Dr. Erika Caterina Piazzoli

Dr. Erika Caterina Piazzoli

Assistant Professor, Education

3531896 1975www.erikapiazzoli.com

Biography

I joined Trinity College Dublin in September 2015 as an Assistant Professor in Arts Education. In 2023 I received the Trinity Research Excellence Award, for the category 'Broaden our local and global impact'. Since joining Trinity, I have served as acting strand leader for the Drama in Education strand (2015-2017), Dissertation Coordinator (2017-2019) and Global Engagement Director (2019-2023). Currently I serve as Coordinatator for the Master in Education (MEd) programme, a large programme which features 50 modules, including a Dissertation, across 12 strands. Within the MEd programme, I teach on the 'Drama in Education' and 'Language Education' strands. I also teach Arts in Education within the Professional Master of Education (PME), a professional qualification designed for those who wish to work as post-primary teachers in Ireland. I supervise several postgraduate students at Master's, PhD and DEd level. I am the principal investigator of two research projects, 'Sorgente: Performative Language Practice with Refugees and Migrants' funded by the Irish Research Council, and 'Lacunae: Embodying the Untranslatable', funded by the Trinity Long Room Hub. The Sorgente project was selected as one out of the 12 most innovative projects in Ireland, and featured as part of the 'Change Makers' documentary series, run by the Irish Universities Association, on Irish National Broadcaster RTE 1. I have written four books, including a monograph (Palgrave, 2018), a co-authored book (Armando, 2023) and two edited books (Palgrave, 2024; Routlege, 2024), as well as several reports, book chapters and research articles. I am part of the editorial board of Scenario: Journal of Performative Language Teaching, Learning and Research, which publishes two issues per year. I am chairing the conference committee for the 3rd International Scenario Conference, May 9-11 2024, Trinity College Dublin. My research interests are within the areas of embodiment and aesthetic learning; applied linguistics; performative language pedagogy and research.

