UAAT International Young Visiting Scholar Program
Adrian Jan Zasina
Current Position/Title: Director of Institute of Czech and Deaf Studies
Institutional Affiliation: Charles University, Faculty of Arts
Email: adrian.zasina@ff.cuni.cz
Webpage: www.researchgate.net/profile/Adrian-Zasina
Host Scholar: (Name and Position): Melissa Shi-hui Lin, Ph.D., Professor
Hosting Department/Institution: National Chengchi University, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Biography:
Adrian Jan Zasina is currently a director of the Institute of Czech and Deaf Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University. He is an assistant professor specialising in data-driven learning, foreign language acquisition, corpus linguistics, parallel corpora, the grammar of contemporary Czech and Polish, language variability, and corpus-assisted discourse studies. His primary contributions to Czech linguistics lie in the creation of language corpora, the study of language variability, and the methodological approach to teaching Czech as a foreign language. He graduated with honours in the BA and MA Slavic Studies programme from University of Opole in Poland and received his PhD in Mathematical Linguistics from Charles University in the Czech Republic. Recently, he has been interested in linguistics of sing languages.
Lecture [1]:
Date ＆ Time: October 22, 2025, 13:30
Venue: National Taiwan University, Humanities building, conference room 1, B104-1R
Title: Parallel Corpus in Analysing Czech Spoken Expressions and Their Equivalents in English, French, and Polish
Abstract:
This study uses corpus data to analyse spoken expressions and discourse markers in Czech, applying these findings to corpus-based exercises for learners of Czech as a foreign language. The analytical section highlights the usefulness of parallel corpus in identifying suitable translation equivalents for prevalent Czech spoken vocabulary in English, French, and Polish as native languages from the learner’s perspective. The methodology outlines the process of finding appropriate translation equivalents in film subtitles, considering both meaning and spoken register. The pedagogical section introduces three corpus-based exercises designed to improve conversational skills, featuring authentic texts that familiarise learners with spoken vocabulary. This research builds on previous studies of the English language that did not use parallel corpora to identify translation equivalents in learners’ native languages — an essential factor for understanding a foreign language. In addition, tailor-made corpus-based exercises can be seamlessly integrated into everyday classroom activities to enhance language awareness among non-native speakers.
Lecture [2]:
Date ＆ Time: October 31, 2025, 12:10
Venue: National Chengchi University, General building (north wing), room 271215, 12 FL
Title: Corpus-Based Approach to Social Science
Abstract:
Corpus linguistics can be viewed from two complementary perspectives. First, as a discipline in its own right, it provides tools for data collection and statistical analysis of language features. Second, it serves as a methodological approach applicable across various disciplines, including healthcare, psychology, sociology, media studies, and gender studies. This talk emphasises the usefulness of corpus data in research areas beyond linguistics. After a brief overview of examples of corpus-based approaches in other fields, it presents two case studies. The first examines the representation of Taiwan in three distinct types of online media sources, social media, forums, and internet journalism. The second applies corpus methods to explore the extent to which the image of women in Czech political discourse is shaped by gender stereotypes.
Lecture [3]:
Date ＆ Time: November 11, 2025, 13:30
Venue: National Chengchi University, Dao Fan building, room 320113
Title: Exploring Functional Variability in Non-Native Texts: A Multidimensional Approach to Czech as a Foreign Language
Abstract:
The influence of the first language on a second or foreign language has been confirmed by numerous studies, particularly in the case of closely related languages where the degree of negative interference is high. However, no extensive research has been conducted on the Czech language that considers the more complex characteristics involved in text creation. An opportunity to analyse a text based on its complexity in terms of using language features, which are used in specific communication situations, arises through multidimensional analysis. Previous research, conducted in the English language, has demonstrated that multidimensional analysis can uncover diverse characteristics of non-native writing. By considering a wide range of language features, it is possible to compare texts with an existing model of language. In this respect, the Czech language model may be compared with any other dataset to reveal similarities and dissimilarities.
This presentation introduces three case studies comparing learner texts with the Czech model of multidimensional analysis. Learner texts were collected from Polish and Korean learners, as well as from native Czech speakers (three datasets), who were asked to complete four writing tasks: an informal letter, a description of a place, an argumentative essay, and a story. Each dataset was then subjected to factor analysis and projected into the multidimensional space for comparison. The presentation discusses both similarities and differences between the written production of Polish and Korean learners, as well as between native and non-native speakers. It also comments on future possibilities for conducting a similar study using data from Taiwanese learners of Czech.
Lecture [4]:
Date ＆ Time: November 18, 2025, 10:30
Venue: National Chung Cheng University, Collage of Humanities
Title: Czech Deaf Studies: History, Education, and Research
Abstract:
The first scholarly interest in users of Czech Sign Language emerged in 1994, when Professor Alena Macurová published pioneering articles on the language of the Czech Deaf community. These studies represented the first attempt in the Czech Republic to regard deaf people as a linguistic and cultural community, rather than as individuals with a medical or social impairment—a view then dominant among doctors, educators, and social workers.
In 1998, the study programme Czech in Communication of Deaf People was established as the first academic field in the country focusing on Deaf Studies. It provides courses in Czech Sign Language for hearing students and in Czech as a foreign language for deaf students. The first hearing student graduated in 2002, followed by the first deaf graduate a year later. Since 2012, the field of Deaf Studies has also provided services for deaf people within the Faculty of Arts at Charles University.
Today, Deaf Studies at Charles University educates future interpreters, educators, and linguists. Many of our graduates work in organisations serving the deaf community, thereby contributing to improving the social and educational conditions of people with hearing impairments in the Czech Republic. Our institute remains the only research centre in the country dedicated to the linguistic study of Czech Sign Language.
