Susana S. Fernández

Susana S. Fernández is a Professor at the Department of German and Romance Languages, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Denmark. She holds leadership roles as head of the Study Board for Theoretical Pedagogical Education for Upper Secondary School Teachers, co-head of the research program Language and Communication, and head of the research unit Language Acquisition and Pedagogy. Her research is centered on foreign and second language pedagogy, with a strong emphasis on intercultural semantics and pragmatics, grammar teaching, teacher cognition, and Spanish linguistics.

Her research interests include:

• Foreign and second language pedagogy
• Intercultural semantics and pragmatics
• Grammar instruction and teacher cognition
• Spanish language acquisition
• Corpus linguistics and Spanish linguistics
• Pragmatic competence in adult learners

The recent publications (2020–2025) reflect a consistent focus on communicative language teaching, intercultural competence, and the cognitive aspects of grammar instruction. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with practical classroom applications, particularly in Danish as a second language for adult migrants and teacher training contexts. She frequently engages in national discourse on language education policy.

Her scientific awards include:

• To-årigt post-doc stipendium (2007) for research on cognitive-based grammar teaching
• Velux Foundation stipendium (2022)

Susana S. Fernández actively supervises and mentors through her leadership in research programs and projects. She has led or participated in numerous research projects, including the Velux-funded Danish in the Making, and contributes to academic service through peer review, editorial work, and organizing workshops and conferences. Her work is supported by external grants and institutional collaboration.

She is actively involved in research networks and collaborative projects such as Emancipatory Ethnopragmatics and Ethnopragmatics for Intercultural Competence (EPIC), which aim to integrate cultural values and communicative styles into language education. Her current projects extend into 2027, indicating sustained research activity.