Rod Ellis

Professor Rod Ellis is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University (Perth campus), affiliated with the Faculty of Humanities. He is a globally renowned scholar in second language acquisition (SLA), task-based language teaching, and language pedagogy. Ellis has held senior academic roles at institutions including the University of Auckland (Distinguished Professor, 2013–2016) and Temple University. He currently focuses on creating classroom environments conducive to effective L2 acquisition.

His research spans SLA mechanisms (e.g., input, interaction, instructed learning) and pedagogical applications like task-based methodologies. Notable projects include Marsden Fund-funded work on explicit/implicit L2 knowledge (2001–2004) and evaluations of language education policies. Ellis has authored seminal books such as Understanding Second Language Acquisition (1994/2015) and edited volumes on TBLT.

Publications highlight pragmatic competence measurement, corrective feedback effects, and pre-task planning. Awards include the British Association of Applied Linguistics’ Best Book Prize (1985) and a Royal Society of New Zealand Fellowship (2014). His work bridges SLA research with teacher education, emphasizing evidence-based instructional practices.

Recent research explores L2 pragmatic tests (2024), learner revision effects in writing (2024), and cross-cultural pragmatic competence (2024). Ellis advises on language policy and teacher training internationally, with over 45 years of global experience in Zambia, the UK, Japan, the US, New Zealand, and China.