Italian as a foreign language: Teaching and acquisition in higher education


Book Description

This manual focuses on teaching Italian as a foreign language in the academic field, taking into consideration the various subjects and disciplines that can be found in a university course in Italian Studies. Various chapters are included within that range, for example, from Italian phonetics and dialectology to art as a means to deepen elements of the Italian language, to morphology with word formations, and to translation as well as subtitling. The range also covers technology as a tool for telecollaboration, academic writing, and learning Italian through geography or the language of vulgarity. Besides, the manual takes into consideration the use of the Italian press for learning, together with the use of comics and cartoons to teach the Italian language. The contribution aims to be a point of reference both for teachers and students who are focusing on linguistics, philology, didactics, and pedagogy. It lays emphasis on the teaching methodology, the instruments of teaching, and the available resources. It also seeks to deal with the various teaching problems and reflects on the disciplines as well as alternative proposals for teaching.




Higher Education and Second Language Learning


Book Description

In this volume, academics involved in teaching second languages at university level describe how they have embraced the challenges involved in facilitating student learning. It sets out practical ideas which can be implemented in everyday contexts, while ensuring that pedagogical practice is underpinned by the relevant theoretical literature.




New Approaches to Teaching Italian Language and Culture


Book Description

New Approaches to Teaching Italian Language and Culture fills a major gap in existing scholarship and textbooks devoted to the teaching of Italian language and culture. A much-needed project in Italianistica, this collection of essays offers case studies that provide a coherent and organized overview of contemporary Italian pedagogy, incorporating the expertise of scholars in the field of language methodology and language acquisition from Italy and four major countries where the study of Italian has a long tradition: Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. The twenty four essays, divided into six main parts, offer a tremendous variety of up-to-date approaches to the teaching of Italian as a foreign language and L2, ranging from theoretical to more practical, hands-on strategies with essays on curricular innovations, technology, study abroad programs, culture, film and song use as effective pedagogical tools. Each case study introduces a systematic approach with an overview of theory, activities and assessment suggestions, collection of research data and syllabi. The book addresses the needs of instructors and teacher trainers, putting in perspective different examples that can be used for more effective teaching techniques according to the ACTFL guidelines and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.




CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) through English in Italian Higher Education


Book Description

This is a research study monograph into an approach known as Content and Language Integrated Learning or CLIL through English in Italian higher education. There is as yet little agreement on terminology, definitions, learning theories or classroom approaches as regards CLIL. A distinction is therefore made between CLIL, ICLHE (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education), Content-based Instruction, L2-medium Instruction and Bilingual Education. The research design comprises both quantitative and qualitative elements. A questionnaire survey of all Italian universities profiled the many courses presently delivered using English as the vehicular language, and found some homogeneity in process and subjects, but differences linked to private or public funding and to geographical area. A survey of students (n=134) was designed and administered to obtain their evaluation of a list of techniques used by lecturers to help students understand lectures delivered through English. Respondents recognised and considered as useful most of the categories, including the use of repetitions, examples, summaries, definitions, synonyms, questions and emphasising with intonation. The qualitative part involved observing, recording, transcribing, and analysing lectures delivered through English by four university science lecturers, who were also interviewed. Results confirm the validity of some input presentation strategies and show similarities and differences between student and lecturer perceptions. The data also show discrepancies, at times, between the strategies considered useful by the lecturers and those actually used in the classes.







Production-oriented and Comprehension-based Grammar Teaching in the Foreign Language Classroom


Book Description

The book addresses one of the key controversies in teaching foreign language grammar, which is the utility of production-oriented instruction, as exemplified in the PPP sequence, and comprehension-based teaching, as implemented in interpretation tasks and processing instruction. It provides a thorough overview of issues related to learning and teaching grammar, with a particular focus on input-oriented approaches, and reports the findings of four studies which sought to compare their effects with instruction based on different forms of output practice. The findings serve as a basis for guidelines on how the two options can be successfully combined in the classroom




Critical CALL – Proceedings of the 2015 EUROCALL Conference, Padova, Italy


Book Description

The theme of the conference this year was Critical CALL, drawing inspiration from the work carried out in the broader field of Critical Applied Linguistics. The term ‘critical’ has many possible interpretations, and as Pennycook (2001) outlines, has many concerns. It was from these that we decided on the conference theme, in particular the notion that we should question the assumptions that lie at the basis of our praxis, ideas that have become ‘naturalized’ and are not called into question. Over 200 presentations were delivered in 68 different sessions, both in English and Italian, on topics related specifically to the theme and also more general CALL topics. 94 of these were submitted as extended papers and appear in this volume of proceedings.




Foreign Language Proficiency in Higher Education


Book Description

This volume comprises of chapters that deal with language proficiency relating to a wide range of language program issues including curriculum, assessment, learners and instructors, and skill development. The chapters cover various aspects of a broad-based proficiency initiative, focusing on numerous aspects of foreign language learning, including how skills develop, how assessments can inform curriculum, how learners and instructors view proficiency and proficiency assessment, and how individual use of technology furthers language learning. The concluding chapter points the way forward for issues and questions that need to be addressed.




Multilingualism and third language acquisition


Book Description

The purpose of this book is to present recent studies in the field of multilingualism and L3, bringing together contributions from an international group of specialists from Austria, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, and United States. The main focuses of the articles are three: language acquisition, language learning and teaching. A collection of theoretical and empirical articles from scholars of multilingualism and language acquisition makes the book a significant resource as the papers present a wide perspective from main theories to current issues, reflecting new trends in the field. The authors focus on the heterogeneity and complexity that characterize third language acquisition, multilingual learning and teaching. As the issues addressed in this book intersect, it represents an asset and therefore the texts will be of great relevance for the scientific community. Part I presents different topics of L3 acquisition, such as syntax, phonology, working memory and selective attention, and lexicon. Part II comprises texts that show how the research on language acquisition informs pedagogical issues. For instance, the role of the knowledge of previous languages in the teaching of L3, the attitudes of multilingual teachers to plurilingual approaches, and the benefits of crosslinguistic pedagogy versus classroom monolingual bias. In sequence, Part III consists of texts on individual learning strategies, such as motivation and attitudes, crosslinguistic awareness, and students’ perceptions about teachers’ “plurilingual nonnativism”. All these chapters include several different languages in contact in an acquisition/learning context: Basque, English, French, German, Italian, Ladin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.




Contemporary Research in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning


Book Description

This volume is focused on the teaching and acquisition of language for special, professional or general purposes, as well as the needs and challenges associated with foreign language pedagogy in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) or, more generally, Language for Specific Purposes (LSP). It presents innovative methodology and technology-integrated approaches that will serve to benefit teacher development and assist language practitioners in enhancing student investment and motivation. A pragmatic tool for utilization at the local level, this collection provides an international panorama of language pedagogy that is of great use to both junior and senior researchers. It will also serve as a source of inspiration for future and seasoned language practitioners and in-service teacher educators.