Lucija Čok, PhD

Research Areas:

• Humanities / Linguistics
• Social sciences / Education
• Language and culture in contact, Multilingualism
• Sociolinguistics and Intercultural intertwining

Biography:

Lucija Čok, PhD (born in 1941, Slovenia) is a Slovene linguist, senior researcher in the field of multilingualism and full professor of multilingualism and intercultural communication. Following her graduation in the French and Italian languages and literature, she earned a Master’s Degree in didactics of the Italian language and a PhD in Educational Sciences at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. She taught at the Faculty of Education and at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana.

From 1995 to 2000 she was the director of the Scientific Research Centre in Koper. Throughout her career, she has held several important positions, including that of the Minister of Education, Science and Sport (2000-2002) of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. In her role as the Minister, she contributed to the establishment of higher education institutions in the Slovene Littoral region and in 2003 she was elected as the first rector of the newly established University of Primorska. She participated in European Commission high expert panels that have shaped linguistic policies and strategies of higher education and research. She has facilitated the preparation of the formal basis for Slovenia’s integration into the European Research Area. She was an expert of the Institutional evaluation program board (IEP EUA) and member of the Council of the Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. She is the author of methods for early learning of languages, language portfolio, intercultural awareness tests and study programs in the field of intercultural communication.

For her research and professional work, she has received several awards: in 2006 the high award from the President of the Republic of France (Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur) for her promotion of the French language and culture and the strategies for the encouragement of linguistic diversity. In 2005 she was awarded also from the President of the Republic of Italy (Commendatore della Stella della solidarietà). Among the awards which she has received, it is worth mentioning also the title of Chevalier des palmes acadédemiques, which the Minister of education of France awarded her in 1999. In 2013 the University of Primorska named her professor emeritus. The same year, she received a lifetime achievement award for her work in the field of Higher Education by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.

Her bibliography counts numerous scientific monographs, chapters in scientific monographs and scientific articles.

Research activity:

Retired she is still active as a Principal Research Associate at the Institute for Linguistic Studies at Science and Research Centre Koper (ZRS Koper). Her research is focused on phenomena related to languages and cultures in contact, language learning and teaching, sociolinguistics and promotion of linguistic diversity, as well as to education that encourages the peaceful coexistence of various cultures and ethnic groups. Her research findings have been published in several foreign languages and she has lectured at many foreign universities. She has headed and co-ordinated national and international projects in the fields of didactics of foreign languages, early multilingualism and intercultural communication. Her work focuses on the formation of models of bilingual education in areas of linguistic and cultural contact and of didactics of intercultural communication.