Research Interests: Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching; Technology-Enhanced Language Learning

Professional Website

My research intersects the fields of psychology of language learning and teaching, educational technology and virtual environments in language learning, curriculum development, & language program evaluation. My recently published book Perspectives on Teaching Language and Content (2020) (with Stacey Katz Bourns and Cheryl Krueger, Yale University Press) aims to create links between foreign language pedagogy and meaningful content through the intersection of innovative theories, approaches, and practices. Collaboratively written by scholars with expertise in theoretical linguistics, literary and cultural studies, and education, the book provides guidelines and models that prepare instructors to teach in a rapidly changing and evolving field (see book review here). My research has also been featured in the Modern Language Journal, Foreign Language Annals, the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Journal, Language Learning, the International Journal of Applied Linguistics, and various edited volumes

In curriculum design, I aim to move away from more traditional classroom structures and include experiential and virtual learning contexts. The Beginning French II course is contextualized around Paris and its arts, media, neighborhoods, and housing and students immerse themselves virtually in Parisian life. With the support of a grant from the Harvard Inititiative for Learning and Teaching (HILT) (2017-2018), I collaboratively developed a virtual reality (VR) project for this course that immerses students in the lives of four diverse Parisians who live in the same quarter of Paris (in collaboration with Rus Gant, Chris Dede, and Wonda VR). I have been invited to speak about the initiative at various conferences and institutions including Yale, Princeton, MIT, Bennington, and Columbia and the project was featured in Boston.com (What we learned at Hub Week 2018) and the Educause Review (Three Examples from the Field AR and VR in Teaching and Research). The teaching team and I were fortunate to receive the ABL Connect award for Teaching Innovation from Harvard's Center for Teaching and Learning (2018) for this VR program and its accompanying pedagogical materials. Details on this project are featured in a chapter entitled "Engagement and Immersion in Virtual Reality Narratives" (2020, Multilingual Matters) and an article entitled "Culture and Vision in Virtual Reality Narratives" (2020, Foreign Language Annals). Expanding on the work from this project, we received an additional HILT grant to support virtual reality pedagogical initiatives across Harvard (2019-2020) (with Susan Berstler & Rus Gant). I was also honored to receive the Innovation in Language Program Direction Award in 2020 for my efforts to implement online teaching as Director of Language Programs in RLL at Harvard during the pandemic from the American Association of University Supervisors and Coordinators.

I have also had the opportunity to work in the realm of digital humanities as one of the co-founders of the Charlie Archive at Harvard Library, a multimedia collection of printed and digital materials produced in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris. The idea of creating such a collection emerged from a conversation among a literature scholar, two librarians (who specialize in digital preservation, Western Europe, and political ephemera), and me. The support from the Lasky-Barajas Fund for Digital Arts & Humanities has allowed us to grow this digital humanities project, and it now includes a collection of diverse donations from around the world. The archive, intended for both scholarly and pedagogical purposes, has collected various materials such as photos, cartoons, personal narratives, paintings, independent films, and blogs. In January 2017, we curated an interactive exhibit of digital and ephemeral materials from the Charlie Archive at the French Cultural Center in Boston. The archive was also featured in the popular press (Le Monde, TV5 Monde, L'Obs, and the Harvard Gazette).

Recent Publications:

Mills, N. A & Minucher, P. (2011). Curriculum design for beginning Persian: Standards, goals, objectives, evaluation, and learning. STARTALK. http://www.persianasprofession.com/

Mills, N. A. (2011). Teaching assistants’ self-efficacy in teaching literature: Sources, personal assessments, and consequences. Modern Language Journal,91 (1), 1-11.

Mills, N. A. (2011) Situated learning through social networking communities: The development of joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and a shared repertoire. In S. Thorne & B. Smith (Eds.) CALICO Journal special issue: Second Language Acquisition Theories, Technologies, and Language Learning 28 (2), 345-368.

Mills, N. A. (2009). A ‘Guide du Routard’ simulation: Enhancing the Standards through project-based learning. Foreign Language Annals, 42(4), 607-639.

Mills, N. A. (2009). Task-based course development: A Guide du Routard simulation. In L. Stone & C. Wilson-Duffy (Ed.), Task-Based III: Expanding theRange of Tasks with Online Resources. International Association for Language Learning Technology.

Mills, N. A., & Péron, M (2009). Global simulation and writing self-beliefs of college intermediate French students. International Journal of AppliedLinguistics (156), 239-273.

Mills, N. A., Pajares, F., & Herron, C. (2007) Self-efficacy of college intermediate French students: Relation to Achievement and Motivation. Language
Learning, 57(3), 417-442.

Mills, N.A., & Allen, H.W. (2007) Teacher self-efficacy of graduate teaching assistants of French. In J. Siskin (Ed.), From Thought to Action: Exploring
Beliefs and Outcomes in the Foreign Language Classroom. Heinle & Heinle: Boston.

Allen, H. A, Dristas, V., & Mills, N. A. (2006). Cultural learning outcomes and summer study abroad. In M. Mantero (Ed.),   Identity and Second Languagelearning: Culture, identity, and dialogic activity in educational contexts. Contemporary Issues in Language Education collection. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Mills, N. A., Pajares, M. P., & Herron, C. A. (2006). A re-evaluation of the role of anxiety: Self-efficacy, anxiety, and their relation to reading and listening proficiency. Foreign Language Annals, 39(2), 276-293.

Mills, N. A., Herron, C. A., & Cole, S. P. (2004). Classroom presentation with teacher assistance versus individual viewing of foreign language video: Relation to comprehension, self-efficacy, and engagement. Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Journal, 21 (2), 291-316.