Borbala Samu

Borbala Samu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Italian Language, Literature, and Arts in the World (LILAIM) at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy. She teaches intercultural communication and language teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs and intercultural pragmatics in the doctoral program. She directs the second-level master's program in teaching Italian as a second language and is actively involved in national and international research projects, including the LMOOC4Slav initiative.

• PhD in Historical Linguistics, University of Manchester (UK)
• PhD in Applied Linguistics, University for Foreigners of Perugia (Italy)

Her research centers on educational linguistics and glottodidactics, with a focus on Italian as a second language. Key interests include the application of Cognitive Grammar to language teaching, the development of pragmatic competence, intercultural communication in multilingual contexts, and Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL). She also conducts research on teacher training, language assessment, and the impact of digital tools such as MOOCs and AI on language education.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent trend in exploring innovative pedagogical methods. She investigates the use of rap songs, podcasts, and visual aids based on Cognitive Grammar to teach complex linguistic features. Her work also analyzes intercultural pragmatics, such as compliment and politeness strategies, and evaluates the effectiveness of different teaching approaches through quasi-experimental studies. Additionally, she contributes to curriculum development for study abroad programs and academic language MOOCs.

Borbala Samu has not received any explicitly mentioned scientific awards in the provided text.

She is actively involved in advising and academic leadership, directing a master’s program and contributing to teacher training initiatives, such as a professional development program for Italian teachers in Egypt. While specific grant details are not listed, her participation in the Erasmus+-funded LMOOC4Slav project indicates involvement in externally funded research. She supervises master’s theses, as evidenced by her editorial role in a volume containing final projects from the Master in Didactics of Italian.

She is engaged in several research teams and projects, most notably the LMOOC4Slav project focused on language MOOCs for Slavic-speaking learners. She also contributes to initiatives like the VIRAL project on intercultural learning in local communities and collaborates with organizations such as the Italian Society of Language Didactics and Educational Linguistics (DILLE).