ABOUT ME
Expanding the horizons
I'm a dedicated language instructor of Russian and ESL. Originally, I'm from an industrial city in Siberia called Novokuznetsk. I graduated with distinction from Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, double-majoring in teaching English and French.
I first came to the University of Mississippi as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) in 2017 and then graduated with a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL in 2020. In 2025, I earned my Ph.D. in Second Language Studies with an emphasis in Applied Linguistics at the University of Mississippi.
​ ​
I’ve always found joy in learning. However, it wasn’t until I started teaching that I realized just how much I enjoyed sharing my skills and knowledge with students of all ages and backgrounds.
In each course I teach, I work hard to create engaging, eye-opening, and challenging activities - ones that will help my students expand their horizons and push their boundaries. I appreciate my students’ feedback and welcome an open dialogue in each and every class. Get in touch for more information about my experience or the courses I teach.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
She was always there for her students and knew how to answer all our questions. Absolutely one of the best instructors I will be privileged to have during my undergrad.
Students in Elementary and Intermediate Russian Courses
COURSES TAUGHT
PUBLICATIONS
Petrova, N. & Rychkova, I. (2024). AI-Powered Language Instruction: Creating Engaging Writing Assignments for Intermediate Russian Learners. Russian Language Journal, 74(1).
​
Khoroshilova S., & Rychkova, I. (2014). The vowel system of modern British pronunciation: monophthongs. Proceedings of the international online conference: Current Problems of Philology and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages, 1, (pp. 150-155). Novosibirsk, Russia: Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Petrova, N. & Rychkova, I. (2025, April). Is Scaffolding Proficiency with AI Possible? A Case of Exploring ChatGPT’s Potential in Adapting L2 Russian Reading Materials [5-minute share-out session]. The American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR) 50th Anniversary Conference, virtual conference.
Rychkova, I. (2025, April). Role of Digital Tools in Negotiating Power [Conference presentation]. The 92nd Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL), Boca Raton, FL, United States.
Petrova, N. & Rychkova, I. (2025, February). AI Comes to the Rescue: Designing Vocabulary and Writing Assignments for Intermediate Russian Courses [Conference presentation]. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL), virtual conference.
Rychkova, I. (2024, September). Negotiating Leadership across Cultures: An Intercultural Pragmatic Analysis of Multilingual Graduate Student Interaction in Remote Professional Settings [Conference presentation]. The 6th International Conference of the American Pragmatics Association (AMPRA-6), St. Petersburg, FL, United States.
Rychkova, I. (2024, April). Multilingual Graduate Students Navigating Academic Digital Discourse: Challenges and Strategies [Conference presentation]. The 91st Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL), Athens, GA, United States.
Rychkova, I. (2024, February). Reimagining the Russian Language Course: A Focus on Post-Soviet Countries and Cultures [Conference presentation]. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL), Las Vegas, NV, United States.
​
Rychkova, I. (2023, March). How Multilingual Graduate Students Negotiate Leadership and Power Relationships in Online Collaborative Talks [Conference presentation]. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Portland, OR, United States.
Rychkova, I. (2023, March). The Subtle Art of Saying Goodbye in the American South [Conference presentation]. The 90th Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL), Oxford, MS, United States.
Rychkova, I. (2022, May). Negotiation of Leadership and Power Relationships in Digital Collaborative Talks among Multilingual Graduate Students [Conference presentation]. The 3rd International Conference: Approaches to Digital Discourse Analysis (ADDA 3), St. Petersburg, Florida, United States.
​
Rychkova, I. (2022, March). What Narratives in TED Talks Teach Us About Quasi-Academic Discourse [Conference presentation]. The 89th annual Southeastern Conference on Linguistics (SECOL 89), LA, virtual conference.
​
Rychkova, I. (2021, November). How to Incorporate Written and Oral Critical Thinking Activities into a Beginner Language Class [Conference presentation]. Mississippi Foreign Language Association, MS, virtual conference.
​
Rychkova, I. (2021, April). The Russian Language Marathon: A Modern Way to Engage Language Learners Online [Conference presentation]. The 22nd Annual Conference of Central Association of Russian Teachers of America, United States, virtual conference.
​
Rychkova, I. (2020, December). Language Marathon: Engage and Challenge Your Language Learners Online [Conference presentation]. Mississippi Foreign Language Association, MS, virtual conference.
​
Galindo, M., Rychkova, I., Duan, S., Pelayo, M., & Akishev, T. (2020, December). The UM Graduate Student Colloquium in Applied Linguistics and TESOL [Conference presentation]. Mississippi Foreign Language Association, MS, virtual conference.
Rychkova, I. (2019, April). The second wave of pen pals [Conference presentation]. The 21st Annual Conference of Central Association of Russian Teachers of America, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
​
Rychkova, I. (2018, November). Blogging as an educational tool for second language teaching [Conference presentation]. Mississippi Foreign Language Association, Hattiesburg, MS, United States.
​
Rychkova, I. (2017, November). Teaching foreign languages and teacher training in Russia: The case of Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University [Conference presentation]. Mississippi Foreign Language Association, University, MS, United States.