Loretta Fernandez

I grew up in Caracas Venezuela where I obtained my high school diploma, Bachiller en Humanidades. I moved to Italy due to the political instability in Venezuela where I studied at the Universita degli Studi di Palermo majoring foreign languages and literatures with an emphasis in English, Spanish, and Italian. I got my Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture at the University of Pittsburgh, with a specialization in understanding learning processes to improve teaching (Specifically, I apply Sociocultural Theory and Systemic Functional Linguistics to understand language learning).

While my early career was mainly concerned with teaching Spanish and English in Palermo high schools (I taught in schools located in areas of high poverty and mafia presence). I also worked in many educational projects to promote Foreign Language Learning in different European countries (Spain, France, Belgium, Lithuania, Hungary, Portugal) financed by the European Union. During that period I was also teaching Spanish at the University of Palermo and in public high schools. When I moved to Pittsburgh, I worked at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh. I collaborate with different universities and researchers in South America (Chile, Uruguay, and Colombia), in Italy, China, and the USA.

In terms of research, I am very interested in tools that assist teaching and learning, in particular, I am now researching gaming in learning, how we learn grammar in different languages, and multimodalities and multiliteracies. To do so, I use a theory based approach, in particular, I use sociocultural theory and systemic functional linguistics as keys to interpreting and understanding learning proceses. I think that helping students learn better is an instrument of equity and justice. Poor learning processes lead to disparity and inequality and thus fail our students opportunities to dismantle systems of oppresion.