{"id":124161,"date":"2026-04-11T14:17:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T12:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/department-of-english-language-and-literature\/research-activities\/znanstveni-projekti\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T14:39:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:39:01","slug":"research-projects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/department-of-english-language-and-literature\/research-activities\/research-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Research Projects Led by Faculty Members of the Department of English Language and Literature<\/span><\/h4>\n

Early Acquisition and Comprehension of Polysemous Words (POLYACQ)<\/strong>
\nPROJECT LEADER: Assoc. Prof. Ana Werkmann Horvat, PhD
\nProject type: Croatian Science Foundation Installation Research Project, competitive project funding
\nProject code: UIP-2025-02-5422
\nDuration: 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2031
\nCollaborators: Mia Batini\u0107 Angster, Jakov Prorokovi\u0107, Ivana Trtanj, Sara Ko\u0161utar
\nWeb: https:\/\/polyacq.ffos.hr\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Polysemy (or multiple meaning) is one of the most productive ways of creating new meanings. Although it is a universal linguistic phenomenon, the multiple meanings of polysemous words can cause difficulties in comprehension. Nevertheless, natural languages use the ability to encode multiple meanings in a single form to their advantage. This tendency of natural languages is useful because it reduces the burden of memorizing and learning new forms (Piantadosi et al. 2012). Since metaphor and metonymy are among the most important mechanisms for creating polysemy (Pustejovsky & Boguraev 1997; Bowdle and Gentner 2005), the comprehension and acquisition of polysemous words become even more complex due to differences in meaning dominance and abstractness. The human need to facilitate communication and reduce cognitive load, as well as the ubiquity of polysemy in everyday language, make polysemy an important part of children’s language from the very beginning of language acquisition. Although some research has already been conducted on this topic (e.g. Dautriche et al. 2016; Floyd et al. 2020), detailed knowledge of which linguistic factors influence the acquisition and comprehension of polysemous words is still lacking. This topic is complex because of the interrelationships between linguistic factors such as the number of meanings, types of meanings, meaning dominance, and word and meaning frequency. Conventionality of meaning also plays an important role because the figurative nature of meaning often remains unrecognized. However, conventionality is not guaranteed, and new meanings can emerge at any time. The aim of this project is to answer questions about the status of the aforementioned linguistic factors and the role they play in language acquisition and early language comprehension. The project also seeks to contribute to linguistic diversity in language acquisition research by examining relatively recently collected Croatian-language corpora and collecting data from Croatian speakers.<\/p>\n

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The Language of Desire in Literature and Culture (JE\u017dEKK)<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROJECT LEADER: Prof. Biljana Oklop\u010di\u0107, PhD<\/p>\n

Project type: institutional research project of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, funded under source 581 \u2013 Recovery and Resilience Facility<\/p>\n

Project code: 581-UNIOS-60<\/p>\n

Duration: 1 October 2025 \u2013 30 September 2029<\/p>\n

Collaborators: Ivana Buljuba\u0161i\u0107 Srb, PhD, Romana \u010ca\u010dija, Senior Lecturer, Asst. Prof. Tomislav Dagen, PhD, Asst. Prof. Stephanie Jug, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Sanja Juki\u0107, PhD, Asst. Prof. Tihana Lubina, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Sonja Novak, PhD, Jelena Pataki \u0160umiga, PhD, Asst. Prof. Ivana Perku\u0161i\u0107, PhD, Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD, Prof. Ru\u017eica P\u0161ihistal, PhD, Prof. Ivan Trojan, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Jadranka Zlomisli\u0107, PhD<\/p>\n

Web: https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/znanstveni-portal\/npoo-projekti\/jezik-zudnje-u-knjizevnost-i-kulturi\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The project The Language of Desire in Literature and Culture<\/em> is an institutional research project funded under source 581 \u2013 Recovery and Resilience Facility. The project will explore the concept of desire as a narrative strategy, linguistic expression and social construct in the humanities and social sciences. Owing to its interdisciplinary focus and the use of contemporary theoretical approaches and reading strategies, the project will promote new possibilities for representing desire as an instrument for critically understanding the relationship between language, the body and emotions in literature and culture.
\nThe aim of the project The Language of Desire in Literature and Culture<\/em> is to use an interdisciplinary analysis of the phenomenon of desire in literary, cultural, media, legal and political texts and practices to explore how desire is shaped, regulated and communicated in contemporary and historical contexts and how it influences the formation of gender, sexual, racial, class, ethnic, religious and political identities in literature and culture.<\/p>\n

