La rappresentazione delle diversità nei materiali glottodidattici Un’indagine comparativa sui manuali di inglese americano e d’italiano per stranieri

This chapter presents the results of a research study on the photographs used in a sample of foreign language coursebooks (FLC). The study aimed to determine to what extent the pictures are representative of the different types of diversity that constitute our societies. A corpus of 699 pictures taken from a selection of FLC of English and Italian was created. On the whole, the analysis showed that, while cultural diversity is widely present in the FLC, other types of diversity, such as disability or the LGBT community, are mostly neglected. The results of the study are relevant for researchers and publishers interested in inclusive textbook design, as it highlights the relevance of pictures in FLC not only as an aesthetic and pedagogical support, but also as visual representations of diversity as a value in our society.

Inclusione, valutazione e plurilinguismo: concetti inconciliabili?

The aim of this paper is to define the relationships between three fundamental dimensions of educational linguistics: inclusion, assessment and plurilingualism, reflecting in particular on the intersections between these three dimensions. It then describes the EVAL-IC project, an example of a tool for the assessment of plurilingual competencies in intercomprehension, and shows the results of a preliminary analysis of some data from the EVAL-IC test. This proposal for plurilingual assessment represents an important step towards the integration of plurilingual education, inclusion and assessment.

Pratiche di mediazione non professionale degli studenti stranieri immigrati di prima o seconda generazione nel sistema scolastico italiano

The study investigates the extent and characteristics of the phenomenon of Child Language Brokering (CLB) in the Italian school system, namely the linguistic mediation of foreign students for their relatives and the institutions of the host country. A questionnaire administrated to 347 students of 36 nationalities of two secondary high schools of Perugia, detected the characteristics of CLB, foreign students’ attitude towards their language and culture of origin and those of the host country, and their relationship with the mediation practices. After an introduction and an overview of the literature on CLB, paragraphs 3 and 4 describe the materials and methods used and the results obtained. Finally, conclusions concern the enhancement of CLB in an inclusive perspective.

La prospettiva glottodidattica del Progetto nazionale per l’inclusione e l’integrazione dei bambini rom, sinti e caminanti

The purpose of the essay is to examine the aspects and procedures of the National Project for the Inclusion and Integration of Roma, Sinti and Caminanti Children carried out in Italy in the years 2013-2016 by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies. Some previous laws and regulations aiming at curbing the significant school dropout of Gypsy pupils and at promoting their integration are also taken into consideration. Given the unique cultural and linguistic identity of RSC pupils, the complex implementation of inclusive education practices is here discussed, along with the main ethnic and linguistic peculiarities of RSC pupils in view of their difficult school and social integration within the gagé’s world.

La competenza pragmatica come strumento inclusivo Uno studio di caso con bambini stranieri di prima e di seconda generazione

The aim of this research is to demonstrate the benefits of home language maintenance among first and second generation migrant children by investigating whether they would perform better than their monolingual peers in their ability to narrate stories. The study was conducted in four primary schools in the Veneto region engaging 49 early elementary aged children with different cultural, educational and migration backgrounds who were asked to perform story-telling and story-retelling tasks. After a brief introduction to the study, the second paragraph tackles the notion of pragmatic competence and its relevance for bilingual education. The third paragraph presents the method of the study as well as the survey procedures, followed by a discussion of the results. The conclusion contains limitations of the study and illustrates a number of pedagogical implications. Positive outcomes of this study should raise teachers’ awareness of the linguistic benefits of bilingualism and promote the concept of pragmatic competence.

And this is the end of the story: raccontare per includere

This study on inclusion and narrative writing stems from a recent classroom experience with English L2 students at postgraduate level. The presence in the class of two students with special needs meant that a revision of the previously established syllabus had to be carried out in order to cater for the following exigencies: the need to create activities which the disabled students could carry out on a par with their colleagues and without any undue stress or pressure; the need to create a welcoming, inclusive environment in which all students could collaborate and feel part of a whole; the need to find suitable learning practices and associated assessment tools. The idea of setting up a creative writing project emerged both as a response to these needs and as a desire to regain the ancestral value of narration as a tool for the building and transmission of knowledge. In the following pages a detailed account of this ‘vision’ of inclusion and narration through creative writing will be provided, together with samples taken from the students’ production and a final reflection on the results obtained.

Educazione linguistica inclusiva e Language Teacher Cognition Proposta di uno strumento di indagine e alcuni dati da un’indagine in Lombardia

Italy has always been a multilingual country. Over the past fifty years, globalisation has brought a new multilingualism to schools. During approximately the same time span, many scholars and linguists have outlined a vision of language education as a global process, which has gradually found its way into Italian Ministry of Education documents. The implementation of language education, however, is ultimately entrusted to teachers and is therefore conditioned by their ‘language teacher cognition’. This contribution, based on data derived from a larger survey conducted in Lombardy, focuses on teachers’ attitudes to and opinions about pluringual and pluri/intercultural activities.

Il task plurilingue: uno strumento didattico per la promozione dell’apprendimento interculturale e di inclusione sociale

Failing to acknowledge the presence of cultural and linguistic diversity within the scholastic institution, alongside with its monolingual habitus, causes the marginalization of entire groups of learners, whose effective and active participation in the democratic process of learning is prevented. The creation of plurilingual tasks to the contrary aims at promoting intercultural competence and inclusion, both of which can only be initiated, if all languages and cultures present within the learner group are included in the learning process. The present qualitative study aims at identifying emergent forms of inclusive and intercultural learning in such plurilingual task-based learning settings.

La progettazione inclusiva per gli studenti gifted nella classe di lingua

Since learning a language for gifted students is noticeably different from their age peers, their learning programme needs to be suitably tailored to their needs. Only by proposing tasks responding to their learning peculiarities, teachers will be able to foster gifted students’ talent in learning a foreign language, and to create an inclusive and efficient learning environment. The essay aims to outline the main traits regarding learning a foreign language by gifted students, and to explain how to create an inclusive learning environment in their language classroom.

Enneagramma e sviluppo delle soft skills Un supporto per una didattica inclusiva?

It can be assumed that who we are will influence our way of learning and teaching. Education is concerned with content but the importance of awareness still remains in the background: students must adapt to their teachers, who, in turn, do not always have tools to understand the impact of their individuality on the way they teach. The Enneagram system proposes a new perspective on the teaching-learning continuum and provides a framework in which personality descriptions that account for differences and diversity can be placed, and a conceptual vocabulary to understand mental and emotional habits. This experimental and innovative contribution analyses how the Enneagram model can promote the development of soft skills, especially those related to self-awareness and emotional intelligence, in both teachers and learners.