Agenda

1.    Please provide a brief outline of your training and scientific activity. 

I am the Chair of English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. I was co-Director of Cambridge Language Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Centre for two years (2017-2019). Before moving to Cambridge I was Professor of Multilingualism and Cognition at the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences at the University of Reading and Professor of Psycholinguistics and Director of the Language Development Lab at the Dept. of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I received my PhD in Linguistics from University College London (1992). I taught Linguistics at University College London, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and University of Cambridge (Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics). I teach and research in First and Second Language Acquisition, Multilingualism and Cognition, Psycholinguistics, Language Impairment and Theoretical Syntax. A large part of my research has been externally funded through research projects. My current research project funded by ESRC-DFID, “Multilingualism and Multiliteracy: Raising learning outcomes in challenging contexts in primary schools across India”, involves the collaboration of JNU, NIMHANS and EFL-U in India (https://www.mam.mml.cam.ac.uk/). I have held a ‘Guest of the Rector’ Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and the Social Sciences for six months in 2012, and other Visiting Scholar positions in Germany and Cyprus. I am Associate Editor of Glossa and member of the Editorial Board of the journals Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, Second Language Research, Languages, Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, Journal of Applied Linguistics, Biolinguistics (e-journal), Journal of Greek Linguistics and of the Book Series “Language Acquisition and Language Disorders”.

2.    Please state your reasons for choosing Venice and the Department for your research and teaching stay.

As member of the Advisory Board of the Excellence project “Linguistic and Cultural Diversity, Multilingualism and Multiculturalism for the Wellbeing of Persons and Communities” funded by MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research “Dipartimenti di Eccellenza”, it is a great opportunity for me to interact closely with the PI and researchers in the project as well as other members of the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies.

3.    Have you ever had a research collaboration with the teaching staff of Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies in the past? 

I have only had informal discussions during brief research visits for conferences and workshops in Cambridge and in Venice with members of the Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies.