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NIKOLAOS SIFAKIS

Nicos Sifakis is Professor of Teaching English for Specific Purposes in the Department of Language and Linguistics of the Faculty of English Language and Literature of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He holds a BA (1st Class Hons, 1990) in Computational Linguistics and a PhD in Language and Linguistics (1994) from the University of Essex (UK). From 2003 to 2020 he served as a faculty member of the Hellenic Open University (HOU), where he acted as director of the Postgraduate Programme titled “Teaching English as a Foreign/International Language”. He has served as Director of the Language and Linguistics Division of the Department of English Language and Literature (2021-2023).

His research interests include intercultural communication and pedagogy, teaching and researching English as an international lingua franca, language teaching methodology, distance education, adult education and teacher education. His research papers appear in many international refereed journals (among others, Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, ELT Journal, English for Specific Purposes, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language and Education, System, Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, World Englishes, RELC Journal), edited collections and conference proceedings.

He is co-editor of English as a Lingua Franca for EFL Contexts (Multilingual Matters, 2019), Using English as a Lingua Franca in Education in Europe (de Gruyter, 2018) and English Language Education Policies and Practices in the Mediterranean Countries (Peter Lang, 2017). He is also the author of The English Language and Globalisation: Facets of present-day reality in Greece, Europe and the rest of the world. (in Greek, Herodotus, 2012) and guest editor of the Colloquium titled “ELF awareness in ELT: Bringing together theory and practice” (Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 2018, 7/1). He has coordinated and participated in a wide range of scientific and professional development projects. Notably, the ENRICH project (http://enrichproject.eu), in which he served as the lead coordinator, was awarded the Erasmus+ Award for Excellence in 2021, recognising its outstanding contribution and impact.

Selected recent research publications:

  • Tsantila, N. & Sifakis, N. (2026). "Reconceptualizing pragmatic competence in ELT: An ELF-aware framework for materials analysis and adaptation." RELC Journal, in print.
  • Tsiapali, M. & Sifakis, N. (2026). “Different learners, different  journeys: affective and cognitive diversity in response to an ELF-aware speaking intervention.” Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, in print.
  • Sifakis, N. C. (2025). “English in Greece”. In K. Bolton (Ed.), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of World Englishes, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119518297.eowe00350
  • Sifakis, N. & Kordia, S. (2025). “Invited Teaching Issues: Situating reflection within ELF awareness: a practical and evaluative orientation”. TESOL Quarterly, 59/1: 333-343. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3284
  • Sifakis N. (2023). “Metacognitive and metalinguistic activities can raise ELF awareness: why and how”. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 12/1: 43-66. https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2023-2006 

More details about Nicos Sifakis’ research can be accessed at:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nicos_Sifakis/publications.

ORCID: 0000-0001-5242-660X (http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5242-660X)

Personal webpage: http://scholar.uoa.gr/sifakisn

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