88367 - Teaching Italian as L2 for Infant and Primary School

Learning outcomes

This course aims at assisting students in acquiring key knowledge and the skills needed to teach and enhance the experience of Italian as a Second Language (ISL) in plurilingual formal settings. Specifically, by the end of the course, students are able to describe the development process of second language acquisition from different theoretical perspectives (psychological, linguistic, social and cultural theories). They are able to identify and use the distinguishing features characterizing key language teaching approaches, methodologies and techniques. They are able to observe, promote and assess ISL learning and to plan and organize ISL teaching activities in Infant and Primary school education. They know how to promote children’s discovery skills and ability to observe the coexistence of a plurality of cultural and linguistic codes.

Course contents

Nowadays, most educational formal settings in Italy are inherently multilingual and multicultural. If the phenomena of bilingualism recurring in the past had mostly an endogenous character, with stratifications within the same linguistic system, at present, the label "foreign student" refers to quite an articulated range of learner profiles and reflects the richness and diversity of the universe of languages. As a result, the task educators and teachers are called upon to perform today also includes professional knowledge about how a second language is acquired, how to effectively organize language learning in a multilingual classroom, how to enhance the dimension of language learning in the study of disciplinary content.

Teaching Italian as a Second Language in Infant and Primary schools is a 48-hour course, divided into three modules and worth 8 credits.

In the first module on Language teaching (24 hours, Paola Polselli), the development of Italian as a Second Language (ISL) learning in Infant and Primary school settings will be addressed with reference to literature on Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Students will thus acquire: 1) fundamental knowledge on how children communicate in the different phases of ISL acquisition (interlanguage development); 2) will learn to identify individual and external factors which might impact their language learning; 3) will learn how to best handle different kind of input/output and variable dynamics of interaction to promote negotiated meanings and socially shared cognition. The aim is both to foster a critical understanding of language teaching methodologies and to acquire knowledge leading to informed choices to support and encourage ISL learning by adopting positive teaching practices that enhance and promote multilingual perspectives, cultural diversity and social inclusion. In particular, discussion and activities will focus on:

• the learner's multilingual profile and language learning at Infant and Primary level
• the presence of unknown languages in the classroom as an opportunity for language education
  
• acquisitional linguistics and interlanguage observation
  
• needs analysis and goals setting in language learning and teaching
  
• the main theories on language learning and the approaches or teaching methods derived from them
  
• the types of input and the socio-actional dimensions of communicative competence
  
• the types of educational intervention in error treatment
  
• the study of school subjects and peer-learning activities in the multilingual classroom
  
• the definition of teaching and learning materials for ISL (analysis, design and development)
  
• multilingual learners and language assessment (key elements).

The second module on Italian as Second Language for learners of Chinese background (12 hours, Sabrina Ardizzoni) will focus on linguistic, cultural, and social aspects specifically relevant to young learners of ISL of Chinese background.

We are going to address the following issues:

• Language: Chinese linguistics from an historical, typological, phonetic and grammatical point of view. The dialects of China. The adherence to a normative language in China and abroad. Chinese writing systems.
• The State: From “One Country, Two Systems” to “The New Silk Road”: an outline of the evolution of State in contemporary China and the impact on internal and overseas migrations.
• The family: Family as pivotal identity element in Chinese culture and the importance of kinship nets.
• School and educational frameworks: From the traditional schooling system to new educational models in the 20th century, and new educational opportunities in 21st century China.
• Teaching tools: the first phases of ISL learning of newly arrived children from China and linguistic teaching children of second – or third – generation Chinese: assessment, teaching-program projects, resources for teachers; the empowering of advanced language skills, the importance of a new culture, the relation with family and community.

The third module of Italian for Arabic speakers (12 hours, Monica d'Argenzio) aims to provide a theoretical and methodological overview of the teaching of the ISL for Arabic speakers. The premise is that learning a language, rather than being limited to a mere didactic exercise, is first of all a social experience involving delicate aspects of personal identity, respect for others and the perception of oneself as well as the relationship with one's own culture. This is why we aim to tackle these issues by trying to analyze and dismantle the more complex issues that often characterize the process of those who learn the Italian language in Italy starting from a different language and culture. The thesis is that every foreigner, by adopting, voluntarily or not, Italian does not abandon the mother tongue but rather grafts the second language onto the first, developing that fascinating and complex condition of bilingualism that is typical of those who learn to live with two different languages. In this scenario the language teacher is a privileged spectator and, at the same time, the guide who can accompany and guide this path with positive results. Without any pretension of exhaustiveness, an overview will be presented on the socio-cultural and linguistic aspects that characterize what is, by convention, called the Arab world. Reference will be made to the migratory presence in Italy coming from this socio-geographic area and to the characteristics of the learners present in the Italian school (children, adolescents, adults). From the identification of the specificity of the Arabic language, attention will then be focused on the techniques to develop the different skills considered and illustrative case studies will be presented, especially in reference to written and oral productions. The topics will be the following.

