I started, in the dying years of Francoist Spain, going to a priests’ school in Vic. In hindsight it turned out to be quite ahead of its time. I did generative grammar (S = NP+VP), graphic design and visual arts, Georg Cantor’s set theory, and I read the New Testament, associating Christ’s life to the growing pains of a teenager. The visual arts teacher would take us to Barcelona to see Tadeusz Kantor’s première in Spain (I was impressed by The Dead Class), and he talked to us about Bauhaus and the Italian designer Bruno Munari.

I belong to the generation of guinea pigs who went through the new primary and secondary education system, the second stage of EGB (primary), BUP (secondary), and COU (university prep). My interest in literature led me to work on the Plana de Vic poetry journal Clot, and to write stories and novels which are still locked in my desk drawer. I entered the University of Barcelona as an undergraduate in Philology intending to become a writer, but I left in 1984, merely as a graduate in Catalan Philology.

In my final undergraduate year I enrolled in a Tea-Tra programme (teacher training) run by the Catalan Government’s Language Policy and Planning Department. This was a key decision in guiding my interests. I changed literature for language and pedagogy. I trained in text linguistics, applied linguistics, language-learning methodologies, syllabus design and other subjects connected to language learning. On my own account I also studied terminology, discourse analysis, humanistic psychology, creativity, psychoanalysis and bioenergetics.

In 1987 I returned to university to start doctoral studies in The Teaching of Languages and Literature, at the Department of Language and Literature Teaching, University of Barcelona. Eight years later, I read my PhD in applied linguistics for business companies and activities in the training of professional writers.

Career

Since 1993 I have been a full tenured lecturer in Discourse Analysis for Catalan at Pompeu Fabra University. I am a member of the Department of Translation and Language Sciences, and I teach at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting, lecturing in discourse analysis, composition, language sciences and specialized discourse.

Before joining UPF, I worked for five years as a tenured lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher Training, Univeristy of Barcelona (from 1988 to 1993). Before that I did technical collaborative work for the Catalan Government’s Language Policy and Planning Department (’84 to ’88). There, I worked on preparing curricular and teaching materials (such as the Digui, digui course), and resources for teacher training and enlivening language policies.

Research

My field of research is written communication, with several outlooks (theoretical grounding, didactic applications), approaches (first or foreign languages, children or adults), and genres (academic discourse, business writing, popular science). I have published several books on these matters, like Descriure escriure (1988; 7 reprints in Catalan and 14 in Spanish), Reparar l'escriptura (1993; one in Catalan and 11 reprints in Spanish), La cuina de l'escriptura (1993; 12 reprints in Catalan and 15 in Spanish), Construir l'escriptura (1999), Rere les línies (2006), Taller de textos (2006), Esmolar l'eina (2007) i Ensenyar llengua (1993; 9 reprints in Catalan and 13 in Spanish, coauthored). I have also published a large number of research papers and popular articles as well as book chapters (see my CV).

Among others, I have delivered papers in Plenary Sessions at:

