Alessia started teaching Italian to foreigners in the early 90's, working for the AFSAI (Associazione per la Formazione, gli Scambi e le Attività Interculturali), an association that promotes and supports short and long-term exchanges throughout the world.
She has served as director of the Sardinian branch of the association and oversaw the long-term exchange program for students staying in Italy for one year. She also organized and managed several short-term exchange programs throughout Europe financed by the European Community (mainly through the Youth for Europe program).
After graduating from the University of Cagliari, in Sardinia, Italy, with a Master degree in Language Teaching Methodology and Linguistics, she won a scholarship to study at the Scuola di Specializzazione in Didattica della Lingua Italiana a Stranieri (School for the Teaching of Italian as a Second Language) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena. Her studies focused on the methodology of teaching Italian language and literature, Italian linguistics, semiotics, education, linguistic politics, and evaluation and language testing.
She offered Italian language and Culture courses in Siena and Paris between 2005 and 2007. She then moved to the US to work at the University of Massachusetts from September 2007 until May 2009. That same year she came to Chicago where she started her teaching experience at Loyola University where she continues to teach. In recent years, her main focus has been to encourage as many students as possible to pursue CILS Certification (Certificate of Italian as a Foreign Language) by the Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy.
After 10 years of commitment to this program, she is a recognized expert in preparation of foreign students for CILS.
