Learning and Teaching Spanish Pronunciation
• Foreign Language Anxiety

I have conducted extensive research in the area of the phonetics and phonology of voicing, the role of perception in phonology and phonotacics. I was involved in different research projects, such as Variation in Phonology; Analogy-based Formal Approach to Phonology and Morphology (supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund).  I currently take part in the Laryngeal variation in synchrony and diachrony Project also supported by the HSRF. 

As part of the PRONUNTIA Project (supported by the University of Alicante, Spain) I'm editing a book on Integrated Approach to Teaching Spanish Pronunciation.

I lead the Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Special Interest Group. At present we aim to explore how different demographic, linguistic and personality traints influence FLSA, as well as to identify coping strategies. 

Teaching interests

My teaching interests span a wide range of topics from theoretical and laboratory phonology to teaching Spanish language and linguistics. I'm also a teacher trainer. 

At the OU, I have chaired L194, the Beginners’ Spanish Course and the produciton of the new Beginners' Spanish module, L106. I formed part of the level 2 and level 3 Spanish production teams. I was Head of Spanish in 2017/18 and Lead Educator on the Spanish for Beginners Programme on FutureLearn for three years. I was the lead academic in the accreditation of the Spanish Linguistics MA at ELTE, Budapest. I am qualified as a DELE Examiner (B1, B2) and also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Impact and engagement

I lead the creation of the Teaching Spanish Pronunciation course on OpenLearn which took me to a collaboration with the PRONUNTIA Project. 

International links

I am a member of the Laryngeal variation in synchrony and diachrony Research Project supported by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund. The aim of the project is the typological comparison of laryngeal systems, their historical development, and the role of crosslinguistic transfer in the speech of multilingual speakers/language learners. I'm particularly interested in the acquisition of post-lexical phonological processes.