Dott. Enza Siciliano Verruccio

Email:
e.sicilianoverruccio@reading.ac.uk
Phone:
+44 (0) 118 378 5242
Job title:
Associate Professor

Responsibilities:

Director of Teaching and Learning, School of Humanities
Programme Director of the BA Modern Languages and Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

Office

Miller 108

Building location

Miller building

Areas of interest

I am interested in language curriculum design and development; ab initio language learning and teaching; technology-enhanced language learning and teaching; the role of explicit instruction in SLA; language teacher training.

Teaching

I convene and teach language courses across the Italian Studies undergraduate programme in the Department for Languages and Cultures. For students from all programmes in the department, I convene and deliver the Language Skills course at Part 1.

Teaching projects

2008-10 Bridging the gap: a multimedia grammar resource pack for Italian students on the Year Abroad
2011-12 Language Skills. Revision and redesign of a support course aimed at providing metalinguistic competence and strategic tools to year-1 undergraduate language learners.
2010-11 STEP UP. Review and development of the Reading University Languages Ladder (IWLP and DMLES)
2010-15 enthusiasm FOR LANGUAGES. Development and integration of independent and active learning principles within language teaching and assessing in DMLES.
2010-15 TeachON! Project leader/Module convenor. Creation, development and management of a team-taught module, Introduction to Language Teaching, involving staff from DMLES and the UoR International Study and Language Institute (ISLI) and aimed at training visiting students to deliver conversation classes for students of French, German and Italian within the department and the IWLP.
2013-to date OpAL – Open Access to Languages. Project co-leader with Pilar Gray-Carlos (IWLP, UoR). Involving of students as co-creators of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support language learning at secondary and HE level. OpAL materials available at: http://bit.ly/2gT45XE OpAL first-year report available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvxVoxtF8f0

Research centres and groups

I am a member of the Society for Italian Studies in UK and Ireland and was holder of the Language Teaching portfolio for the Society in 2010-2015.

Selected publications

Siciliano Verruccio, E. (2011), 'Ab initio language learning in degree programmes in England and Scotland. A mapping survey and a case study' Subject Centre for Language, Linguistics and Area Studies.

Conference presentations

‘Getting started on and progressing with grammar’, Teaching languages ab initio LLAS, SOAS, London, 12 November 2009
‘What the future holds: The Society for Italian Studies and language teaching’, Enhancing the Italian Curriculum Conference, University of Manchester, 17 September 2010.
‘Progressing with(out) grammar. Grammatica e curricolo di italiano in un corso di laurea in Inghilterra’, Teaching Italian as a Second Language. A Study Day with Maurizio Trifone', University of Leeds, 19 March 2011.
‘Feedback in action: who is doing what?’, Alternative ways of giving feedback, University of Reading, 23 September 2011
‘Feedback in action: who is doing what? A year later’, Innovative Language Teaching and Learning at University: Enhancing the Learning Experience of Modern Languages through feedback, University of Bristol, 25 May 2012.
‘TeachON! New Words for New Worlds’, with Allison Fenner and Allison Nader (IWLP, UoR), Language Futures: Languages in Higher Education Conference 2012, LLAS, UCML and AULC conference, Edinburgh, 5-6 July 2012.
‘When Italian ab initio degrees go extreme: Italian Studies at Reading’, Society for Italian Studies Biennial Conference, University of Durham, 8-11 July 2013
‘Making Access to Languages Open’, with Pilar Gray-Carlos (IWLP, UoR), Open Education Resources in Modern Languages, University of Bristol, 20 September 2013
‘Learning to Learn Languages: the OpAL project’ with Pilar Gray-Carlos (IWLP, UoR), Reshaping Languages in Higher Education, LLAS, UCML and AULC conference, Southampton, 9-10 July 2014
‘OpAL: Open Access to Languages’, with Pilar Gray-Carlos (IWLP, UoR) T&L showcase, University of Reading, 19 November 2014
‘OpAL: Making Access to Languages Open’, with Pilar Gray-Carlos (IWLP, UoR), The Learner conference, Madrid, 9-11 July 2015
‘Grammar?! F***! Adventures in Italian Grammar Teaching’, Choose Italian Teacher Conference, ISMLA (Independent Schools’ Modern Language Association) and SIS as part of the SIS Choose Italian campaign, London, 18 June 2016
‘Adventures in Foreign Language Grammar Teaching’ with DMLES Part 1 student, Main Session at the ISMLA Annual Conference 2017, London, 4 February 2017

Organised events

‘Beliefs about Language Learning (Yrs 12 &13)’, Guest speaker: Suzanne Graham (Institute of Education), University of Reading, 17 March 2010
‘The Southampton Languages Ladder’, Guest speaker: Vicky Wright (University of Southampton), University of Reading, 19 May 2010
Teaching Italian as a Second Language’, A Study Day with Maurizio Trifone, organised with with Chiara La Sala (University of Leeds), University of Leeds, 19 March 2011
‘Alternative ways of giving feedback’, organised with Elena Polisca (University of Manchester), University of Reading, 23 September 2011
‘The challenges of teaching fast-track Italian’, organised with Paola Visconti (University of Southampton), University of Southampton, 24 March 2012
‘Giornata Celebrativa dell’Insegnamento della Lingua Italiana nel Regno Unito’, organised with Alessia Plutino (University of Southampton), Sponsored by Society for Italian Studies and the European Commission Representation in the UK, in partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute in London, Europe House, London, 16 December 2014
‘Disability and Language Learning workshop,’ organised with Laura Brown (Disability Office), Regine Klimpfinger (DMLES) and Daniela Standen (ISLI) University of Reading, 18 May 2017
‘Languages TeachShare’, organised with Alison Fenner (IWLP), University of Reading, 7 June 2017