Elena Fornasiero

Elena Fornasiero is a tenure-track researcher (RTT) at the Department of Comparative Linguistic and Cultural Studies, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, since January 2025. Her expertise centers on the linguistics of Italian Sign Language (LIS), with a focus on psycholinguistics and processing of complex linguistic structures. She has contributed to the creation of the first digital reference grammar of LIS and led the development of the national SIGN-HUB website.

• Education
  • PhD in Modern Languages, Cultures and Societies and Language Sciences (2020), Ca' Foscari University of Venice, with a thesis on evaluative constructions in LIS
  • Master's in Language Sciences (2016), Ca' Foscari University of Venice
  • Third-level LIS certification (2016)
• Research Trends
  • Specializes in LIS syntax, morphology, and bimodal bilingualism
  • Uses eye-tracking methodologies to study relative clause comprehension
  • Focuses on linguistic vs. non-linguistic factors in sign language processing
• Scientific Contributions
  • Key participant in the SIGN-HUB Horizon 2020 project
  • Collaborator on LIS grammar digitization initiatives
  • Developed LIS-specific research tools and resources
• Awards
  • Recipient of SIGN-HUB doctoral scholarship
• Teaching
  • Instructor for Italian Sign Language courses (LIS 1 and LIS 2) at Ca' Foscari University
  • Regional LIS training expert (Veneto region, 2022)
• Affiliations
  • Member of Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI)
  • Member of CIRCLeS (Interuniversity Center for Language Cognition and Deafness)