I received a BA (1997) and an MA (2000) in ELT from Middle East Technical University (METU) and an MA in Applied Linguistics (2002) from the University of Essex. In 2005, I completed my PhD at METU.

Throughout my postgraduate studies (1997-2005), I worked as a research assistant at Middle East Technical University. After finishing my PhD, I worked at Başkent University (Ankara), Oxford University (United Kingdom) and Essex University (United Kingdom, post-doctoral researcher). In 2011, I returned to Middle East Technical University, where I work as Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Foreign Language Education.