Prof Tom Smits

Prof. Tom Smits (born 1976) obtained an MA in English and German from the Antwerp University Institute (Belgium) and the University of Vienna (Austria). He is Professor of German variational linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and of English, German, and CLIL teaching methodology at the Antwerp School of Education (University of Antwerp). In 2024, he was appointed President of Linguapolis, the University of Antwerp Language Centre.

He obtained his PhD in 2007 on substandard language variation in German and Dutch and its influence on attitudes towards regional language use in the media and in education. This research made him the first foreign scholar to receive the German Agathe Lasch Prize for research into Low German, which was awarded by the Senate of Hamburg (Germany) in 2013. Over the years, he has developed additional expertise in differentiation and multiple-perspective learning, particularly through his teaching on urban education and Community Service Learning, for which he received the 2019 UAntwerp Teaching Award. He is also a member of the International Research Network on Equity in Youth Education and Training (IRNEYET).

In 2021, he was appointed Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of Education at Rhodes University (South Africa) following a successful nomination by the Faculty in recognition of his standing in the field of multilingualism and education. In 2022, he spent a semester at the University of California, Davis (USA) as a Fulbright Scholar. Since mid-2023, he has been a member of the Stellenbosch University community, serving as an Extraordinary Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies. In 2024, the Flemish National Agency for the Erasmus+ Programme, Epos, appointed him as an independent expert for Key Action 2 (SCH, VET). From 2023 to 2026, he combined these positions with an appointment as Chief Researcher in the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania).

Tom Smits is a member of the Didactica Research Group at the University of Antwerp and, since its inception in 2026, an affiliated member of the AI in Multilingual Teaching Methodologies Research Group at the University of Jordan, an institution with which he has collaborated since 2023.

His teaching and research activities focus on language variation, foreign language education, computer-assisted language learning (CALL), and intercultural competencies. He has worked with students and colleagues across the European Union, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, China, Zambia, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

ongoing projects

• 01/03/2024-28/02/2027: European Education and Culture Executive Agency - Erasmus-Edu-2023-Capacity Building in Higher Education: 'ProTEEM: Professionalisation of Teacher Educators in English and Mathematics' (Antwerp School of Education, University of Antwerp - Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania - Stellenbosch University, South Africa - Rhodes University, South Africa - Université de Kinshasa, DR Congo - Université de Lubumbashi, DR Congo - Université de Bukavu, DR Congo - University of Zambia, Zambia - Kwame Nkrumah University - Zambia)
• 01/03/2024-28/02/2027: FWO-NRF Bilateral Scientific Cooperation South Africa: 'The effect of Translanguaging in Reading on learning engagement in multilingual Content-Based Instruction classrooms'
  
• 01/08/2024-31/07/2027: Erasmus+ KA171 - Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by external policy funds (Antwerp School of Education, University of Antwerp - Center for Applied Policy in Education, University of California Davis, USA)
• 01/08/2025-37/07/2028: Erasmus+ KA171 - Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by external policy funds (Antwerp School of Education, University of Antwerp - Rhodes University Grahamstown, South Africa)​
• 01/12/2025-30/11/2028: Erasmus+ KA220-HED - Assisting Teaching and Learning with AI-based Solutions (ATLAS) (Università degli studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy - Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain - Universetet I Sorost-Norge, Norway - Tallinn University, Estonia - Universiteit Maastricht, Netherlands - Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal - YERUN, Belgium - Euphoria Net Srl, Italy - Universität Konstanz, Germany - Antwerp School of Education, University of Antwerp)

project proposals (launch pending)

• N/A
  

project results

• Lernszenarien (DaF): E-LearnScene 
  
• Language & Ed: Taaltrajecten​
• Effective Reading: Les in Lezen​
• Pre+In-service Teacher Ed (Leraar In Opleiding): Start to Teach 
• CLIL: CLIL in Vlaanderen & Onderwijs Vlaanderen​

• Smits, T. F. H., & Verhaegen, T. (forthc.). Die Vitalität des Namdeutschen: Eine Korpusanalyse zur Korrelation zwischen Alter und Lehnwortgebrauch. In Linguistische Berichte

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PhD projects @ UAntwerpen

• PhD Student: S. Hoeven
• Project Title: The effect of Translanguaging in Reading on learning engagement in multilingual Content-Based Instruction classrooms
• Supervision Type: Supervisor

• PhD Student: T. Smets
• Project Title: The role of learner autonomy in vocabulary acquisition of high-achieving EFL learners
• Supervision Type: Supervisor

• PhD Student: C. Denissen
• Project Title: Language competence to foster social inclusion and participation of people with physical disabilities: development of a training programme
• Supervision Type: Supervisor

• PhD Student: Graciel Ndjeka
  
• Project Title: Effectiveness of Continuing Professional Development of English and Mathematics Teacher Educators in DRC and Zambia
• Supervision Type: Co-Supervisor (PhD UNILU)

• PhD Student: T. Mavambe
• Project Title: Efficacy of multilingual pedagogical approaches in fostering reading among primary school non-readers: A quasi-experimental study
  
• Supervision Type: Co-Supervisor (Joint PhD Stellenbosch University)

• PhD Student: M. Alumbungu
• Project Title: Differentiating instruction in multilingual Namibian and Flemish primary classrooms: A mixed methods study
• Supervision Type: Co-Supervisor (Joint PhD Stellenbosch University)

• PhD Student: A.-S Bafort
• Project Title: Legitimizing elite multilingualism: Language policy, language practice and meta-pragmatic awareness in an international school
• Supervision Type: Chairman Doctoral Committee

• PhD Student: I. Bazhutkina
• Project Title: Developing pragmatic competence in LX German: The effect of context and individual differences
• Supervision Type: Doctoral Committee Member

• PhD Student: L. Van Tongerloo
• Project Title: De mogelijkheden en uitdagingen bij interactie tussen straat- en schoolcultuur op klas- en schoolniveau in de Vlaamse grootstedelijke secundaire schoolcontext
• Supervision Type: Chairman Doctoral Committee

• PhD Student: Muhammat S. Göregen
• Project Title: Teacher Retention and Attrition: The Impact of School Policy in Relation to School Contextual Factors
• Supervision Type: Chairman Doctoral Committee

External PhD projects

• PhD Student: D. Hansen
• University: Université Catholique de Louvain
• Project Title: Leveraging Collaborative Work for Game-Based Language Learning
• Supervision Type: PhD Committee Member

• PhD Student: D. Schwall
• University: Université de Liège
• Project Title: Interkomprehension - Messbarkeit und Lernbarkeit
• Supervision Type: PhD Committee Member​

PhD defences (current year only)​

• PhD Student: T. Van Dyk
• Project Title: Meta-framework for understanding multilingual transformation in South African higher education
• Supervision Type: Chairman Doctoral Committee

• PhD Student: D.J. Cloete
• Project Title: The intersection between academic and AI literacy: the role of scaffolded support in developing first-year student agency in writing
  
• Supervision Type: Chairman Doctoral Committee