Speakers

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  Stavroula Stavrakaki Professor of Linguistics, specializing in Neurolinguistics, at the Aristotle University
  

  Stavroula Stavrakaki

  Professor of Linguistics, specializing in Neurolinguistics, at the Aristotle University

  Stavroula Stavrakaki is a Professor of Linguistics, specializing in Neurolinguistics, at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), School of Philosophy, Department of Italian Language and Literature. She has held research or teaching positions at universities in Greece and abroad, including University College London and the University of Crete, and has been a faculty member at AUTh since 2004. She has also taught in several undergraduate and postgraduate programs internationally, including in Amsterdam, Groningen, Ferrara, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Milano-Bicocca, Essex, Potsdam, and UCL. She was a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, funded by the European Commission, at UCL, and has participated in funded research projects, including COST Actions focusing on child language. Prof. Stavrakaki has an extensive publication record in international journals, including Brain and Language, Journal of Child Language, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, and Aphasiology. Her research addresses language and other cognitive functions in individuals with acquired and developmental disorders of neurological or genetic origin, as well as their rehabilitation

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  Pantelis Koutsianas Speech-language pathologist and educator
  

  Pantelis Koutsianas

  Speech-language pathologist and educator

  Pantelis Koutsianas is a speech-language pathologist and educator with 25 years of clinical experience in private settings and special education schools. He teaches at the Department of Speech and Language Therapy at Metropolitan College and in secondary education. He also collaborates with the Center for Education and Lifelong Learning (KEDIVIM) of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh).
  He is a PhD candidate in Clinical Linguistics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, focusing his research on Bilingualism and Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). He holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Communication Disorders, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Speech and Language Therapy, Sociology, and Italian Language and Literature.
  He is a member of the Panhellenic Association of Logopedists-Speech Therapists and a member of the Association’s Special Interest Groups for DLD and Bilingualism/Multilingualism.

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  Ioanna Talli Assistant Professor, Department of Italian Language and Literature, School of Philosophy
  

  Ioanna Talli

  Assistant Professor, Department of Italian Language and Literature, School of Philosophy

  Dr. Ioanna Talli holds a BA degree in Special Education from University of Macedonia (2004), MSc in Special Education and Speech and Language Therapy from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (2007), and a PhD in Psychology from University of Paris Descartes and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2010). Since 2021 she is a faculty member of the Department of Italian Language and Literature, School of Philosophy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (currently Assistant Professor). Her primary research interests fall within the field of psycholinguistics and neurodevelopmental disorders (developmental dyslexia, developmental language disorder and autism spectrum disorder). She mainly focuses on the assessment and learning of oral and written language (reading, spelling) and cognitive mechanisms (memory, attention) in monolingual and bi-/multilingual children (Greek, Romance languages, etc.). She teaches courses related to special education, foreign language learning in special education, assessment of second language skills in students with special educational needs, and speech and language disorders. She has participated in various funded research programs in Greece and abroad (she is the Scientific leader in an Erasmus+ Small Scale KA210 project) and has numerous publications in international scientific journals, collective volumes and conference proceedings.

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  Anna Mouti Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics at the School of Italian Language and Literature at Aristotle University
  

  Anna Mouti

  Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics at the School of Italian Language and Literature at Aristotle University

  Anna Mouti is currently an Assistant Professor of Second Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics at the School of Italian Language and Literature at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She also cooperates with the MA Programme “Language education for refugees and migrants” of the Hellenic Open University and the MA “Intercultural Communication” of AUTh (School of German Language and Literature). She has a long teaching experience in various academic positions at the University of Macedonia, the University of Thessaly, and the School of Modern Greek, teaching mainly English for Academic Purposes and Greek as a second language. Her primary research interests include second language acquisition, individual differences, language education for refugees and migrants, and language testing and assessment. She is an ALTE Individual Expert Member and is primarily involved in the research goals of the ALTE-LAMI Special Interest Group.

