Maria Roccaforte

Maria Roccaforte is an Associate Professor at the Department of Modern Literature and Culture, Sapienza University of Rome. Her work bridges educational linguistics, Italian Sign Language (LIS) studies, and inclusive pedagogy for deaf learners. Current projects include FIS LIS-A (Italian Sign Language Assessment) and MEMOLIS (Methodologies for LIS Teaching).

• PhD in Documentary, Linguistic and Literary Sciences (2016)
• Coordinator of Erasmus language courses (2011-2018)
• Collaborator with CLA (Sapienza Linguistic Center)

Research focuses on eye-tracking in second-language acquisition, LIS linguistic description (particularly non-manual components), and adaptive teaching methodologies for sensory-impaired learners. She integrates computational methods with learner corpora to develop Italian L2 resources.

• Neuro-psycholinguistic approaches
• Deaf education frameworks
• Sign language acquisition tools

Her recent publications (2023-2025) cover LIS assessment, phraseology in L2 teaching, and technology-enhanced language learning. She supervises theses requiring in-person engagement and strict timelines for Italian Didactics and LIS research.