I hold a Master's degree in Translation (LM-94), obtained in 2020, and a Bachelor's degree in Linguistic and Intercultural Mediation (L-12), completed in 2018. Currently, I am enrolled in the Ph.D. program in 'Science of Interpretation' (Scienze dell'Interpretazione) at the University of Catania as a student of the 36th Cycle. My research project focuses on the challenges related to computational processing and translation in Italian Sign Language (LIS).
My research interests are rooted in a socio-semiotic and cognitive framework, with a primary focus on identifying and developing effective approaches for the computational collection and annotation of data in LIS. Specifically, my goal is to establish optimal strategies for processing this data in interdisciplinary contexts. This approach aims to create resources that not only represent the multilinear and multimodal nature of LIS but also provide information that is computer-readable.
Ph.D. Research Project
Challenges in Translating Italian Sign Language: A Computational Approach
The project aims to address the challenges of translation within the context of Italian Sign Language (LIS). This process involves not only interlinguistic, but also intermodal transposition. The approach to translation is viewed through a computational lens, with the objective of examining the specificities of LIS to develop an algorithm for sign recognition that can be used for translation between LIS and Italian.
The research will identify optimal pathways for the development of translation models, considering the complexity of the formational parameters of LIS, and evaluating the modes of representation of the various multimodal ad multilinear elements that co-create signed discourse. At the same time, strategies for computational sign codification will be determined, along with the identification of systems suitable for representing the multilinear and simultaneous nature of LIS. These systems should provide information recognizable and processable by a computer.
Other Activities During the Ph.D.
- Visiting Ph.D. Student at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen.
- Research trainee at the University of Poitiers.
- Guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen.
Oral Presentations at Conferences
- Presentation of the article "Building a Treebank in Universal Dependencies for Italian Sign Language" at the CLiC-it 2020 Conference. Online.
- Presentation of the article "Italian Sign Language and Natural Language Processing: an Overview", co-authored with Sabina Fontana, at the NL4AI 2021-AIxIA Workshop. Online.
- Presentation of "La linguistica della LIS nell'esperienza dell'Università di Catania: strategie didattiche e percezione degli studenti" in collaboration with Erika Raniolo at the LV International SLI Congress. University of Bolzano, Bressanone.
- Presentation of "Annotare la LIS all'Università: strategie degli apprendenti, criticità didattiche e implicazioni metodologiche" in collaboration with Gabriella Ardita at the Teaching LIS and LISt at the University Conference. Ca' Foscari University, Venice.
- Presentation of "Italian Sign Language: Searching for Common Ground Between the Sociosemiotic Perspective and Computational Annotation" at the Sign Café 2 Conference. Special Teaching Structure of Ragusa in Foreign Languages and Literatures.
- Presentation of "La Lingua dei Segni Italiana (LIS) e la costruzione di un dataset in ambito medico: riflessioni teoriche" at the WS3 Linguistica Teorica e Trattamento Automatico delle Lingue. LVI International SLI Congress. University of Turin, Turin.
- Presentation of "Multimodal Collection of Italian Sign Language (LIS) in the Medical Domain: A Step Towards Language Documentation and Machine Translation" at the international conference Documenting languages, documenting cultures. Migration, minorities, dialects. University of Naples Federico II, Naples.
Poster Presentations at Conferences
- Presentation of the poster "Comunicazione tra sordi e udenti in ambito medico: sfide e opportunità per un'assistenza sanitaria inclusiva" at the 5th National LIS Conference. "La Lingua dei Segni Italiana: patrimonio culturale o capitale umano?". University of Calabria, Rende (CS).
- Presentation of the poster "Strategie di notazione delle lingue dei segni: processi spontanei all’interno e ai confini della Comunità segnante" at the international congress of the GSCP "La comunicazione parlata 2023. I venti anni del GSCP." University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome.
Organizing committee member
- International Workshop BRIDGES: Dialogues between Humanities and Science. December 13, 2021. University of Catania, School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Ragusa. Poster.
- Sign Café 2 International Conference. October 13-15, 2022. University of Catania, School of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Ragusa. Poster.
- International Conference "Iconicity in Language and Literature 14". May 30-31, 2024. Benedictine monastery, Catania. Website.
- International Congress "LVII Congresso Internazionale della Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI)". September 19-21, 2024. University of Catania, Catania.
Participation in Conferences
- Participation in the EVALITA-2020 Conference. Online. 17/12/2020.
- Participation in the CLIC-2020 Conference. Online. 02-02-03/03/2021.
- Participation in the Lectures on Computational Linguistics 2021, an event held at the University of Tor Vergata, broadcasted online. 16-17-18/06/2021.