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • Erika Piazzoli, Translation in Cross-language Qualitative Research: Pitfalls and Opportunities., Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts, 1, (1), 2015, p80 - 102Journal Article, 2015
  • Erika Piazzoli, Reflection in Action in Cross-Language Qualitative Research, Qualitative Research Journal, 15, (1), 2015, p74 - 85Journal Article, 2015
  • Sociocultural Theory, Process Drama and Second Language Learning in, editor(s)Davis, Susan; Ferholt, Beth; Grainger Clemson, Hannah; Satu-Mari Jansson; Ana Marianovic-Shane , Dramatic Interactions in Education: Vygotskian and Socio-cultural Approaches to Drama, Education and Research, New York, Bloomsbury, 2015, pp153 - 160, [Penny Bundy, Erika Piazzoli, Julie Dunn]Book Chapter, 2015
  • Erika Piazzoli, Engagement as Perception-In-Action in Process Drama for Teaching and Learning Italian as A Second Language. , International Journal for Language Studies, 8, (2), 2014, p91 - 116Journal Article, 2014
  • Erika Piazzoli, The 'Authentic Teacher': Heathcote's Notion of 'Authenticity' in Second Language Teaching and Learning, Drama Research Journal: International Journal of Drama in Education, 5, (1), 2014Journal Article, 2014
  • Erika Piazzoli and Claire Kennedy, Drama: Threat or Opportunity? Managing the 'Dual Affect' in Process Drama for Additional Language Learning, Scenario, 1, 2014Journal Article, 2014
  • Erika Piazzoli, The Silent Gaps in the Data: What Do Participants Say about Engagement When Experiencing Process Drama to Learn an Additional Language, Drama Research Journal: International Journal of Drama in Education, 4, (1), 2013Journal Article, 2013
  • Drama for Additional Language Learning: Dramatic Contexts and Pedagogical Possibilities in, editor(s)Michael Anderson and Julie Dunn , How drama Activates Learning: Contemporary Research and Practice, London, Continuum, 2013, pp208 - 225, [Madonna Stinson and Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2013
  • Erika Piazzoli, Engage or Entertain? The Nature of Teacher/participant Collaboration in Process Drama for Additional Language Teaching, Scenario, 6, (2), 2012Journal Article, 2012
  • Film and Drama Aesthetics for Additional Language Teaching in, editor(s)Joe Winston , Second Language Learning Through Drama, London, David Fulton, 2012, pp134 - 148, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2012
  • Erika Piazzoli, Process Drama: The Use of Affective Space to Reduce Language Anxiety in the Additional Language Learning Classroom, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 16, (4), 2011, p557 - 554Journal Article, 2011
  • Erika Piazzoli, Didattica Process Drama: Principi di Base, Estetica e Coinvolgimento, Italiano LinguaDue, 2011Journal Article, 2011
  • Erika Piazzoli, Process drama and Intercultural Language Learning: An Experience of Contemporary Italy, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 15, (3), 2010, p385 - 402Journal Article, 2010
  • Erika Piazzoli, Process Drama and Additional Language Teaching: Reflections on the Dante Alighieri Immersion Weekends, Applied Theatre Researcher IDEA Journal, 11, 2010, p1 - 12Journal Article, 2010
  • Erika Piazzoli, Metodologia Process Drama e Competenza Interculturale, Culturiana, Settembre, 2009, p69 - 73Journal Article, 2009
  • Intercultural Dramatic Tension and Intercultural Engagement in, editor(s)John Crutchfield, Manfred Schewe , Performative Approaches to Foreign and Second Language Education: Intercultural Contexts and Perspectives, London, Multilingual Matters, 2017, pp172 - 196, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2017
  • Erika Piazzoli, Mapping an ethnography of change in teachers of Italian (L2) learning process drama, Teaching Italian Language and Culture Annual, N/A, (N/A), 2016, p96 - 114Journal Article, 2016, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Luca Marrucci, Erika Piazzoli, Evaluating Learner Engagement in Arts Education: Perspectives from Music and Drama in Education, 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'17), Valencia, Spain, June 21-23 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10, 2017, pp1068 - 1075Conference Paper, 2017, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Scenario: JOURNAL FOR PERFORMATIVE TEACHING, LEARNING, RESEARCH, 2, XI, (2017), Erika Piazzoli, Eucharia Donnery, [Guest Editor]Journal, 2017, URL
  • Voice as aesthetic element of language learning: Enhancing learners' performance through actors' voice training in, editor(s)Oliver Mentz, Micha Fleiner , The Arts in Language Teaching. International Perspectives: Performative - Aesthetic - Transversal, Münster, Lit Verlag, 2018, pp75 - 90, [Erika Piazzoli, Claire Kennedy]Book Chapter, 2018
  • Process drama: The use of affective space to reduce language anxiety in the additional language learning classroom in, editor(s)Joe Winston, Madonna Stinson , Drama education and second language learning, Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge, 2014, pp77 - 94, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2014
  • Erika Piazzoli, Embodying Language in Action: The Artistry of Process Drama for Second Language Education, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan / Springer Nature , 2018Book, 2018, URL
  • Fiona Dalziel; Erika Piazzoli, 'It comes from you': Agency in adult migrants' language learning through process drama, Language Learning in Higher Education, Special issue: Language learning for and with refugees in higher education, 9, (1), 2019, p7 - 32Journal Article, 2019, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli; John Kubiak, 'The only learning I'm going to get': Students with intellectual disabilities learning a second language through performative pedagogy, Scenario: Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research , 13, (1), 2019, p21 - 41Journal Article, 2019, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Taking the cloth off the telescope in, editor(s)S. Even, D. Miladinovic, & & B. Schmenk , Lernbewegungen inszenieren: Performative Zugange in der Sprach, Literatur und Kulturdidaktik, [Putting Learning Movements on Stage: Performative Approaches in Language, Literature and Culture Education.], Tubigen, Germany, Francke Attempto Verlag, 2019, pp23 - 32, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2019, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli; Elif Kir Cullen, The meaning (s) of practice: Puzzling through performative language practice with refugee learners. , Applied Theatre Research, 8, (2), 2020, p227 - 244Journal Article, 2020, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli; Elif Kir Cullen, The double-edged sword of storytelling Performative language pedagogy with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, Scenario: A Journal of Performative Teaching, Learning and Research, 15, (2), 2021, p1 - 26Journal Article, 2021, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Scenario: A Journal of Performative Teaching, Learning and Research, 15, 2, (2021), 1 - 147p, Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel, Garret Scally, [eds.], 1 yearJournal, 2021, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Scenario: A Journal of Performative Teaching, Learning and Research, 15, 1, (2021), 1 - 145p, Susanne Even, Dragan Miladinović, Erika Piazzoli, Manfred Schewe, Fionn Woodhouse, [eds.], 1 yearJournal, 2021, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • The Elements of Drama in Second Language Education: An Intercultural Perspective in, editor(s)Mary McAvoy, Peter O'Connor , The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education, Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge, 2022, pp391 - 407, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2022, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli, Giulia Tiozzo, Il teatro nella glottodidattica: Il process drama dalla teoria alla pratica, Rome, Armando Editore, 2023, 1 - 420ppBook, 2023, URL
  • Piazzoli, Erika & Schewe, Manfred, Arts education in Ireland: Visions of a performative teaching, learning and research culture, JOURNAL DE RECHERCHE EN ÉDUCATIONS ARTISTIQUES, 1, 2023, p72 - 83Journal Article, 2023, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • O'Sullivan, C., Clotworthy, E., Nugent, M., Colleary, S., Keane, E., Piazzoli, E., Gubbins, E., Krakaur, L., Kerin, M., McCormick, S., & Heeran Flynn, L., Arts Alive: A literature review to support curriculum specification development for the area of Arts Education, Abingdon, Oxfon, UK, New York, US, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, October, 2023, p1 - 245Report, 2023, URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli, Rachael Jacobs, Garret Scally, Digital Displacement: Re-inventing Embodied Practice Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic, First, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave MacMillan, 2023, 1 - 197ppBook, 2023, DOI , URL
  • Introduction in, editor(s)Erika Piazzoli, Rachael Jacobs, Garret Scally , Digital Displacement Re-inventing Embodied Practice Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave MacMillan, 2023, pp1-8 , [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2023, DOI , URL
  • Inside Outside and Beyond: Storytelling in the Digital Space with Young Refugees and Migrants in, editor(s)Erika Piazzoli, Rachael Jacobs, Garret Scally , Digital Displacement Re-inventing Embodied Practice Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Cham Switzerland, Palgrave MacMillan, 2023, pp21-45 , [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2023, DOI , URL
  • Erika Piazzoli, Modesto Corderi Novoa, Zoe Hogan, Performing Yuánfèn: An Exploration of Untranslatable Words in the Lacunae Project, Arts, 13, (1), 2024, p1 - 19Journal Article, 2024, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel, Performative Language Learning with Refugees and Migrants Embodied Research and Practice in the Sorgente Project, First, Abingdon, Oxon, UK and New York, USA, Routledge, 2024, 1 - 226ppBook, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Performative language practice and ethical principles in the Sorgente project in, editor(s)Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel , Performative Language Learning with Refugees and Migrants Embodied Research and Practice in the Sorgente Project, Abingdon, Oxon, and New York, US, Routledge, 2024, pp1 - 15, [Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel]Book Chapter, 2024, DOI , URL
  • At the threshold of the ethical imagination: The 'not-a-fish' in, editor(s)Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel , Performative Language Learning with Refugees and Migrants, Abingdon, Oxfon, UK and New York, US, Routledge, 2024, pp57 - 73, [Erika Piazzoli]Book Chapter, 2024, DOI , URL
  • Erika Piazzoli, Process Drama: Aneddoto Contro la Sonnolenza, Officina: La rivista per insegnanti di ALMA Edizioni, Aprile, 2012Journal Article
  • Erika Piazzoli, The Power of 'Teacher in Role', Journal of Modern Language Teachers' Association of Queensland, 49, 2010Journal Article
  • Erika Piazzoli, Autumn Brown, Fiona Dalziel, Rachael Jacobs, Garret Scally, Miriam Stewart, Sorgente Research Report: The Irish Case Studies, Trinity College Dublin, September 2023, 2023, p1 - 204Report, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Conclusion: A poem and a painting in, editor(s)Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel , Performative Language Learning with Refugees and Migrants: Embodied Research and Practice in the Sorgente Project, Abingdon, Oxfon, UK, New York, US, Routledge, 2024, pp188-198 , [Erika Piazzoli, Fiona Dalziel, Rachael Jacobs]Book Chapter, DOI , URL