• The Arabic world: a socio-cultural and linguistic area with 1000 faces
  
• The Arabic language: its main features
  
• Arabic-speaking students in the Italian school. Types of learners: children, adolescents, adults
  
• Teaching Italian to Arabic-speaking learners: glottodidactic, intercultural and linguistic strategies
  
• Productive skills and Arabic-speaking learners
  
• Case studies on how Arabic-speaking students learn.

Readings/Bibliography

Module 1:

• Andorno, C., Sordella, S. (2018), “Usare le lingue seconde nell’educazione linguistica: una sperimentazione nella scuola primaria nello spirito dell’Éveil aux langues”, in De Meo A., Rasulo M., (a cura di), Usare le lingue seconde. Comunicazione, tecnologia, disabilità, insegnamento, Studi AItLA 7, Milano, pp. 211-233. 
  
• Andorno, C. (2020), “Quando i bambini fanno i linguisti. Osservare la competenza metalinguistica in un laboratorio di Éveil aux langues”, in Italiano LinguaDue, n. 2, pp. 353-369.
• Daloiso, M. (2009), I fondamenti neuropsicologici dell’educazione linguistica, Venezia, Cafoscarina, cap. 7, pp. 97-114.
  
• Pallotti, G. (1998/2000), La seconda lingua, Roma, Bompiani (parti).
  
• Whittle, A. (2015), “Focalizzare la forma: sviluppo della competenza linguistica nella classe multilingue della scuola primaria”, in Italiano LinguaDue, n. 2, pp. 13-35.

Module 2:

• Mammuccari, Nuzzo (2019) "Acquisizione e uso dell’articolo italiano da parte di sinofoni. Uno studio di caso sull’espressione della definitezza".
• Andorno (2010) "Lo sviluppo della morfosintassi in studenti cinesi".
• Ardizzoni (2012) "Riflessioni sulla mediazione linguistico-culturale in ambito scolastico: note a margine di una lettura di Edgar Morin".

Text for consultation: Bernini (2017) "Da lingue extraeuropee verso l’italiano. Tra linguistica acquisizionale e tipologia linguistica".

Module 3:

• Branca P. (2008), “A scuola di civiltà” in Branca P. e Santerini M. (a cura di) Alunni arabofoni a scuola, Carocci Ed., Roma, pp. 17-36.
• Della Puppa, F. (2006), Lo studente di origine araba, Perugia, Guerra, (parti).

The full list of readings (Modules 1, 2, 3) will be posted on “Virtuale” at https://virtuale.unibo.it/.

Teaching methods

Lectures, dialogic talk, case studies, group activities and peer feedback sessions, individual work.

Assessment methods

The final exam will evaluate the student’s proficiency in the course contents and will consist of two parts:
- a written task on transcripts or teaching materials (students will be asked to analyze and produce educational materials) aimed at assessing working practice knowledge;
- a written examination (answers to open-ended and/or closed-ended questions) aimed at evaluating the student’s critical and theoretical knowledge of topics related to the chapters and the essays on second language acquisition and second language teaching listed in the bibliography.

Non-attending students will take a written (answers to 4 open-ended questions) and an oral examination.

The evaluation criteria encompass: relevance of content; extent and depth of concepts and of conceptual links; mastery of the skills necessary to analyze, discuss and produce educational material; accuracy in written/oral production and terminology use.

Positive evaluation scores range from 18/30 to 30/30 (30/30 cum laude, in case of outstanding results).

• A high or the maximum evaluation score (ranging from 27 to 30 cum laude) will be awarded to students who demonstrate full knowledge and mastery of theoretical and applied concepts and have a critical grasp of them (see course contents for Module 1, 2, 3 and related readings). Such students are highly accurate in their exposition and can use appropriate technical terminology.
• Students who demonstrate a good grasp of theoretical and applied knowledge derived from course contents but who haven’t fully mastered linguistic, critical, discursive and terminological resources will be awarded a medium evaluation score (23-26).
• A low evaluation score (18-22) will be awarded to students demonstrating a sufficiently secure mastery of theoretical and applied knowledge as described in course contents/bibliography, but exhibit a tottering control of the required linguistic, critical, discursive and terminological resources.

Teaching tools

Paper and digital texts (authentic materials from textbooks and websites relevant for Italian as a second language learning; dialogue transcriptions and examples from reference texts etc.); multimedia presentations; online and offline digital resources (iconic, audio and video resources).

Office hours

See the website of Paola Polselli

See the website of Sabrina Ardizzoni

See the website of Monica D'Argenzio