Education
2012 – 2020 University of Iceland
PhD in Second Language Studies. Dissertation: Learning Icelandic in Virtual Reykjavik: Simulating real-life conversations with embodied conversational agents using multimodal clarification requests [written in English].
2010 – 2015 University of Iceland
MA in German. Thesis: The Use of German Language in Icelandic Tourism [written in German].
2006 – 2009 University of Iceland
BA in Icelandic for Foreign Students. Thesis: Input in a Language Classroom: Listening and Communication Activities [written in Icelandic]. Study scholarship awarded by the Icelandic Ministry of Science and Culture.
2003 – 2011 Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia
MA in double major: English & German Studies - teacher training programme. Thesis: The Theory of Input in the Teaching and Learning Process of German as a Foreign Language [written in German].
Other Studies
2014 University of Porto, Portugal
Computational Linguistics, Erasmus+ programme
2010 University of the Azores, Portugal
English-Portuguese Translation Studies, Erasmus+ programme.
Presentations, invited talks, and conference organisation
Bitabox, Research Center for Language Acquisition – RCLA (Rannsóknarstofa í máltileinkun - RÍM), University of Iceland, 25th January 2024. Presentation title: ChatGPT and learning L2 Icelandic.
Future of Languages 2023 - FIPLV / NBR Conference, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, 8-9 June 2023. Presentation title: Promoting heritage culture and language learning through digital technologies: On the example of Old Norse and Modern Icelandic.
Challenging the Binary: Non-Binary, Genderqueer, and Gender-Neutral. Conference in hybrid mode at UCL in London, 14th-15th June 2023. Title of presentation: Queer linguistic activism and production of agentic space of praxis for L2 students.
Humanities Conference - Hugvísindaþing 2023, University of Iceland, 10th-11th March 2023. Presentation title: Tölvustudd framburðarþjálfun í íslensku: CAPTinI-verkefnið [Computer assisted pronunciation training in Icelandic: the CAPTinI project].
LLCE 2022 - International Conference about Language, Literature and Culture in Education. Hybrid conference in Rome, Italy, 8th-10th December 2022. Keynote talk: From Web 1.0 to Web 3.0 and beyond. Developing online tools supporting the learning of Icelandic as a second and foreign language.
Humanities Conference - Hugvísindaþing 2022, University of Iceland, 11th-12th March 2022. Presentation title: Íslenskukennsla við erlenda háskóla á tímum COVID-19-faraldursins [Teaching Icelandic at universities abroad durin the COVID-19 pandemics].
Introduction to Icelandic Language and Culture. University of Gdansk, Poland. Invited talk on 3rd March 2022.
Bitabox, Research Center for Language Acquisition – RCLA (Rannsóknarstofa í máltileinkun - RÍM), University of Iceland, 23rd February 2023. Presentation title: Mapping out the availability of digital resources for learning L2 Icelandic for children and attitudes of families towards children's self-directed study of L2 Icelandic at home.
UK-Nordic Mobility: Tracing Flows and Building Networks. Online conference at UCL in London, 18th March 2021. Title of presentation: UK Students' Motivation for Learning Icelandic.
LLCE 2021 - International Conference about Language, Literature and Culture in Education. Online conference. 7th-8th December 2021. Presentation title: Digital technologies for learning second and foreign languages: on the example of Icelandic.
TALC4 Conference - 4th Bialystok-Kyiv Conference on Theoretical and Applied Linguistics: Language in Context: Perspectives from Linguistics, Translation Studies, and Language Education. Hybrid conference on 2nd-3rd December 2021, presented in person. Title of presentation: Language Learning and Identity: What motivates learners from Poland and Ukraine to learn Icelandic?
Japan Association for Language Teaching - JALT, 2021, 4th October. Online forum. Presentation title: Online materials for migrant families with children learning Icelandic L2.
Changes & Challenges 2021, 13th July. Ateneum College in Gdansk, Poland. Online presentation: Crowdsourcing for Language Education.
