Giorgio Piazza
I am a post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of Developmental and Social Psychology (DPSS) of the University of Padova (with Prof. Peressotti), in Italy. I work on audiovisual integration and proactive brain using M/EEG . I am a member of the Cognition and Language Laboratory (CoLab).
Previously, I was a PhD student at BCBL (Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language) based in San Sebastián, Spain. I have worked under the supervision of Prof. Martin and Prof. Kalashnikova to investigate phonetic changes and speech adaptation in listener-oriented registers, also employing neuroimaging techniques.
In my free time I am a rugby player, I read and write, I play drum, and I like practicing a large variety of sports and activities.
RESEARCH
I am a linguist and my field of interest is
language research, bilingualism, speech production, sentence processing, and psycholingusitics.
SOCIALLY MEDIATED SPEECH PRODUCTION AND COMPREHENSION
At present my research focus is on speech production that is oriented to listeners and to help their comprehension.
I investigate speech changes that depend on the identity of the listeners (beign native or non-native)
and on the context of communication.
I am expecially interested in understanding how communication with non-native listener works, within the context of the so called "Foreigner-directed speech". I am mainly directing my research to the acoustic properties of this speech register, and other clear speech registers.
Lastly, I am interested in the neural correlates derived from listening to such registers.
Shedding light on these issues will help models of perception and hearing, which could possibly be employed for hearing deficit recovery, and models of communication that could delineate better strategies for successful communication and teaching of second languages.
Contact me if you wish to know more about my research.
giorgio.piazza@hotmail.it
2022
Piazza, G., Martin, C., & Kalashnikova, M. (2022). The acoustic features and didactic function of Foreigner Directed Speech: A Scoping Review. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 65(3): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-21-00609.
2021
Piazza, G., Calabria, M., Semenza, C., & Poletto, C. (2021). Processing of semantic and grammatical gender in Spanish speakers with aphasia. Aphasiology. Doi:10.1080/02687038.2021.1924355
2020
Grunden, N., Piazza, G., García-Sánchez, C., & Calabria, M. (2020). Voluntary language switching in the context of bilingual aphasia. Behavioral Sciences, 10(9). Doi:10.3390/bs10090141
MY CV
Achievements and Experience
MASTER OF ARTS IN APPLIED STATISTICS
December 2020 – October 2021
I was awarded the Master's Degree in Applied Statistics at UNED.
PHD STUDENT
November 2019 – Present
I am a predoctoral researcher at the BCBL, a research center with high-quality standards and competitive lab equipment (EEG, MEG, eyetracking, RMI). I work under the supervision of Prof. Clara Martin and Prof. Marina Kalashnikova, investigating speech production and perception with foreigner interaction (L2 speakers). We are aiming to conduct EEG/ERP experiments to understand which early (300ms) ERP component is related to the intention of an unconscious hyper-articulation of words in L1 speakers when addressing a foreigner. In addition, we wish to better understand the perception mechanism of foreigner directed speech and whether this type of speech elicits typical components in comparison with native directed speech and whether foreigner directed speech elicits a higher neural entrainment with the listener than native directed speech.
LA CAIXA-INPHINIT FELLOW
November 2019
"La Caixa” Foundation awarded me with the INPhINIT fellowship, one of the most competitive and prestigious grants in Europe. This is a selective fellowship that promotes innovative and high-quality research by recruiting outstanding international students and offering them an attractive and competitive environment for conducting research of excellence.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
University Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
April 2019 – July 2019
I was awarded a three-month grant (Erasmus Traineeship) for research and I joined the Speech Production and Bilingualism group (Brain and Cognition Lab). I worked with Prof. Marco Calabria on bilingual production (language switching).
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
University of Padua (Italy)
October 2018 – April 2019
I collaborated with the CoLab research group in Padua (Cognition and Language Laboratory – Language section) and I helped to conduct an EEG/Time-Frequency experiment.
I also conducted an experiment on Italian-Venetian dialect bilingualism, based on findings on within-language semantic interference effects and between-languages translation facilitation effects.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Pompeu Fabra University (Spain)
October 2017 – July 2018
I was a research assistant for an EEG/ERPs study on bilingual population in Catalonia. I autonomously recruited and tested 27 participants. I also ran data analysis employing BrainVision Analyzer.
I conducted a behavioral study for my Master’s thesis, titled “Transparent and Opaque Gender Processing in Spanish Patients with Aphasia. A Case Study on Gender Priming and Semantic vs Grammatical Gender.”, at Barcelona’s Sant Pau Hospital, supervised by Prof. Cecilia Poletto, Prof. Carlo Semenza and Prof. Marco Calabria.
Working with aphasic patients and with bilingual participants and managing all the organizational duties has forced me to be flexible and has allowed me to develop my problem-solving skills.
MASTER’S DEGREE IN LINGUISTICS
2016-2018
I graduated in October 2018 with a final grade of 110/110 summa cum laude
GET IN TOUCH
Mikeletegi Pasealekua, 69, 20009 Donostia, Gipuzkoa
+34 943 309 300 Ext.: 312