About us

The Association

Founded in 2020 by Júlia Barón, Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández, Maria Luz Celaya and Roger Gilabert, the International Association for Teaching Pragmatics (ITAP) aims at bringing together research and teaching practices in L2 pragmatics. Our ultimate goal is to promote the teaching of pragmatic competence in first and second languages, so that our students become international citizens, able to communicate with speakers across contexts.

Our goals

Promote international collaboration between researchers and teachers interested in pragmatics.
Compile and design new pedagogical materials to teach pragmatics, including different activities, tasks, assessment material, and lesson plans.
Make pragmatics more visible among the applied linguistics community and language teachers across the globe.
To do so, ITAP provides a site for information about publications, pedagogical material, and initiatives in the field. Moreover, it serves as a platform for the exchange of ideas and expertise through the organization of different workshops and conferences. You can find all such information in our section “Research & Teaching”.
Research & Teaching
ITAP members include university professors, language teachers at elementary, primary and secondary schools, graduate and undergraduate students, and language professionals around the world, all interested in how to teach the ability to communicate with people across contexts, situations and speakers. If you want to become part of the team, you can join us here:
Join us
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Executive Board

Júlia Barón

Júlia Barón is a Serra Húnter Fellow in the Department of Modern Languages and English Studies at the University of Barcelona. Her main research interests lie within the learning and teaching of pragmatics in EFL contexts, Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), and early language acquisition. Her most recent work has appeared in Journal of Pragmatics, Applied Pragmatics, System, and Pragmatics.

Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández

Ariadna Sánchez-Hernández is an assistant professor of Linguistics at Complutense University of Madrid. Her research focuses on learning and teaching L2 pragmatics in study abroad and English-medium education contexts. Her recent work has appeared in Journal of Pragmatics, and System, and she is co-editor of the volume Learning Second Language Pragmatics beyond Traditional Contexts (2018).

M. Luz Celaya

Maria-Luz Celaya is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics in the Department of Modern Languages and English Studies at the University of Barcelona. She lectures on second language acquisition, and her research interests include crosslinguistic influence, and Interlanguage Pragmatics. She is a member of the GRAL research group. Her latest publications have appeared in Applied Pragmatics, and International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.

Alicia Martínez-Flor

Alicia Martínez-Flor is a senior lecturer at Universitat Jaume I (Castellón, Spain), and a member of the LAELA research group. Her main research interests include interlanguage pragmatics and language teaching and learning. Some of her work has appeared in international journals such as Foreign Language Annals and has co-edited several volumes including Speech Act Performance: Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Issues (John Benjamins, 2010).

Raquel Gómez

Raquel Gómez (ICCIC - University of Barcelona) is a lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages and English Studies at the University of Barcelona. She is currently the coordinator of CIC Idiomes Sant Cugat (part of ICCIC) and also works as a Secondary School teacher in the same foundation. Her main research interests lie within language acquisition and teaching pragmatics in EFL contexts.

Carmen Maíz-Arévalo

Carmen Maíz-Arévalo became a doctor in Linguistics in 2001. Currently, she is a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid. Her teaching and research focus on Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics and Digital Communication. She has published numerous articles on these issues in journals such as Journal of Politeness Research, Journal of Pragmatics, and Intercultural Pragmatics.

Marian Amengual

Marian Amengual holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the Complutense University of Madrid. She is Senior Lecturer at the University of the Balearic Islands. Her research interests include L2 testing, and L2 teaching and learning. She lectures on English pragmatics and discourse, and theory and practice of applied linguistics.

Anders Myrset

Anders Myrset is Associate Professor of ELT Methodology at the Department of Education and Sports Science, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Stavanger, Norway. His main research interests are the teaching and development of pragmatic competence, (meta)pragmatic awareness of young EFL learners, and issues related to conducting research with children. His research has been published in a number of peer-reviewed journals, such as Journal of Pragmatics, Applied Pragmatics, and Intercultural Communication Education, as well as in edited volumes.


Troy McConachy

Troy McConachy is Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics at University of Warwick. His research focuses on the relationship between pragmatics and culture, metapragmatic awareness, classroom discourse, and teacher education. He has published the monograph, Developing Intercultural Perspectives on Language Use: Exploring Pragmatics and Culture in Foreign Language Learning (Multilingual Matters) and articles in Journal of Pragmatics, ELT Journal, Language Awareness, and Intercultural Education.

Sonia López-Serrano

Communication Department Chair Sonia López-Serrano is an English lecturer at Universidad de La Laguna. Her research focuses on L2 pragmatics, technology-enhaced language learning and teaching, and L2 writing and feedback practices. She has published her research on international journals such as Studies in Second Language Acquisition. She is currently the publications coordinator of the technology-enhanced language learning strand of the Education, Languages and Internationalisation Network (ELINET).

Noriko Ishihara

Noriko Ishihara (Ph D, University of Minnesota) is professor of applied linguistics/TEFL at Hosei University and facilitates language teachers’ professional development internationally with a focus on L2 pragmatics and intercultural awareness. Her research interests include instructional pragmatics, and identity, culture, and peace-making in language learning and teacher development. She has published Teaching and learning pragmatics: Where language and culture meet (2 nd  edition) and papers in Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Language Awareness, and Multilingua, among others.

Pol Gelpí

Pol is currently an English primary teacher in Thau Barcelona school and ITAP's graphic designer, as well as member of the communication department.

Anh Ton-Nu

Anh Ton-Nu is a lecturer and researcher at the School of Foreign Languages, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), Vietnam. She completed her postgraduate and PhD studies in Linguistics at The University of Queensland and Macquarie University, Australia. Her research interests include L2 pragmatics and intercultural pragmatics in English Language Teaching, Teacher Education, and Teacher Professional Development. She has published her works in RELC Journal, Language Awareness, IRAL, and other venues.

Consultation Board

Jean-Marc Dewaele

Birkbeck University of London

Rachel L. Shively

Illinois State University

Andrew D. Cohen

Emeritus professor,
University of Minnesota

Naoko Taguchi

Northern Arizona University

Eva Alcón Soler

Universitat Jaume I

Jo Johnson

CIC Escola d'Idiomes

James Purpura

Columbia University NY

Marta González-Lloret

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Silvia Brutti

University of Pisa, Italy

Collaborators

Sofia Di Sarno García

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Communication Department

Ariadna Moral

Universitat de Barcelona

Athenea Botey

Universitat de Barcelona

Communication Department

MªJosé Arrufat-Marqués

Keys School (California, USA)

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