Menntakvika 2020 (online) - annual research conference at the School of Education, University of Iceland, Iceland, 1st-2nd October 2020. Chair and symposium organiser: Tungumálakennsla á netinu: saga, þróun og framtíð [Language teaching online: history, development and future.] Title of presentation: Learning L2 Icelandic, Old Norse, and Icelandic Sign Language (ÍTM) using the LARA platform.
Humanities Conference - Hugvísindaþing 2020, University of Iceland, 18th-19th September 2020. Presentation title: Völuspá í tölvu
Kennsla fornbókmennta í íslensku sem öðru máli [Prophecy of the Völva in a Computer: Teaching Medieval literature through Icelandic as a second language].
Icelandic Language Technologies and Digital Minoritisation. University of Trnava, Slovakia. Invited talk on 28th November 2019.
Menntakvika 2019 - annual research conference at the School of Education, University of Iceland, Iceland. Chair and session organiser: Hvernig kennum við börnum af erlendum uppruna íslensku? (English translation: How do we teach Icelandic to children of foreign origin?). Presentation: Icelandic Online for Kids.
Holberg Week: Masterclass with Paul Gilroy: "Multiculture or Melancholia". University of Bergen, Norway. Invited to participate in a masterclass with the 2019 Holberg Laureate Paul Gilroy.
Conference for Doctoral Students, 25th May 2019, School of Humanities, University of Iceland. Presentation: Learning Icelandic with Embodied Conversational Agents.
EnetCollect (COST CA16105), Technical University of Lisbon, IST Convention Centre, Lisbon, Portugal. Action meeting 14-15 Mars 2019. Presentation on "LARA - the Learning and Reading Assistant" and WG1 & WG3 meeting organisation.
Humanities Conference - Hugvísindaþing 2018, University of Iceland, 9th-10th March 2018. Presentation title: LARA (Learning and Reading Assistant): Interactive reading online.
Humanities Conference - Hugvísindaþing 2018, University of Iceland, 9th-10th March 2018. Poster: Multimodal Clarification Requests in Human-Agent Interaction.
Bitabox, Research Center for Language Acquisition – RCLA (Rannsóknarstofa í máltileinkun - RÍM), University of Iceland, 22th February 2018. Presentation title: Learners' expectations and experiences in playing the computer game Virtual Reykjavik.
Cambridge Assessment, University of Cambridge, UK, 14 September 2017. Invited talk on "Virtual Reykjavik and New Trends in Learning Languages Online".
EnetCollect (COST CA16105), Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy. Action meeting 7-8 September 2017. Presentation on "Ethics of User Testing" and WG3 meeting organisation.
UROP talk, University of Cambridge, UK, 28 July 2017. Invited talk on "Learners' Expectations and Experiences in Computer Games for Language Learning".
CALL 2017, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 7-9 July 2017. Article presentation.
EnetCollect (COST CA16105), University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Core group meeting 21-22 June 2017. Overview of planning WG3.
iGesto 2017. International Conference on Gesture and Multimodality, 2-3 February 2017. University of Porto, Portugal. Presentation on multimodal clarification requests in human-agent interaction.
EUROCALL 2016 Conference, Limassol, Cyprus. Participation in the SIG Virtual Worlds Symposium and a panel member for Virtual Worlds and Language Learning Symposium.
EUROCALL 2016 Conference, Limassol, Cyprus. Article presentation.
Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, 2016. Invited talk: From Reality to Virtuality.
University of Cambridge, UK, 2015. Invited talk at Language Sciences Series: Icelandic Language and Culture Training Application.
University of Iceland, Iceland, 2015. Classroom talk: Superdiversity in Virtuality.
Menntakvika 2015 – annual research conference at the School of Education, University of Iceland, Iceland. Chair and session organiser: Language teaching in virtual worlds. Presentation: Clarification requests in interaction between virtual agents and human users.
Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal, 2014. Talk at INESC-ID Lisbon: The Virtual Learning Experience.
Nordic Seminar on IT in Language Teaching, Reykjavik, Iceland, 7 February 2014. Presentation on Icelandic Language and Culture Training in Virtual Reykjavik.
CIDLES 2013. Interdisciplinary Center for Social and Language Documentation in Minde, Portugal. Talk at a summer school: Virtual Reykjavik.
