Doctoral Candidate Giulia Ferro
Contact: giulia.ferro@unive.it
Giulia Ferro is a PhD candidate in the double-degree program at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Heidelberg University under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Drocco and Prof. Hans Harder. Her research focuses on Bangladeshi migrants in Venice and London, more specifically on the linguistic practices of these communities and on the interplay of gender and language in transnational, translingual contexts. Giulia got both her BA and MA in Ca’ Foscari, under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Drocco, focusing on linguistic and sociolinguistic issues in Indo-Aryan languages: specifically, her MA thesis was entitled Colloquial spoken hindi traits: the pragmatic implications of postverbal subject. After some years of working in linguistic and cultural mediation and interpretation, she joined the PNRR CHANGES - CREST project, where she investigated linguistic challenges of Bangladeshi migrants in the Italian learning process. She has participated in several international conferences and symposiums and is peer reviewer in the International Journal of Bilingualism (SAGE). Her latest publications are “Best practices to facilitate social and linguistic migrants’ inclusion in Global Citizenship Education: Bridging Bangladesh and Italy” (DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-15326-5), Verso sillabi per l’insegnamento dell’italiano a bangladesi (http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-022-2), “The Linguistic Heritage of the Bangladeshi ‘New Communities’ of Venice (Italy). Between Italian and Bangla and Beyond” (DOI: 10.30687/AnnOr/2385‑3042/2025/01/008).
Doctoral Research
Project titel: ‘Oder compiti diyeche?’: multi-sited (pluri)language practices of Bangladeshi migrants
The number of Bangladeshi people residing in Europe has increased exponentially in the past decades. This is especially visible in London, one of the first hubs for the Bengali diaspora, and in Italy, more specifically in Venice, where women and children in particular may experience challenges from the linguistic and sociocultural points of view. This research projects builds on key concepts of sociolinguistics like ‘repertoire’, on translanguaging intended as an action verb where language is used to cross invisible borders and negotiate identities and on the interplay among language, gender, and identity, and aims at exploring the linguistic practices of Bangladeshi migrants in both Venice and London using a transnational and multi-sited approach. The use of qualitative methods such as multimodal conversation analysis, narrative analysis, and the creation of visual artifacts will be used to delve into these practices. In this sense, the interplay between macro social and linguistic issues is embedded and visible in daily interactions, where meanings and identities are constructed. This research will have an impact on language learning and teaching in multilingual contexts, and it also aims at creating social and linguistic justice, fostering participation and visibility especially for marginalised communities and languages.