Pietro Pesce

Biography

Dr. Pietro Pesce is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian at Pepperdine University. He holds a PhD from Florida State University, where he also completed a Master's Degree in Italian Studies (Literature and Linguistics). Dr Pesce's research interests center around Acquisition of Foreign Languages and Syntax, and he is actively investigating grammatical processing of complex morphosyntax in second and heritage language speakers of Italian and Spanish. More recently, he has started working on a sociolinguistic project on the mixing and switching of native languages in the Piedmont region of Italy, seeking to clarify societal and communicative needs that drive morphosyntactic and lexical choices in the unrehearsed speech of Italian/Piedmontese bilinguals. Additionally, Dr Pesce has been involved in the reshaping and redesigning of foreign language courses for several years, focusing his efforts in the renovation of grading systems, the revitalization of contents, and the integration of newer instructional tools in the classroom.