- Participation in the AIxIA 2021-20th International Conference of the Italian Association of Artificial Intelligence. Online. 01-02-03/12/2021.
- Participation in the 47th Italian Conference on Generative Linguistics, University of Catania and online. 24-25-26/02/2022.
- Participation in LREC-2022. Palais du Pharo, Marseille. 23-24-25-26/06/2022.
- Participation in the LV International SLI Congress. University of Bolzano, Bressanone. 08-09-10/09/2022.
- Participation in the International Conference: The integration of social-haptic communication in deafblind interpreting and educational settings. Online. 4-5/09/2023.
- Participation in the international conference: Lenguas de Señas para todos: enseñanza e interculturalidad. Online. 20-21-22/09/2023.
- Participation in the DiParola Festival: Clear, Inclusive, and Accessible Language. Officina Microtesti. Online. 21-22/09/2023.
- Participation in the interdisciplinary symposium Philologists, archaeologists, jurists, writers, artists put to the test (1870-1989). University of Catania, Special Teaching Structure of Ragusa. 9-10-11/10/2023.
Seminars and moderations
- Moderator during the presentation of the book by Anna Folchi and Sara Trovato "La condizione sociale delle persone sorde: storia di una donna e una società udente". The presentation was organized by the Chair of General Linguistics and Itlian Sign Language (LIS) on December 16, 2022, in Room 4, Ex-Military District, SDS of Ragusa. Poster.
- Conduction of the seminar "Annotare la LIS all’Università: strategie degli apprendenti e criticità didattiche" in collaboration with Gabriella Ardita. The seminar was organized by the Chair of General Linguistics and Itlian Sign Language (LIS) Linguistics on May 4, 2023, in Room 4, Ex-Military District, SDS of Ragusa. Poster.
- Conduction of the seminar "Primo approccio a ELAN (Software per la notazione di dati multimodali)". The seminar was organized by the Chair of General Linguistics and Itlian Sign Language (LIS) on May 30, 2023, in Room 4, Ex-Military District, SDS of Ragusa.
Participation in Summer Schools
- Participation in the Corpus Linguistics Summer School 2022 - Centre for Corpus Research (CCR), July 4-7, University of Birmingham.
Other Collaborations
- Collaborator at CIRCLeS (Centro Interuniversitario ‘Cognizione Linguaggio e Sordità’), since 2021.
- Secretary of the GSPL (Gruppo di Studio sulle Politiche Linguistiche) of the Italian Linguistic Society (Società di Linguistica Italiana- SLI), since 2023.
Affiliations
- Member of the Società di Linguistica Italiana (SLI)
- Member of the Gruppo di Studio sulle Politiche Linguistiche (GSPL) of the SLI
- Member of the Associazione Italiana di Linguistica Computazionale (AILC)
- Member of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA)
- Member of the Associazione Italiana di Storia Orale (AISO)
- Gaia Caligiore, Cristina Bosco and Alessandro Mazzei. 2021. «Building a Treebank in Universal Dependencies for Italian Sign Language.» A cura di Felice Dell'Orletta, Fabio Tamburini, Johanna Monti. CLiC-it 2020 Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics 2020. Bologna: CEUR Workshop Proceedings.
- Sabina Fontana e Gaia Caligiore. 2021. «Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Natural Language Processing: an Overview.» A cura di Pierpaolo Basile, Valerio Basile, Danilo Croce, Elena Cabrio. Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Natural Language for Artificial Intelligence (NL4AI 2020) co-located with the 19th International Conference of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI*IA 2020). Online: CEUR Workshop Proceedings.
- Gaia Caligiore. «A Bimodal Bilingual Approach to Teaching English to Deaf Signers: a Case Study in the University Context.» Rivista di Psicolinguistica Applicata, Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics. Fabrizio Serra Editore. (In print).
- Gabriella Ardita, Gaia Caligiore. «Annotare la LIS all’Università. Strategie degli apprendenti, criticità didattiche e implicazioni metodologiche.» Insegnare la LIS e la LISt all’Università: esperienze, materiali, strumenti per la didattica e per la valutazione, Collana LISS, Edizioni Ca’Foscari. (Under review).
- Gaia Caligiore. «Italian Sign Language: Searching for Common Ground Between the Sociosemiotic Perspective and Computational Annotation.» Sign Language & Linguistics (Rivista di Classe A). John Benjamins Publishing Company. (Under review).
- Erika Raniolo, Gaia Caligiore e Sabina Fontana. «Narrare l’Alterità tra Lingua dei Segni e Lingua Vocale: La Poesia nel Percorso di Empowerment». Streghe, stregoni, eretici e altri cattivi soggetti. Collana Wunderkammer, Mimesis Edizioni. ISBN-13 9791222310534. (Under review).