Enrica Piccardo

Department Acting Chair
Full Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education, OISE

Contact info

enrica.piccardo@utoronto.ca

Office
Odette Hall 312
University of Toronto
50 St. Joseph Street
Toronto, ON M5S 1J4

Phone 416-926-2321

Office Hours

TBA

Research Interests

Through her research and investigation, Prof. Piccardo has cast light onto the implication of linguistic and cultural diversity in language education. Using the lens of complexity theories, she investigates the links between cognitive, emotional, and social aspects in relation to linguistic and cultural diversity and to the teaching and learning of second/foreign languages, teacher development, and the structuring of curricula. Her research focuses on plurilingualism and mediation, the impact of the Common European Framework of References on language teaching, learning, and assessment, and above all the implementation of plurilingual and action-oriented approaches.

As a researcher, she has actively contributed to the work of the Council of Europe as a member of the CEFR Expert Group, as a co-author of the new edition of the CEFR (CEFR Companion Volume), which extends and updates the 2001 edition with descriptors for mediation, plurilingual and pluricultural competence, and phonological competence among others, as well as coordinating two international projects for the Council of Europe’s European Modern Language Centre: Encouraging the Culture of Evaluation among Professionals (ECEP: 2008-11): The case of language teachers; and A Quality Assurance Matrix for CEFR Use (CEFR QualiMatrix: 2016-18).

In her research in Canada she has been the Principal Investigator of several projects, among which “QualiCEFR”; “LINguistic and Cultural DIversity REinvented (LINCDIRE)”; “COVID-19: Supporting online language learning: Fostering pedagogical innovation in a time of crisis”; and “Advancing agency in language education”(ongoing). Prof. Piccardo’s work has bee supported by numerous funders, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the European Modern Language Center – Council of Europe, the Italian Ministry of Education and the Centre for Canadian Benchmarks.