Skip to menu Skip to content Skip to footer
Dr Adriana Diaz
Dr

Adriana Diaz

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 56883

Overview

Background

Adriana Díaz (she/her/ella) works at the intersections of language, power, and pedagogy, asking what becomes possible when language education is approached as an unfinished, decolonial, and hopeful practice of becoming otherwise. Born in Argentina and now living and working on the unceded lands of the Turrbal and Jagera Peoples, her work critically examines the colonial, patriarchal, and monolingual structures embedded in curricula and classrooms. In response, she cultivates inclusive, empowering, and critically reflexive pedagogies that honour plurality and relationality.

With over two decades of experience in multilingual and intercultural education, Adriana’s scholarship, teaching, and leadership seek to unsettle dominant paradigms while nurturing more equitable and generative approaches to language learning. Drawing on critical pedagogy, intersectional feminism, and decolonial thought, she traces raciolinguistic and ideological patterns that shape educational practice and works collaboratively to reimagine their possibilities.

Deeply committed to collective transformation, she supports and (un)learns alongside fellow language educators and scholars, co-creating pedagogical approaches that are responsive, dialogic, and grounded in shared responsibility. Her work invites ongoing inquiry into how we teach, learn, and live with language in ways that are just, liberatory, and yet always emergent.

Availability

Dr Adriana Diaz is:
Not available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Arts, Griffith University
  • Bachelor (Honours), Griffith University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Griffith University

Research interests

  • Critical, Decolonial Language Pedagogies

    Approaches to language learning and teaching that challenge traditional, Eurocentric views of 'language,' prioritizing social justice, inclusivity, and equity through a critical examination of power structures, cultural hierarchies, and historical contexts that have marginalised certain languages and knowledge systems.

  • Intercultural language learning

    Educational approach that fosters critical reflection on cultural diversity, aiming to build communicative competence and intercultural sensitivity essential for effective interaction in a globalised world.

  • Critical Translation Studies

    A lens through which to advance language studies as a socially situated act that reflects and influences power dynamics, cultural representation, and ideology. This perspective views translation as a transformative process, highlighting issues of ethics, agency, and cultural bias, and urging a critical awareness of its role in shaping narratives.

Works

Search Professor Adriana Diaz’s works on UQ eSpace

55 works between 2008 and 2026

1 - 20 of 55 works

2026

Conference Publication

Resources and strategies for gender-expansive language education: an open access e-book for teachers of gendered languages

Díaz, Adriana Raquel, Amorati, Riccardo and Pirovano, Elena (2026). Resources and strategies for gender-expansive language education: an open access e-book for teachers of gendered languages. Languages Teachers Victoria (LTV) 2026, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 5 December 2025.

Resources and strategies for gender-expansive language education: an open access e-book for teachers of gendered languages

2026

Conference Publication

Nuevos horizontes para un español más inclusivo: un recurso educativo abierto para acompañar pedagogías lingüísticas expansivas

Diaz, Adriana R., Amorati, Riccardo and Pirovano, Elena (2026). Nuevos horizontes para un español más inclusivo: un recurso educativo abierto para acompañar pedagogías lingüísticas expansivas. NSW Teachers' Conference: The Way of St. James III National Conference of Spanish Language Teaching in Australia 2026: New horizons in Spanish language teaching: innovation and diversity, Adelaide, SA Australia, 2-3 May 2026.

Nuevos horizontes para un español más inclusivo: un recurso educativo abierto para acompañar pedagogías lingüísticas expansivas

2026

Conference Publication

Resources and strategies for gender-expansive Italian language education

Diaz, Adriana Raquel, Amorati, Riccardo and Pirovano, Elena (2026). Resources and strategies for gender-expansive Italian language education. VATI 2026 Conference (Victorian Association of Teachers of Italian), Melbourne, VIC Australia, 1 May 2026.

