undergraduate

• German Phraseology (188227) - Lecturer in charge
• Introduction to Linguistics (215950) - Lecturer in charge
• Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (215486) - Lecturer in charge
• Introduction to Rhetorics (188268) - Lecturer in charge
• Lexicology and Lexicography of the German Language (188240) - Lecturer in charge
• Semantics (188230) - Lecturer in charge

graduate

• Speech fluency development (228923) - Lecturer in charge

Professor Mirjana Matea Kovač, PhD, is a Full Professor at the Department of German Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split.

Her long-standing scholarly and research work is primarily focused on the study of cognitive, psycholinguistic, and linguistic processes involved in speech production and perception in both the native and  foreign language. As a researcher on the scientific project Speech Production and Perception, she completed and successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled Speech Disfluencies in the Native and Foreign Language.

At the core of her research interest is the systematic investigation of fluent and disfluent speech, with speech fluency conceptualized as a complex and multidimensional construct determined by the interaction of cognitive, linguistic, psychomotor, and task-related factors. Particular attention is devoted to the empirical analysis of the effects of carefully designed pedagogical and experimental tasks on specific dimensions of speech fluency.

An additional area of her research focuses on examining the impact of the gradual increase in  task complexity on the quality of language performance in the context of foreign language learning and teaching.

She is the author of three scholarly monographs. She is a member of the editorial boards of several international scientific journals and regularly presents the results of her research at national and international conferences, as well as publishing in relevant domestic and international scholarly publications. She received the Award for Excellence in Scientific Research for the academic year 2024/2025.

Books:

1. Kovač, M. M. (2020). Govorna fluentnost u stranome jeziku. Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta
u Splitu.
2. Kovač, M. M. (2025). Psiholingvistički aspekti poučavanja na temelju pedagoških
zadataka.
Sveučilište u Splitu, Filozofski fakultet.

Articles published in scientific journals:
1. Kovač, M. M. (2016). The Influence of Task Type on Perceived Fluency. Study in English

Language Teaching, 4(2), 241–252.
2. Kovač, M. M. (2018). Usporedba brzine govora u materinskome hrvatskome (J1) i
stranome
engleskome (J2) jeziku. Fluminensia, 30(1), 77–97. https://doi.org/10.31820/f.30.1.8
3. Kovač, M. M. i Sarić, A. (2019). Učestalost neleksikaliziranih poštapalica u ponovljenome
zadatku. Društvene i humanističke studije, 2(8), 123–132.
4. Kovač, M. M. i Vickov, G. (2018). The impact of immediate task repetition on breakdown
fluency. Govor : časopis za fonetiku, 35(2), 139–160.
https://doi.org/10.22210/govor.2018.35.09
5. Kovač, M. M. i Vickov, G. (2019). The influence of pre-task planning on speed and
breakdown fluency. Vestnik za tuje jezike = Journal for foreign languages, 11(1), 87–102.
https://doi.org/10.4312/vestnik.11.87-102
6. Kovač, M. M. (2021). Sprechgeschwindigkeit als Indikator der perzipierten
Sprechflüssigkeit
in Deutsch als Fremdsprache. Linguistika Pragensia, 31(1), 59–73.
https://doi.org/10.14712/18059635.2021.1.3
7. Kovač, M. M. (2022). Utjecaj ponavljanja zadatka na brzinu govorne izvedbe. Govor:
Časopis
za fonetiku, 39(1), 1–18.
8. Kovač, M. M. i Müller, M. (2022). Monitoring – key factor in the development of fluent
speech: Case study of German as foreign language. Govor : časopis za fonetiku, 39(22),
99–118.
https://doi.org/10.22210/govor.2022.39.06
9. Kovač, M. M. i Sarić, A. (2024). Students’ Attitudes Towards Speech Fluency in L1 and L2.
Lingua Montenegrina, 17(1), 139–152.
10. Odža, I. i Kovač, M. M. (2019). Percepcija govornih kompetencija u materinskome i
stranome jeziku kod učenika završnih razreda srednje škole. Folia linguistica et litteraria,
(28),
203–224.

Invited Lectures

• Invited lecture at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tuzla, entitled The Development of Speech Fluency in the Native and a Foreign Language (9 December 2024).
• Invited lecture entitled Formal Instruction of Speech Fluency in a Foreign Language – A Practical Example as part of the lecture series Speech Fluency, organized by the Department of Phonetics of the Croatian Philological Society during the 2021/2022 academic year.

Professional Interests

• Applied linguistics in the context of language learning and teaching
• Foreign language teaching methodology
• Analysis and evaluation of textbooks and teaching materials
• Evaluation and design of pedagogical tasks in language teaching
• Development of linguistic and communicative competence in educational contexts
• Professional work in higher education and German language teaching
• Participation in professional and scientific committees

Memberships and Professional Service

• Member of the Expert Committee for the Evaluation and Assessment of Textbooks for Primary and Secondary Vocational Education (2024–present).

Research Interests

• Psycholinguistics and cognitive aspects of language processing
• Speech production and perception in the native and a foreign language
• Speech fluency and disfluency
• The effects of the gradual increase in pedagogical and experimental task complexity on language production
• Foreign language learning and teaching from a psycholinguistic perspective

Editorial Board Memberships

Long-standing member of the editorial boards of one faculty journal and several international scientific journals:

• Mogućnosti, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split (ISSN 0544-7267), 2020–2025
• English Language Teaching, Canadian Center of Science and Education, 2010–present
• Istraživanja, Faculty of Humanities, Džemal Bijedić University of Mostar, 2023–present
• European Journal of English Language Teaching (ISSN 2501-7136), 2022–present
• European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching (ISSN 2537-1754), 2022–present

Research Projects

• 2007–2013 – Research Associate on the scientific research project Speech Production and Perception, funded by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia (Project No. 130-0000000-0785; Principal Investigator: Prof. Vlasta Erdeljac, PhD).
• 2015–present – Research Associate on the project Corpus of Speech Errors at the Department of Phonetics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, supported by the University of Zagreb (Principal Investigator: Associate Professor Ana Vidović Zorić, PhD).
• 2025–present – Principal Investigator of the institutional competitive research project Psycholinguistic Aspects of Task-Based Language Teaching (PLAPZA), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University

Awards and Honors

• Recipient of the Award for Excellence in Research for the 2024/2025 academic year at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split.