- Author:
Davide Bozzo
- E-mail:
davide.bozzo@cinqueterresummerschool.it
- Institution:
Cinque Terre Summer School
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1190-2854
- Year of publication:
2018
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
55-80
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2018.09.16
- PDF:
iw/09_2/iw9203.pdf
Essere or avere? The selection of auxiliary between theory and didactics in the teaching of Italian L2
In the teaching of Italian L2, learners and teachers encounter difficulties when they are faced with the issue of auxiliary selection in the formation of compound tenses. If we analyse the way grammars for foreigners deal with the problem, we notice—between hypertrophic classifications and lists of exceptions—the lack of a model that is able to explain the phenomenon in a systematic and exhaustive manner. Looking at the source, i.e., the Italian L1 grammars, the syntactic model based on the distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs, both in its traditional and non-accusative version, is not suitable for application in L2 teaching, especially in the case of learners from countries where little room during class time is given to metalinguistic reflection.
This paper aims to suggest an alternative semantic model that is capable of representing an orientation tool for learners and finding a balance between theoretical and teaching needs, as well as between learning and acquisition. According to our model—which moves the attention from government to diathesis and starts from the meaning of the auxiliaries as autonomous verbs—avere is used when the effects of the action expressed by the verb are directed towards the external world. Meanwhile, essere is used when such effects are directed towards the subject itself, that is, when the syntactic subject of the sentence represents the semantic object of the event, and it therefore assumes the role of the patient, typical of passive and middle diathesis.
- Author:
Monica Mosca
- E-mail:
monica.mosca@gmail.com
- Institution:
Università di Scienze Gastronomiche
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3132-3182
- Year of publication:
2018
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
195-218
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2018.09.23
- PDF:
iw/09_2/iw9210.pdf
The prepositions a, in, per, and tra: Italian L2 of Polish speakers
This article deals with the learning of some spatial prepositions in Italian L2 by Polish learners. Italian and Polish differ in at least two ways, as Polish expresses syntactic relations by a full case system, while Italian relies only on prepositions. More importantly, according to Talmy’s classification, Polish is a satellite-framed language while Italian is verb-framed, but later studies have shown that these categories are not perfectly binary but fuzzy.
In the learning of prepositions, three elements are in play: a natural progression from simpler to more complex prepositions; the conceptualisation of the event in which the prepositions are used to express spatial relations; and the semantic categorisation of the participants into the event, in particular the basic one, Ground.
By means of different elicitation techniques (questionnaires, frog story, and written tasks), many oral and written texts have been collected from Polish learners of Italian of different levels of competence. It has been revealed that the influence of the motion-event typology affects the learning of the motion expressions in an irrelevant proportion; this is probably due to the fact that Polish, like other Slavic languages, appears to be less satellite-framed than Germanic languages, being characterised by the weak autonomy of the verbal prefixes. The inappropriate uses of prepositions confirm the natural progression of complexity, and the semantic categorisation of the Ground also exerts an influence. In any case, the interplay of these different forces gives rise to different personal idiosyncrasies.
- Author:
Anna Zingaro
- E-mail:
anna.zingaro2@unibo.it
- Institution:
Università di Bologna
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2141-9209
- Year of publication:
2018
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
305-325
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2018.09.28
- PDF:
iw/09_2/iw9215.pdf
The “Reckless Life” of syntax: multipurpose che in Italian songs between the 1970s and 1990s
This paper presents findings from the planning and testing of a didactic unit for students of Italian as a second language, a unit that focuses on how to use the multipurpose word che (che polivalente). The materials used in this unit are Italian songs.
The aim of this testing is to support the training of future language mediators, interpreters, and translators at the Department of Interpreting and Translation of the University of Bologna by raising awareness about a linguistic trait of the neo-standard, i.e., the new standard variety of Italian language.
This paper examines the didactic context of testing, how it was carried out, and the phenomenon of the multipurpose che; it also attempts to classify the various cases of the che polivalente in two macro-areas. The outcomes of a quantitative analysis of the data gathered through monitoring are thought to provide evidence for how this practice of using songs may prove useful both in creating a positive atmosphere that fosters language acquisition, as well as in enhancing motivation based on the concept of pleasure. This may facilitate the processing of an otherwise incomprehensible linguistic input and lay the groundwork for further research on the subject, which may also allow for a broader study.
- Author:
Helena Bažec
- E-mail:
helena.bazec@fhs.upr.si
- Institution:
Univerza na Primorskem
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0438-3008
- Year of publication:
2019
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
11-29
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2019.10.1.1
- PDF:
iw/10_1/iw10101.pdf
Pronunciation and writing between L1 and L2: some considerations on spelling errors of Slovene students
This paper proposes a model for the analysis of spelling mistakes that Slovene speakers make in written production in Italian as FL/L2. This model is based on a grid produced by other authors and adapted for the specific needs of the present research. The grid comprises four categories: phonological errors, non-phonological errors, phonetic errors, and punctuation errors. Each category is further divided into sub-categories. The aim of the research is to discover which category yields more errors and what their origin is, in order to propose scientific bases for improvements in teaching Italian to Slovene students. The conclusion is that students and teachers have to deal with first-language interference as well as negative transfer from English as FL/L2, another foreign language that students acquire, and universal strategies comprising generalisation, simplification, and regularisation.
- Author:
Anna Zingaro
- E-mail:
anna.zingaro2@unibo.it
- Institution:
Università di Bologna
- ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2141-9209
- Year of publication:
2023
- Source:
Show
- Pages:
191-210
- DOI Address:
https://doi.org/10.15804/IW.2023.14.2.10
- PDF:
iw/14_2/iw14210.pdf
Architecture of the Regime and Incidental Learning of Italian: A Study with the “Forliviamo” App
This paper aims to describe the use of the Forliviamo app, which fosters incidental learning of Italian as L2 through the promotion of the city of Forlì and its surroundings. It will show how the app was used with a two-fold objective: to introduce users to the controversial topic of Fascist architecture and to foster incidental learning of Italian. After a brief portrayal of the context in which the app originated, the theoretical underpinnings that supported the project, and a general description of the app contents and functions, particular attention will be paid to the analysis of the outcomes of testing with international students. The app was evaluated as very useful from a touristic and educational point of view not only to discover architectural heritage and its specialized vocabulary, but also and especially to promote awareness about the existing debate on the controversial legacy of the architecture of totalitarian regimes.