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Framing through Figurative Language in Public Discourse (FigFrame)<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROJECT LEADER: Prof. Tanja Grade\u010dak, PhD<\/p>\n

Project type: institutional research project of Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, funded under source 581 \u2013 Recovery and Resilience Facility<\/p>\n

Duration: 1 October 2025 \u2013 30 September 2029<\/p>\n

Collaborators: Snje\u017eana Babi\u0107, PhD, Ksenija Ben\u010dina, PhD, Prof. Goran Faletar, PhD, Vlatka Ivi\u0107, Domagoj Kostanjevac, Asst. Prof. Goran Mili\u0107, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Dra\u017eenka Molnar, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Goran Schmidt, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Alma Van\u010dura, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Dubravka Vidakovi\u0107 Erdelji\u0107, PhD, Asst. Prof. Ana Werkmann Horvat, PhD<\/p>\n

Web: https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/science-portal\/npoo-projects\/framing-through-figurative-language-in-public-discourse\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The central concept around which this project proposal is organized is framing, i.e. the process of \u201cselection and salience of information\u201d (Entman 1993: 52), in which mental representations are created and subsequently activated through a particular linguistic operation, generally spoken or written linguistic structures. Project activities will examine naturally occurring data in English and Croatian or from a multilingual perspective using experimental and corpus methods, create digital and searchable databases, and analyse how topics related to political and media discourse, health and student academic discourse, and youth discourse are framed within particular mental representations and how they can be reframed. The project leader is Prof. Tanja Grade\u010dak, PhD, from the Department of English Language and Literature, together with a total of 11 collaborators from the same department, as well as from the Department of German Language and Literature, the Department of Croatian Language and Literature, and the Chair of Common Courses.<\/p>\n

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Violence in Contemporary Adaptations and Popular Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROJECT LEADER: Jelena Pataki \u0160umiga, PhD<\/p>\n

Project type: one-year internal FFOS research project, competitive project funding<\/p>\n

Contemporary adaptations of literary texts in all media and forms of popular culture often prominently depict violence, frightening events and scenes or, in the case of video games, engage players in participating in violent acts. The aim of the project is to approach the phenomenon of violence in the broadest sense of the word \u2013 psychological, verbal, sexual and physical \u2013 from different perspectives in an attempt to determine the reasons for the frequency and popularity of such artistic, media and popular-cultural representations and their significance for contemporary readers, viewers or video-game players.<\/p>\n

Project duration: 1 September 2024 \u2013 30 September 2025<\/p>\n

Collaborators: Assoc. Prof. Ljubica Matek, PhD, Valentina Markasovi\u0107, Zvonimir Prtenja\u010da, Prof. Kamilla Elliott, PhD (UK), Assoc. Prof. Matthew Leggatt, PhD (UK)<\/p>\n

Web: https:\/\/www.croris.hr\/projekti\/projekt\/12739<\/a><\/p>\n

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North American Literatures and Cultures in the Croatian and European Context<\/strong><\/p>\n

PROJECT LEADER: Asst. Prof. Jasna Poljak Rehlicki, PhD (2023-2026)
\nProject type: institutional project of the Centre for North American Studies<\/p>\n

Duration: 2023-2026<\/p>\n

Collaborators: Jelena Pataki \u0160umiga, PhD, Valentina Markasovi\u0107, Barbara Kru\u017ei\u0107 Jovi\u010di\u0107<\/p>\n

Web: https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/centre-for-north-american-studies\/\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The aim of this multi-year project is to examine existing approaches to intercultural translation and select the most appropriate one \/ devise a new approach through the translation of nine American plays that will be published in two volumes in the Anthology of Affirmative American Drama<\/em>. In 2026, the plan is to proofread all selected plays, systematize terminology and translations, edit the manuscript of the Anthology<\/em> and write the forewords.<\/p>\n

The main research question of the project is how to approach the translation of American dramatic texts dealing with issues that are not widely represented in Croatia, such as race, sexual orientation, immigrants and health issues such as severe obesity. The question of appropriation also arises (and to what extent it should be used) in order to bring the source text and translation closer to Croatian audiences, particularly when the time of publication of the plays is taken into account, i.e. how best to present the text to a modern reader.<\/p>\n

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Collaboration on Research Projects<\/span><\/h4>\n