Rate My Professor Antonella Strambi

Dr Antonella Strambi is a Senior Lecturer in the Attainment Model at Adelaide University. Born and educated in Milan, Italy, she obtained a Laurea in Lettere Moderne (Comunicazioni Sociali), equivalent to a Master of Arts, from the Catholic University of Milan (1992-1996). As a recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship from the Australian Government, she completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2002, investigating the impact of computer-mediated interaction and communication on language learning. This pioneering study, started in 1998, produced a seminal publication, 'Flexibility and interaction at a distance: A mixed-mode environment for language learning' (Strambi & Bouvet, 2003, Language Learning & Technology), cited over 200 times and recognized as a key work in distance language teaching and learning. Early in her career, she worked as a Marketing and Communication Officer for a theatre company and as a librarian.

Strambi's career includes over 20 years as a lecturer and researcher in languages and applied linguistics. She began as an Associate Lecturer in Italian at the University of Sydney (1998-2001), then at Flinders University from 2001 as Lecturer in Italian, progressing to Senior Lecturer in Italian and Applied Linguistics (2012-2018), Program Convenor for Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Language Teaching (2008-2018), Deputy Head (2014-2016) and Head (2015-2016) of the Department of Languages and Applied Linguistics. In 2018, she joined the Teaching Innovation Unit at the University of South Australia as Lecturer in Academic Development, supporting curriculum innovation and managing Teaching and Learning Innovation Grants. For her leadership in teaching and curriculum design, she received a Senior Fellowship of AdvanceHE and an Office for Learning and Teaching Seed Grant for 'Helping First Year Students Flourish through Languages: Integrating Positive Psychology, Transition Pedagogy, and CLIL Principles.' Her research focuses on socio-emotional learning and wellbeing from a relational perspective, including emotion communication, humour, self-disclosure for rapport building, text analytics for student experiences, epistemic emotions, wellbeing literacy in second language learning, and neurodiversity in collaborative learning. Key publications include 'Flourishing in a Second Language (FL2): Integrating Positive Psychology, Transition Pedagogy and CLIL Principles' (Strambi, Luzeckyj & Rubino, 2017), ''I'll say something about myself': Questions and self-disclosures in Italian L1-L2 online initial interactions' (Strambi & Tudini, 2020), and 'Flourishing in Spanish: A pilot implementation of a wellbeing-supportive approach to L2 teaching and learning' (Strambi et al., 2024). She has completed the Instructional Coaching Institute and is pursuing a Diploma of Counselling.