MARIANGELA CASTRONOVO
Graduated in Foreign Languages and Cultures from the University of Rome“La Sapienza”. Later, she obtained the Ditals Certificate for teaching Italian as a second language at the “Università per stranieri” of Siena, and a Master’s degree in Teaching Italian as a second language at the “Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore” of Milan. Over the past ten years, she has been teaching Italian as a second language in universities to international students, in particularthe Marco Polo/Turandot and the Foundation Year students. In her career as an instructor of L2Italian, she has gained experience in different educational contexts, including the universities of Rome, Bergamo, Milan and Pavia. Furthermore, she delivers the CILS and the PLIDA exams of L2Italian. She has also published studies on second language acquisition, especially related to Chinese-speaking students’ populations.
NICOLETTA CHIAPEDI
Nicoletta Chiapedi graduated in Modern Languages from the University of Pavia in 2002 with a thesis in Sociolinguistics. From 2002 to May 2004 she attended the Master’s in Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, obtaining the diploma (30/30 cum laude) in 2004. In February 2008 she obtained a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Perugia with a thesis on the acquisition of Italian articles by native speakers of Chinese. She has a long experience teaching Italian as a second language: she has taught at the University of Pavia, at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, at the University of Bologna and at the University of Genoa. At the University of Pavia she has been teaching Italian to the students of the Marco Polo Programme since march 2011 and to Foundation Year since 2018.
EUGENIO GALLI
Eugenio Galli obtained his two bachelor’s degrees in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation (Milan
University) and in Education (Bicocca University), before specializing in Adult Education
(Catholic University of Milan) and in training, with an executive master at ISMO institute and
a three year diploma in Counseling.
He is also a professional improvisation theater trainer and performer and has worked in
Italian and international festivals. He has studied improv as a method and a technique
linking it to a second language acquisition, with a degree thesis and an academic
publication. He will argue that improv does offer some specific tools and advantages in
learning a second language.
Eugenio has obtained an ITALS master's degree from Ca' Foscari University in Venice. After
many years teaching in different international schools, he is currently a teacher for the
University of Pavia Foundation Year Program.
MARIA ILENIA RUSSO
Maria Ilenia Russo is an Italian-as-second-language teacher. She got a bachelor degree in Modern Literature obtained at the University of Palermo. Afterwards She’s studied Linguistics at the University of Pavia. Here She developed a passion for Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. During this specialization She’s devoted her studies to the mechanisms of Spontaneous Languages Acquisition. That’s the reason why her classes have a purely communicative method, following the natural orders of the language acquisition. She’s taught Italian-as-second-language at the Dante Alighieri Society and She practiced all these methods for the last two years within Marco Polo – Turandot and Foundation Year projects at the University of Pavia, where She was an enthusiastic teacher of Italian as Second Language
EMANUELE MASTRANGELI
After a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities and a Master’s degree in Information, Publishing and Journalism, Emanuele Mastrangeli earned another Master’s degree in Teaching Italian as a Second Language from Roma Tre University (110/110 cum laude) with a thesis about the teaching of the past in Italian as a second language to Chinese learners. Over the years, he also obtained two different certifications of competence in teaching Italian as a foreign or second language, DITALS I and CEDILS, issued by University for Foreigners of Siena and Ca 'Foscari University of Venice, respectively. Mastrangeli has been working as a teacher of Italian as a second and foreign language since 2014 teaching Italian in private schools and public universities, in Italy and in China.
LUISA GREGORI
Luisa Gregori graduated in Italian literature from the University of Pisa in 2006. She earned a Masters in Teaching and Promoting Italian language and culture to foreigners from the “Ca’ Foscari” University of Venice in 2015 and a Masters in Italian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (U.S.A.) in 2017. In 2022 she obtained a Certification in Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language from the University of Perugia. She has a long experience teaching Italian as a second language to university students, both abroad and in Italy: she has taught, among others, at the University of Chicago, Smith College, the Catholic University of America, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University-Bloomington, Università per stranieri di siena, and Università di Trieste. Currently, she holds a position as Italian language instructor at the University of Pavia, teaching for the Foundation Year program, the Language Centre and the Electrical engineering department.
MARIA FRANCESCA SACCO
Graduated at the University of Siena in Art History she continues her studies diving into the dramaturgy and theatral critic at the University of Pisa, where she collaborates with some magazines.She starts teaching Italian for foreigners in Poland,where she works for seven years in a private university and five in a high school. Her studies includes the certification CEDILS and DITALS II as well as the School of Specialization in Teaching Italian as a foreign language, University of Siena in 2020.She’s a CILS test giver and also works in different environment: the University of Philology of Valencia, the University Federico II of Naples ,Dante Alighieri Society of Siena, in a project about teaching Italian through the language of wine.