Resources and strategies for gender-expansive Italian language education

2026

Book Chapter

Gesturing towards language learning and teaching otherwise

Ortiz-Jiménez, Macarena and Díaz, Adriana R. (2026). Gesturing towards language learning and teaching otherwise. New Directions and Challenges in Languages and Cultures in Australia. (pp. 13-34) edited by Giuseppe D'Orazzi, John Hajek, Kerry Mullan and Jun Ohashi. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003742821-3

Gesturing towards language learning and teaching otherwise

2026

Book Chapter

Charting actionable pedagogical directions for decolonizing the languages curriculum

Díaz, Adriana and Ortiz-Jiménez, Macarena (2026). Charting actionable pedagogical directions for decolonizing the languages curriculum. Countering colonialingualism in language education. (pp. 13-33) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003653653-3

Charting actionable pedagogical directions for decolonizing the languages curriculum

2026

Book Chapter

Pláticas on actionable decolonial pedagogies in Spanish as foreign language: perspectives from Australia

Diaz, Adriana R. and Mejía, Glenda (2026). Pláticas on actionable decolonial pedagogies in Spanish as foreign language: perspectives from Australia. Engaging with ethics in multilingual learning communities. (pp. 237-255) edited by Theresa Austin and Hatice Çelebi. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110756784-012

Pláticas on actionable decolonial pedagogies in Spanish as foreign language: perspectives from Australia

2025

Book Chapter

Critical intercultural language pedagogies

Díaz, Adriana (2025). Critical intercultural language pedagogies. Contemporary topics in applied linguistics for language educators. edited by Julieta Fernández and Chantelle Warner. Tucson, AZ, United States: Center for Educational Resource in Culture, Language and Literacy, The University of Arizona.

Critical intercultural language pedagogies

2025

Book Chapter

Disrupting, decentring and diversifying languages and cultures in Australian higher education

Díaz, Adriana, Hanna, Barbara E., Disbray, Samantha, Mikhaylova, Anna and Yue Qi, Grace (2025). Disrupting, decentring and diversifying languages and cultures in Australian higher education. Disrupting, Decentring and Diversifying Languages and Cultures in Australian Universities. (pp. 1-18) Canberra, ACT Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/dddlcau.2025.01

Disrupting, decentring and diversifying languages and cultures in Australian higher education

2025

Conference Publication

Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español en la era digital: hacia una pedagogía crítica y justicia social con Recursos Educativos Abiertos (REA)

Díaz, Adriana Raquel (2025). Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español en la era digital: hacia una pedagogía crítica y justicia social con Recursos Educativos Abiertos (REA). Congreso Internacional Nebrija en Lingüística Aplicada a la Enseñanza de Lenguas: En camino hacia el plurilingüismo, Madrid, Spain, 2-4 July 2025.

Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español en la era digital: hacia una pedagogía crítica y justicia social con Recursos Educativos Abiertos (REA)

2025

Book Chapter

The evolving landscape of language instructional materials

Díaz, Adriana Raquel (2025). The evolving landscape of language instructional materials. The Routledge handbook of language program development and administration. (pp. 327-338) edited by Alan V. Brown, Cori Crane, Beatrice C. Dupuy and Estela Ene. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003361213-31

The evolving landscape of language instructional materials

2025

Conference Publication

The evolving landscape of language instructional materials: navigating challenges and embracing opportunities

Díaz, Adriana Raquel (2025). The evolving landscape of language instructional materials: navigating challenges and embracing opportunities. Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL) University of Arizona, Webinar Series, Online, 14 May 2025.

The evolving landscape of language instructional materials: navigating challenges and embracing opportunities

2024

Conference Publication

Promoting equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in Spanish language education in Australia through Open Educational Resources (OERs)

Díaz, Adriana Raquel (2024). Promoting equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in Spanish language education in Australia through Open Educational Resources (OERs). LCNAU Colloquium, Sydney, NSW Australia, 27-29 November 2024.

Promoting equity, diversity, inclusion and sustainability in Spanish language education in Australia through Open Educational Resources (OERs)

2024

Conference Publication

Radically reimagining language learning resources: harnessing OERs for social justice-driven pedagogy

Diaz, Adriana (2024). Radically reimagining language learning resources: harnessing OERs for social justice-driven pedagogy. BAAL Language and Education for Social Justic SIG: Bridging Social Justice and Applied Linguistics: Transforming Communities Through Language Education, Online, 21 November 2024.

Radically reimagining language learning resources: harnessing OERs for social justice-driven pedagogy

2024

Conference Publication

Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español a través de Pedagogías Críticas

Díaz, Adriana Raquel (2024). Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español a través de Pedagogías Críticas. LTQ - Spanish Network, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 24 October 2024.