Research Expertise

Language as performance. Social behaviour as performance. Dramatic form as performance. As an inter-disciplinary genre, 'performative language pedagogy' embraces the concepts of performance in linguistics, performance studies and aesthetic theory. Within performative language teaching, process drama differs from scripted theatre as it has no external audience and does not build towards a final show. Rather, it aims to engage the participants (language learners) in an aesthetic and intercultural experience that follows a cycle of experience, action and reflection. It is based on the premise that all teaching can be seen as an art form and that, conversely, performative teaching implies artistry. If so, what does this artistry involve when teaching a foreign language? I'm interested in performative language pedagogy, teacher education and particularly how we learn through embodiment. Within this area, my research has focused on the language learning experiences of refugees and migrants and their teachers.

  • Title
    Embodiment in Arts-based Language Learning for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: Integrating Visual arts and Italian
    Summary
    This project focuses on exploring embodied learning working with first-year students enrolled in the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID). We aim to consider the effects that embodiment can have on language learning processes, by specifically combining the syllabi of two modules of the ASIAP program in Term 2, 2018: Exploring Art, taught by John Kubiak, and Italian for Beginners, taught by Erika Piazzoli.
    Date From
    January 2017
    Date To
    ongoing
  • Title
    Sorgente: Engaging asylum seekers, refugees and their teachers in performative language pedagogy
    Summary
    Sorgente's objective is to collaborate with City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) through two of its services, the Youth and Education Service (YES) for Refugees and Migrants, and the Adult Education Service, to develop a second language learning programme based on Performative Language Pedagogy.
    Funding Agency
    Irish Research Council
    Date From
    2019
  • Title
    Lacunae: Embodying the Untranslatable
    Summary
    Lacunae's vision is channelling the disorientation brought about by the pandemic into an aesthetic dimension, through a performative exploration of Untranslatable Words.
    Funding Agency
    Trinity Long Room Hub
    Date From
    08-2021

Education, Education, Languages & literature, Creative & performing arts, Languages & literature, Creative & performing arts,