2012 CALPIU CRTC 2012. Summer School at Roskilde University, Denmark. Data session: Conversational analysis of a teacher-learner dialogue.
Teaching
2020 - current University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. Master's level course for language teachers about the newest technologies in language teaching. Sessional teacher.
2018 - 2019 University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. Class on Vocabulary and Grammar I & II. Course of Icelandic as a second language, practical diploma. Sessional teacher.
2018 University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. Class on Bilingualism. Sessional teacher.
Projects
2023 – 2024 Novel Techniques and Approaches in Language Teaching (NoTALaT). Project partners: Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Collaborators: University of Iceland, The Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute.
2023 – current C-LARA (ChatGPT and Learning and Reading Assistant). User evaluation, usability and user interface, Icelandic content.
2018 – 2023 LARA - the Learning and Reading Assistant. User evaluation, usability and user interface, Icelandic content.
2022 – 2026 COST Action CA20115: European Network on International Student Mobility: Connecting Research and Practice (ENIS)
2021 –2023 Computer Assisted Pronunciation Training in Icelandic (CAPTinI): collaboration with Reykjavik University, University of Iceland, Tiro ehf.
2017 – 2021 COST Action CA16105: EnetCollect – European Network for Combining Language Learning with Crowdsourcing Techniques – group leader of WG3.
2017 University of Cambridge: assisting with a summer project for natural data collection and creating conversational scenarios for "Virtual Cambridge" (working name).
2015 – 2016 NIS – Improving Quality of Higher Education Based on Development of Multilateral Institutional Cooperation Member of the University of Iceland Project Team.
2012 – 2015 Icelandic Language and Culture Training in Virtual Reykjavik.
2009 NIL - From Language Competence to High Quality Joint Degree Contact person at University of Iceland.
Funding
2024 – Watanabe Trust Fund at the University of Iceland for research in teaching Icelandic studies in Japan
2024 – C-LARA for learning Icelandic as a second language. The Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik)
2023 – Digital resources for learning I2 Icelandic for children: Wiki-page. The Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik)
2023 – Using ChatGPT to create a multimodal LARA contentThe Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik).
2023 – Icelandic-German web dictionary LEXÍA University of Iceland (Reykjavik).
2022 – Multimedia Edition of the Edda (Old Norse) and Tina fer í frí (ÍTM). The Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik).
2022 – TunguPalThe Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik).
2022 – Icelandic-German web dictionary LEXÍA. University of Iceland (Reykjavik).
2021 – Digital Learning Material for Icelandic Sign Language (ÍTM). Málræktarsjóður (Reykjavík).
2021 – Interactive Reading of the Poetic Edda Online. Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavík).
2021 – Icelandic-German web dictionary LEXÍA. University of Iceland (Reykjavik).
2020 – Collaborative project about teaching Icelandic spoken and sign language as a second language via reading in LARA. Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik)
2020 – Online teaching material of Icelandic as a second language for children of Icelandic families living abroad. Icelandic Centre for Research (Reykjavik).
2020 – Icelandic-German web dictionary LEXÍA. University of Iceland (Reykjavik).
2020 – Summer university pilot project to strengthen ties with Japanese partner universities. Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation.
Other Academic Activities
EUROCALL 2023 Conference, 5-18 August 2023, University of Iceland - Chair and Organiser
EUROCALL 2022 Online Conference, 17-19 August 2022, University of Iceland - Chair and Organiser
Reviewer for Research Publishing in the area of computer assisted language learning technologies for the EUROCALL Proceedings in 2016 & 2020, 2021, 2022.
Research Interest
Artificial Intelligence (AI), traditional AI, generative AI
Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)
Computer games for language learning
Crowdsourcing and language learning
Design of educational material for online applications
Embodied Conversational Agents
Human-Agent Interaction
Icelandic as a foreign language
Icelandic as a second language
Icelandic studies at universities abroad
Icelandic Sign Language (ÍTM)
Technologies in language education
Other-initiated repair (OIR) / Clarification requests (CRs)
User interfaces for language learning applications
3D virtual worlds