Reimaginar Radicalmente la Enseñanza del Español a través de Pedagogías Críticas

2024

Book Chapter

Defying deficit views of literacy through RefugeeCrit and multicultural literacies

Veliz, Leonardo, Heinrichs Henry, Danielle and Diaz, Adriana R. (2024). Defying deficit views of literacy through RefugeeCrit and multicultural literacies. Reimagining literacies pedagogy in the twenty-first century: theorizing and enacting multiple literacies for English language learners. (pp. 195-218) edited by Leonardo Veliz, Miguel Farias and Michelle Picard. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic. doi: 10.5040/9781350413696.ch-11

Defying deficit views of literacy through RefugeeCrit and multicultural literacies

2024

Book Chapter

(Re)centring Diversity in Language Pedagogies through Open Access Educational Resources

Diaz, Adriana (2024). (Re)centring Diversity in Language Pedagogies through Open Access Educational Resources. Multiculturalism and Multilingualism in Education. (pp. 192-211) Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. doi: 10.1163/9789004709850_011

(Re)centring Diversity in Language Pedagogies through Open Access Educational Resources

2024

Conference Publication

Evaluación de la competencia oral y escrita frente a los desafíos de la inteligencia artificial: YouTube e iMovie como herramientas pedagógicas

Díaz, Adriana Raquel and Ortiz-Jiménez, Macarena (2024). Evaluación de la competencia oral y escrita frente a los desafíos de la inteligencia artificial: YouTube e iMovie como herramientas pedagógicas. II Congreso Nacional de Enseñanza de Español de Australia 2024 “Herramientas prácticas para el aula de español”, Melbourne, VIC Australia, 1-3 March 2024.

Evaluación de la competencia oral y escrita frente a los desafíos de la inteligencia artificial: YouTube e iMovie como herramientas pedagógicas

2024

Journal Article

Introduction to the Special Issue: Pluriversalizing the Teaching and Learning of Spanish

Veliz, Leonardo, Díaz, Adriana Raquel and Heinrichs, Danielle H. (2024). Introduction to the Special Issue: Pluriversalizing the Teaching and Learning of Spanish. Critical Multilingualism Studies, 11 (2), i-xvi.

Introduction to the Special Issue: Pluriversalizing the Teaching and Learning of Spanish

2024

Book Chapter

Ontological disobedience in the face of (im)mobility: possible transitions for world language teacher continuing education

Heinrichs, Danielle H. and Díaz, Adriana (2024). Ontological disobedience in the face of (im)mobility: possible transitions for world language teacher continuing education. Teacher education research – shaping practice, policy and theory. (pp. 47-70) edited by Parlo Singh, Deborah Heck, Stephen Heimans and Angelina Ambrosetti. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-97-8939-9_3

Ontological disobedience in the face of (im)mobility: possible transitions for world language teacher continuing education

2023

Journal Article

The (im)possibility of breaking the cycle of rippling circularities affecting Australian language education programs: a Queensland example

Díaz, Adriana R., Fillmore, Naomi and Cordella, Marisa (2023). The (im)possibility of breaking the cycle of rippling circularities affecting Australian language education programs: a Queensland example. Language Learning in Higher Education, 13 (1), 29-49. doi: 10.1515/cercles-2023-2002

The (im)possibility of breaking the cycle of rippling circularities affecting Australian language education programs: a Queensland example

Funding

Past funding

  • 2018 - 2019
    The invisibility of languages in universities' internationalisation processes
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2016 - 2018
    Revitalizing language assessment: Sustainable change through international benchmarking and knowledge transfer
    UQ Teaching Innovation Grants
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Adriana Diaz is:
Not available for supervision

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Fostering Intercultural Capability: Exploring secondary school students' perspectives on language learning

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Barbara Hanna

  • Doctor Philosophy

    What are the prevailing attitudes, perceptions and context that underpin the low retention rate for Queensland students of foreign languages, and comparing this issue nationally and internationally, how can it be resolved through education policy, curriculum, and schools?

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Barbara Hanna

  • Doctor Philosophy

    THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EARLY LITERACY POLICIES AND PROGRAMS

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Marnee Shay, Dr Samantha Disbray

Completed supervision

Media

Enquiries

For media enquiries about Dr Adriana Diaz's areas of expertise, story ideas and help finding experts, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au