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  Polyxeni (Xenia) Konstantinopoulou Adjunct lecturer in the Master’s Program of the School of Medicine, “Neurosciences, Neurolinguistics and Applications,” at Aristotle University
  

  Polyxeni (Xenia) Konstantinopoulou

  Adjunct lecturer in the Master’s Program of the School of Medicine, “Neurosciences, Neurolinguistics and Applications,” at Aristotle University

  Polyxeni (Xenia) Konstantinopoulou holds a PhD in Neurolinguistics from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master’s degree in “Language Disorders” from University of Essex. She is an adjunct lecturer in the Master’s Program of the School of Medicine, “Neurosciences, Neurolinguistics and Applications,” at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and is also a lecturer in Special Education at Metropolitan College in collaboration with University of East London in Thessaloniki. She has been awarded an Excellence Scholarship for doctoral and postdoctoral research by the Research Committee of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and was shortlisted for the Social Action Award (Greece) at the Study UK Alumni Awards 2022–2023, presented by the British Council. In addition, she has delivered scientific presentations at international and national peer-reviewed conferences and has contributed publications to conference proceedings and edited academic volumes. Her research interests focus on the linguistic and cognitive development (L1 & L2) of children and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders. She is also the co-founder of My Way, a special education and foreign language teaching center exclusively for students with Special Educational Needs in Thessaloniki. The center received the ELT Excellence 2020 award in the category “Support for Students with Special Needs,” presented by ELT Greece.

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  Elena Theodorou Associate Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Cyprus University of Technology and coordinator of the undergraduate Speech and Language Therapy programme
  

  Elena Theodorou

  Associate Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Cyprus University of Technology and coordinator of the undergraduate Speech and Language Therapy programme

  Dr Elena Theodorou is an Associate Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Cyprus University of Technology and coordinator of the undergraduate Speech and Language Therapy programme. She holds a degree in Speech Therapy from the Higher Institute of Technology of Patras, an MSc in Language and Communication Impairment in Children from the University of Sheffield and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Cyprus. Her current research activity, which is developed in the framework of the activities of the Research Laboratory OPI.L.O.Go, focuses on the detection, identification and diagnosis of children with Developmental Language Disorder and the mapping of their language abilities with the aim of more effective intervention in the bilectal environment of Cyprus and the Greek-speaking population in general. She also investigates speech and language therapy services provided to children with Developmental Language Disorders and Complex Communication Disorders. She is also a member of the Global Tales Project research group, which studies children’s personal storytelling skills, and the group studying Digital Literacy in Speech and Language Therapy. Her current activity includes involvement as a member of the management committee in the COST CA22139 project entitled “Justice to youth language needs: human rights undermined by an invisible disadvantage (Y-JustLang)”. Her research findings have been published in international journals and conference proceedings and presented at international scientific conferences.

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  Eva Commissaire Assistant professor in psychology at the University of Strasbourg
  

  Eva Commissaire

  Assistant professor in psychology at the University of Strasbourg

  Dr. Eva Commissaire holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Lille, France and the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK (2012). Since 2013, she has been an assistant professor in psychology at the University of Strasbourg, France, and a member of the Laboratoire de Psychologie des Cognitions (LPC lab), where she has been heading the ‘Language and Learning’ team since 2022. Her main research interests fall within the field of psycholinguistics and developmental psychology. She mainly focuses on the learning and processing of written language (reading, spelling) in monolingual and bilingual children and adults. She has also conducted research into vocabulary learning in a second language as well as emotional processing in bilinguals. She teaches courses in developmental psychology, from infants to the elderly, covering both cognitive and socio-emotional aspects, as well as the acquisition and processing of written language, school education and neurodevelopmental disorders, including learning disabilities. She is responsible for the first year of the Master’s degree in Developmental and Learning psychology at the University of Strasbourg. She has participated in various funded research programs in France and has published around twenty papers in international scientific journals in the field of psychology. She has several responsibilities at the University of Strasbourg, as a member of the Research Ethics Committee since 2018, and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institute of Language and Communication (entitled LiRIC since 2024, formerly FRLC since 2020). At national level in France, she has been a member of the psychologists committee of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research since 2023, which rules on foreign diplomas with a view to validating the title of psychologist, as well as a nominated member (as a substitute) of the National Universities Council (CNU) since 2023.

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  Margarita Pouli PhD candidate at the Department of Italian Language and Literature of the Aristotle University
  

  Margarita Pouli

  PhD candidate at the Department of Italian Language and Literature of the Aristotle University

  Margarita Pouli is a PhD candidate at the Department of Italian Language and Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She holds a degree in Linguistics from the University of Wolverhampton, officially recognized in Greece as a degree in English Language, as well as an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Birmingham. She also holds a second Master’s degree from the University of Essex with specialization in Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics. In addition, she holds a degree in Primary Education from the University of Cyprus. She has worked in the field of special education and, in recent years, has been working as a primary school teacher.