Achilleas Kostoulas

Applied Linguistics & Language Teacher Education

Teaching

This page contains information about the various courses I am currently teaching or have taught in the past. By browsing the page, and the links in it, you can find teaching resources and other content about each course. The information is organised according to the university where I taught.

Disclaimer The content of this page refers specifically to the courses that I taught. In some cases, these are older courses that have since been updated or are now defunct. These are retained here for archival purposes, and should not be presumed to be current.


University of Thessaly (Volos)

University of Thessaly

In my teaching role at the Department of Primary Education at the University of Thessaly, I contribute to various linguistics courses in the undergraduate programme.


Literacy and Language Lesson Planning

Last taught: Spring 2023

This is an advanced undergraduate course focusing on language teacher eduction. The course content is evenly divided between developing theoterical understandings of literacy, and designing language learning sequences that promote literacy. Special emphasis is placed on the development of critical literacies, and on the design of instructional sequences that foster critical engagement with text.

Linguistics and the Greek Language

Next iteration: Spring 2024

This is an introductory course in general linguistics. In the course, students are introduced to fundamental concepts of structural linguistics, which they are then invited to apply to the analysis of Modern Greek. In addition, students learn about the evolution of Greek from Proto-IndoEuropean onwards, and about aspects of Modern Greek phonology, morphology and syntax, with emphasis on the ways in which modern linguistic description differs from pre-scientific analyses found in traditional descriptions of the language.

Modern Greek for Academic Skills

Ongoing: Every Winter Semester

This is an introductory course with a dual aim. On one level, students develop skills in locating, extracting, summarising and synthesising information in scholarly publications. On another level, participants develop awareness of key concepts in linguistics and language education, through engagement with selected readings.

Language Didactics

I also contribute to three language didactics courses and teacher placements (Modern Language Didactics, School-Based Practice II & III), which aim to provide participants with theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for designing effective language education lessons.


Hellenic Open University

In my post as Associate Faculty at the Hellenic Open University, I contribute to the Language Education for Refugees and Migrants. In this role, I help Greek and international students pose and answer key questions in applied linguistics, and we work together with course participants to develop teaching skills that are relevant to teaching students of refugee and migratory backgrounds.

LRM63 Practicum

English-language course

My main role involves coordinating and teaching the LRM63 module, or ‘practicum’. This is a compulsory course bearing 20 ECTS credits, offered at the end of the postgraduate programme. In this course, participants are placed in a formal education context (e.g., a state school) or an informal teaching setting (e.g., language courses run by NGOs). There, they design, implement and reflect on a sequence of lessons for learners with a refugee or migratory background.

LRM64 MA Dissertation

English-language course

In addition to my teaching role, I take an active part in research supervision. In this capacity, I was responsible for drafting the MA dissertation regulations.

I supervise postgraduate dissertations that focus on topics including bilingualism, multilingualism and translanguaging, language policy, and language teaching and learning.


Entrance sign of the ELT Research and Methodology section at the University of Graz
Fachdidaktik Anglistik Graz

University of Graz

I was employed at the University of Graz between 2015 and 2018. As part of the Fachtidaktik Anglistik (ELT) unit, I taught the following courses in TESOL and Applied Linguistics:

Introduction to Communicative Language Teaching

Last taught: Summer 2018

This is an introductory course (Proseminar) for future language educators, enrolled in the ongoing teacher preparation BA programme. It consists of 13 weekly two-hour sessions, and aims to provide students with an overview of current teaching methods. Individual sessions focus on topics such as teacher roles, learner characteristics, the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and assessment. Further information can be found in the course syllabus.

Introduction to Foreign Language Didactics

Last taught: Summer 2016

This course was the first of several didactics modules that trainee teachers were expected to take in their studies at the University of Graz. It consisted of 13 lectures with a practical component (Vorlesung mit Übung), which aimed to acquaint participants with aspects of language pedagogy, and to help them reflect on them using structured tasks. Some of the themes with which students engaged included: communicative language teaching, learning autonomy, the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and testing.

Applied Linguistics for Language Teachers

Last taught: Summer 2018

This course consists of 13 lectures with a practical component (Vorlesung mit Übung), which introduce participants to salient themes in Applied Linguistics which are relevant to their teaching practice. Topics include the relevance of theory to practice, the role of English as a product of and vehicle for globalisation, second language acquisition, aspects of language learning psychology (e.g., motivation) and more. (more… )


Signs flanking door, with information on the building and events held in it

The University of Manchester

In the summer semester of 2014, I undertook the supervision of MA dissertations in TESOL at the University of Manchester (UK).


The Department of Applied Foreign Languages (Epirus Institute of Technology)

Epirus Institute of Technology

In 2011 and 2012, I taught for three semesters at the Epirus Institute of Technology (now part of the University of Ioannina. In this setting, I was responsible for language teacher education. I also taught, in collaboration with colleagues, in language development courses. This was also where I supervised my first student research project.

Courses convened

AFL 7020 Language Teacher Education: an Initial Teacher Education course on teaching foreign languages, delivered to senior undergraduates at the Epirus Institute of Technology  (more…)

Courses taught

AFL 1010 English as a Primary Foreign Language (I): an introductory Business English tutorial, delivered to first-year undergraduates at the Epirus Institute of Technology (more…)

AFL 5010 English as a Primary Foreign Language (V): a tutorial focusing on English as an institutional and administrative language in the European Union, delivered to third-year undergraduates at the Epirus Institute of Technology  (more…)

Supervision

Undergraduate theses with a focus on Language Teaching