Richard Smith, Professor of ELT and Applied Linguistics at the University of Warwick, is the founder and co-convenor (with Professor Giovanni Iamartino) of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) Research Network on History of Language Learning and Teaching (HoLLTnet). His publications include The History of Language Learning and Teaching (with Nicola McLelland; Legenda, 2018), Policies and Practice in Language Learning and Teaching: 20th-century Historical Perspectives (with Sabine Doff; Amsterdam University Press, 2022) and Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching: Historical Perspectives (with Tim Giesler; Benjamins, 2023), as well as 22 volumes which reproduce classic texts from the 19th and early 20th-century histories of language teaching and ELT (partly with A.P.R. Howatt; Routledge, 2000–2005).
Lucilla Lopriore, English language teacher in Italian schools (1976-2000), qualified teacher educator (1988, UK; 1989, USA Fulbright) and Roma Tre University Professor (2001 -2022), served as TESOL Italy President between 1996 and 1998. Between 2001 and 2004 she was part of the TESOL International Directors Board, and in 2017 of the TESOL International Research Council. She has led and taken part in several research projects in Italy and abroad: National Italian Primary school foreign languages (1999-2000); ELLiE (2006-2010); National Project on ELF (2015/17); Erasmus+ ENRICH Project (2018/21); eCOST-CLILNetLE(2023/27). She is a coursebook author and teacher educator in ELT, ELF, and CLIL courses. Her research interests include: CLIL, continuity, disciplinary literacies, early language learning, educational linguistics, ELF, language awareness, mediation, multilingualism, oracy, as well as teacher identity and education.
Professor Gisella Langé is a Foreign Languages Inspector with the Italian Ministry of Education advising on internationalization and foreign languages. She has extensive experience of working as an expert on European Commission, Council of Europe, OECD/PISA, RAIScuola assignments. A researcher, writer and consultant on issues relating to FL teaching, curriculum development and plurilingual/intercultural education, she specializes in culture and language learning solutions, and web-based teacher training. She has also been instrumental in the realization of innovative language learning practices through international project development of early language learning, the European Language Portfolio, the CEFR Companion Volume, plurilingual/intercultural education and Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in different parts of the world.
Paola Vettorel is Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures – University of Verona. Her research interests include ELF and its implications in ELT. Among her recent publications: (2021) World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca and ELT materials: a critical perspective, in Y. Bayyurt (ed.), Bloomsbury World Englishes-Pedagogies Volume 3. London: Bloomsbury; (2023), with M. Antonello. Promoting ELF awareness in Language Teacher Education and ELT practices: perspectives and challenges. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 12/1.
Stefania Nuccorini is Honorary Professor of English at the University of Roma Tre. She is a member of the International Committee of the International Association of University Professors of English (IAUPE), and a member of the European Master in Lexicography (EMLex) and of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s degree (EMJMD) in Lexicography. She has conducted research into English Learner’s Dictionaries and dictionaries of collocations, English lexicology, lexicological and lexicographical English-Italian contrastive issues, dictionary use, specialised lexicography, text analysis and pragmatics. Her recent research interests include phraseology, corpus linguistics, translation, norm and usage, English-Italian culture-specific issues, and the synchronic and diachronic analysis of 19th and early 20th century bilingual (English-Italian and English-French) dictionaries. She is currently working on usage labels in different dictionaries.
Sharon Hartle is Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Verona University. She is specialized in English Language teaching (ELT) pedagogy and didactics and works specifically in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). She has worked for some years in the field of e-learning and specializes in multimedia materials development for ELT in Blended Learning contexts as well as inclusive English Language Teaching contexts. Her research interests also extend to include English language assessment and EMI.
Photo credits: La Statale Immagini