Professor Ros Herman is a leading researcher in the fields of Deaf Studies, language development, and sign language assessment. Her work focuses on the assessment of linguistic and cognitive skills in Deaf children, with particular emphasis on narrative abilities and the role of language abilities in literacy achievement. She has developed and validated innovative tools for evaluating language in British Sign Language (BSL), contributing significantly to evidence-based educational practices. In her keynote lecture, Professor Herman will address current approaches in assessment and language interventions with Deaf children who use BSL, highlighting implications for research and professional practice.

Professor Letícia Maria Sicuro Corrêa is a distinguished researcher in psycholinguistics and language acquisition, with a strong focus on the cognitive and linguistic processes underlying language development. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics and applied research, contributing to the understanding of how children acquire grammar and how language is processed. She has led studies on morphosyntax, sentence processing, and developmental language disorders, with important implications for clinical and educational contexts. In her presentation, Professor Corrêa will discuss applications of psycholinguistics and language acquisition research in health and education, highlighting how scientific findings can inform assessment, intervention, and teaching practices.

Doctor Thierry Nazzi is a leading researcher in developmental psycholinguistics and infant speech perception. His research focuses on how very young children perceive speech and acquire words and grammar, and on identifying the mechanisms that enable children to learn the different levels of structure of their native language. His studies compare language acquisition in monolingual and bilingual children, and also investigate atypical developmental trajectories, including children with Williams syndrome, deaf children with cochlear implants, and preterm infants. In his lecture, Professor Nazzi will present current findings and theoretical perspectives on infant speech perception and early language development.

Professor Evan Kidd is a researcher in psycholinguistics, specializing in language acquisition and adult language processing. His research focuses on how children and adults acquire and use language, with particular attention to individual differences in learning, the relationship between language acquisition and online sentence processing from a crosslinguistic perspective, and the influence of typological diversity on sentence planning and production. His work spans first language acquisition, bilingualism, and second language acquisition, and draws on data from a wide range of typologically diverse languages. He also investigates how language interfaces with social and cognitive processes, including the relationship between language development and symbolic play.

Professor María de Lourdes De León Pasquel is a prominent researcher in linguistic anthropology and language acquisition, with a focus on indigenous languages and child development. Her work examines how children acquire communicative competence within specific cultural and social contexts, combining ethnographic methods with linguistic analysis. She has conducted long-term field research on Tzotzil-speaking communities in Chiapas, contributing significantly to the understanding of language socialization and discourse development. In her lecture, Professor De León Pasquel will present her research on the development of Tzotzil and the acquisition of communicative competence during middle and late childhood in Nabenchauk, Zinacantán, Chiapas, highlighting its theoretical and sociolinguistic implications.