• 2ª Conferencia sobre enseñanza de la redacción, Interamericana, San Juan, 1992;
• 5º Congreso latinoamericano de lectura y escritura, IRA, Bogota, 1999;
• XVIII ENDIL, Maturín (Veneçuela), 1999;
• Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad de Dislexia del Uruguay, Montevideo, 2000.
• XIV Congreso de la Sociedad Chilena de Lingüística, Osorno, 2001;
• XIII Congreso ALFAL, San Jose, 2002;
• Congreso Internacional La Argumentación, UBA, Buenos Aires, 2002;
• VII Congreso Lectura y Escritura, IRA, Puebla, 2002;
• II CIEFE, Amsterdam, 2003;
• Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, UdG/ IRLL, 2004.
• 8º Congreso Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo de la Lectura y la Escritura, IRA, San Juan, 2005.
• Congreso Nacional Cátedra UNESCO para la lectura y la escritura, Concepcion, 2005.
• II Congreso Internacional sobre Investigación en Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico, 2006.
• II Congreso Internacional de Profesores de Lenguaje y Literatura y Primer Coloquio Nacional de Didáctica de la Lengua Española, Lenguas Originarias en Bolivia y del Idioma Inglés, Universidad Técnica de Oruro, Oruro (Bolivia), 2006.
• 26ª Feria Internacional del Libro Infantil y Juvenil (FILIJ), Centro Nacional de las Artes de la Ciudad de México, 2006.
• IX Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Didàctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, Universitat d'Alacant, SEDLL, 1-12-06.
• IX Congreso Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo de la lectura y la escritura y II Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad de Dislexia del Uruguay, International Reading Asociation y Sociedad de Dislexia del Uruguay, Montevideo, 2007.
• VII Simposio Internacional de Lingüística Aplicada, Departamento de Lengua y Literatura Españolas, Universidad de Providence, Taichung, 19/-20-3-08.
• III Coloquio sobre la Enseñanza del Español Lengua Extranjera (CEDELEQ III), Concordia University / Université Montréal / Université Québec / Centro de Recursos del Español / Asociación de Profesores de Québec (APEQ), Montréal (Quebec, Canada), 1/3-5-08.
• X Congreso Latinoamericano Lectura y Escritura. Nuevos desafíos y posibilidades. Asociación Peruana de Lectura APELEC. Lima, 30-7-09 al 1-8-09.
• I Congreso Iberoamericano de Lengua y Literatura Infantil y Juvenil [CILELIJ] Fundación SM, Museo de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile, 25/28-2-10, en CILELIJ.
• First International Language Conference: Translation, Technology and Autonomy in Language Teaching and Learning, Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, National University of Ireland, Galway, 10/11-12-10. 
• I Seminário Nacional de Copesbra, Asociación de Profesores de Español del Estado de Río de Janeiro (APREERJ) y Universidd Federal Fluminense, Facultad de Educación e Instituto de Letras de la UF, Campus Gragoatá, Río de Janeiro, 19/22-7-2011.
• 44ª Reunión Nacional de Bibliotecarios, Biblioteca Nacional, Asociación de Bibliotecarios Graduados de la República de Argentina [ABGRA], Buenos Aires, 2-5-2012.
• 11 Congreso Nacional de Lectura, FILBO [Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá], Bogotá, 23-4-2013.
• III Encuentro para profesores de centros universitarios y de centros formadores de ELE, Instituto Cervantes de Londres, King's College London, University of Westminster, University of Roehampton, Londres, 21-6-2013. 
• XII Congreso Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo de la Lectura y la Escritura, Consejo Puebla de Lectura e IRA [International Reading Association], Benemerita Universidad de Puebla, Puebla (México), 11/14-9-2013. 
• 9th International Conference: Education and Libraries in the Digital Age, Committee for the Support of Libraries, Eugenides Foundation, Athenes, 15/16-11-13.
• XVth Forum for Iberian Studies: Cultural and linguistic diversity in the Iberian Peninsula, University of Oxford, Oxford, 21/22-3-2014.

Since late 2004 I am the director of a research group called Literacitat Crítica (Critical Literacy), which has won several competitive research project calls for funding, and the group aspires to teach citizens to read ideology in discourse. See the point on Groups and Projects in the Research Section. From 1993 to 2003 I codirected the journal Articles de didàctica de la llengua i de la literatura. Among others, I am on the editorial board of these journals: Articles, Textos, Cultura & Educación and Glosas Didácticas (Spain), Episteme and Lingüística y Literatura(Colombia), Opción y Kaleidoscopio (Venezuela), Signos and Revista de Lingüística Teórica y Aplicada (Chile), Lulu Coquette y Páginas de Guarda(Argentina) and Didáctica XXI (Mexico).

Collaborations

I have collaborated with the Education Ministries of the Governments of Catalonia, Galicia, Spain, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico in programmes for promoting reading and writing. The Education Ministries in Argentina and Mexico have published special editions of some of my work (Argentina:Describir el escribir, 3 editions; Mexico: La cocina de la escritura, 50,000 copies). I worked with Mexican Civil Service Secretariat in launching the campaign Lenguaje Ciudadano, aimed at simplifying public language, and I worked for the Chilean Senate in developing initiatives to improve Parliamentary communication.

In the private sector, and for short periods, I have counseled companies like “La Caixa”, BBVA, Cuatrecases or Repsolypf. In the academic sector I have been the guest speaker or professor at Catalan universities, as well as Spanish, European, American and Asian ones, in over 25 countries, and in different languages, Catalan, Spanish an English.