Academic biography

Inmaculada Gómez Soler is Assistant Professor at the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies. Inma holds a primary degree in English Philology. She obtained her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics with a specialisation in Second Language Acquisition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (United States). Before joining SALIS in 2020, she worked at the University of Memphis for over 7 years where her research trajectory was recognized through the Early Career Research Award in 2017.

Inma’s research fits broadly within the discipline of Applied Linguistics and encompasses  three main interrelated areas: heritage speaker bilingualism, language teacher development, and language pedagogy. In the area of heritage speaker bilingualism, she examines how migration affects the process of language acquisition and language attrition as well as the linguistic and sociological factors that contribute to heritage language maintenance. Her second research strand focuses on language teacher development and explores how teachers exert their agency to meet their goals by adapting their teaching to navigate new circumstances (e.g., Covid-19 pandemic), contexts (e.g., new areas of immigration), and policies (e.g. heritage language policies). Finally, her third research interest revolves around the area of language pedagogy. She is particularly interested in pedagogies that encourage not only the development of linguistic and intercultural skills in second/heritage language students but also raise awareness of social issues, promote digital literacy, and stimulate creativity such as social justice approaches to language teaching and virtual exchange.

She has published extensively on these topics in top journals in the field and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for several journals. She is the Director of the Applied Linguistics Research Group in SALIS, co-editor of Teanga: The Journal of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics, and a member of the editorial board of the book series Current Issues in Bilingualism (Language Science Press).

She welcomes applications from prospective PhD students interested in the areas of heritage speaker bilingualism, second language teaching and learning and language teacher education.