Francesca VOLPATO

Francesca Volpato is an Associate Professor in the Department of Comparative Linguistic and Cultural Studies at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. She specializes in linguistics with a focus on language disorders, particularly in the areas of deafness, language learning disorders, and clinical linguistics. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics with clinical applications, examining how syntactic structures are acquired and processed by various populations.

Dr. Volpato's research primarily focuses on the acquisition and processing of complex syntactic structures, particularly relative clauses and clitic pronouns, in both typical and atypical language development. Her work examines these phenomena in diverse populations including children with developmental dyslexia, hearing-impaired individuals with cochlear implants, and bilingual speakers. She employs experimental methodologies such as production tasks, comprehension tests, and sentence repetition to investigate syntactic competence across different language varieties and populations. Her research demonstrates how theoretical linguistic frameworks can inform clinical practice and educational interventions for individuals with language disorders.

Dr. Volpato teaches courses on linguistics for deafness, language and learning disorders, and clinical linguistics at both undergraduate and graduate levels across multiple degree programs. Her consistent teaching in these specialized areas reflects her expertise and commitment to training future linguists and speech-language pathologists. As a member of the Joint Teacher-Student Commission for the SLCC Department, she also contributes to academic governance and student affairs within her department.