Alessandro Benati

Professor Alessandro Benati is an Associate Professor and Head of the School of Education at University College Dublin (UCD). He holds concurrent roles as Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong, York St John University, and Adjunct Professor at Macquarie University. His academic career includes prestigious positions such as Dean of the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the University of Portsmouth and Head of the Department of English at the American University of Sharjah.

Education:

• PhD in Second Language Acquisition (University of Greenwich, 1999)
• MSc in Education Management (University of Greenwich, 2005)
• Bachelor's in Letters and Philosophy (Università degli Studi di Firenze, 1989)

Research interests focus on second language processing, particularly the pedagogical model of Processing Instruction (PI) and the effects of focus on form. He employs online measurements like eye-tracking and self-paced reading to investigate language comprehension. Key areas include English causative and passive structures, cross-linguistic acquisition, and the role of structured input in second language development.

Publications highlight contributions to journals like Second Language Research, Language Teaching, and Applied Psycholinguistics. Recent work emphasizes structured input's impact on syntactic forms and secondary transfer effects. His research has influenced educational policy, such as reforms in Macedonia and Panama.

Awards include the University Inspirational Teaching Award (2016) and recognition of his research as internationally excellent (REF 4*). He has coordinated over £4 million in grants from the EU, Leverhulme Trust, and British Academy.

Advising and grants: Supervised over 30 PhD and 100+ MA students. Key grants include projects on Panamanian bilingual education (£200,000) and structured input methodologies (e.g., Austrian Federal Ministry project).

Labs/Teams: Director of the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES) at the University of Hong Kong and collaborator on international projects such as the ERASMUS+ funded research on input processing.