Approccio plurilingue dall’Europa per l’Europa. Focus sull’apporto dell’Italia

This article presents a critical reflection and a synthesis on the links between European policies aimed at promoting plurilinguism and the Intercomprehension approach, 25 years after its first appearance in the languages teaching environment. In particular, it focuses on Italy’s role in different Intercomprehension projects that have emerged and on how Italy promotes this new approach. The European Union set a target whereby all European citizens should speak two foreign languages in addition to mother tongues. This poses the challenge of which languages to choose both within European Institutions and within the educational systems. Moreover it leads to reconsider the place traditionally assigned to English. This European target remains far from being achieved, as demonstrated by the Eurobarometro polls. Against this background, the Intercomprehension solution still offers a credible option that could be extremely powerful if it were to be rigorously applied on a large scale, as we try to demonstrate. In fact, this approach respects the variety of languages and cultures by considering them within their linguistic families. It is a simple, time-effective and flexible approach for multiple audiences. An examination of the case of Italy allows one to observe how a new dynamic can emerge by participating in several European projects and how it is possible to slowly start thinking about a set of different actions that would help achieve the objective of European plurilinguism

La reconnaissance de mots isolés à l’oral: expérience en miroir entre français et italien

This article will present the results of two related experiments, whose aim is to evaluate the degree of spontaneous listening Intercomprehension (IC) between French and Italian, as far as lexis is concerned, and to see if the success and the difficulties encountered are symmetrical or not, depending on the language, whether French or Italian. First of all, a group of Italian people, who have never studied French, was invited to listen to a set of French words and asked to associate them spontaneously to the corresponding Italian words. At a later stage, the same words in Italian were presented to a group of French people, who did not know Italian, and who, in contrast, were asked to associate a French word to each Italian word heard. The results of this observation were interpreted in the light of the models of listening comprehension, thus showing that an area of substantial transparency effectively exists in two similar percentages, although these are slightly lower for francophones. Moreover, evidence shows that in both cases adults are better at ease in performing this task than teenagers. However, transparency is not always symmetrical if according to the direction of the pairings, and a maximum gap between transparency and opacity from one language to the other occurs in some words

Les erreurs en production orale relevant du système phonologique. De la nature de l’erreur à sa remédiation.

Sur l’ensemble des erreurs qui peuvent affecter une production orale en FLE et qu’une grille d’analyse cherche à systématiser, l’article vise à catégoriser et illustrer les erreurs de prononciation d’étudiants italiens en français langue étrangère et à réfléchir sur les techniques pédagogiques de remédiation que l’enseignant peut mettre en œuvre. Il défend l’idée d’un lien fort entre production orale et activités d’écoute

L'évaluation sommative/certificative en intercompréhension réceptive de l'oral

In light of a general reflection on the criteria for an assessment process, we will focus on the evaluation of plurilingual competencies in Intercomprehension and, in particular, on oral listening skills, by observing best practices in unilingual official certifications, and by taking an approach that goes from the general to the particular. We will reflect on the concrete tools for measuring this hability, by discussing the choices of the CINCO and EVAL-IC projects – the first European project to tackle the question of evaluation under all its angles – with the goal of defining the contours of an assessment method taking into account the plurality of its possible forms

Storia, strategie e sfide di una disciplina in espansione

The book opens with an introductory essay by Bonvino and Jamet describing the state of the research and teaching methodology in the framework of IC. This contribution aims at describing the principles of the discipline, through a brief review of its epistemological foundations, its history and linguistic grounding. It also proposes a classification of teaching techniques and tools used in IC, and outlines possible developments of theoretical and applied research in this area

Challenges and successes in the implementation of option B+ to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in southern Swaziland.

BACKGROUND: Universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) for all pregnant/ breastfeeding women living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), known as Prevention of mother-to child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) Option B+ (PMTCTB+), is being scaled up in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the transition to PMTCTB+, many countries face challenges with proper implementation of the HIV care cascade. We aimed to describe the feasibility of a PMTCTB+ approach in the public health sector in Swaziland. METHODS: Lifelong ART was offered to a cohort of HIV+ pregnant women aged ≥16 years at the first antenatal care (ANC1) visit in 9 public sector facilities, between 01/2013 and 06/2014. The study enrolment period was divided into 3 phases (early: 01-06/2013, mid: 07-12/2013 and late: 01-06/2014) to account for temporal trends. Kaplan-Meier estimates and Cox proportional-hazards regression models were applied for ART initiation and attrition analyses. RESULTS: Of 665 HIV+ pregnant women, 496 (74.6%) initiated ART. ART initiation increased in later study enrolment phases (mid: aHR: 1.41; later: aHR: 2.36), and decreased at CD4 ≥ 500 (aHR: 0.69). 52.9% were retained in care at 24 months. Attrition was associated with ANC1 in the third trimester (aHR: 2.37), attending a secondary care facility (aHR: 1.98) and ART initiation during later enrolment phases (mid aHR: 1.48; late aHR: 1.67). Of 373 women eligible, 67.3% received a first VL. 223/251 (88.8%) were virologically suppressed (< 1000 copies/mL). Of 670 infants, 53.6% received an EID test, 320/359 had a test result recorded and of whom 7 (2.2%) were HIV+. CONCLUSIONS: PMTCTB+ was found to be feasible in this setting, with high rates of maternal viral suppression and low transmission to the infant. High treatment attrition, poor follow-up of mother-baby pairs and under-utilisation of VL and EID testing are important programmatic challenges

Un Référentiel de compétences de communication plurilingue en intercompréhension (REFIC)

Il Quadro di riferimento per le Competenze di Comunicazione Plurilingue in Intercomprensione costituisce una guida per la programmazione di percorsi di apprendimento e per la valutazione di competenze di comunicazione in intercomprensione. i descrittori riguardano i saperi, i saper fare, le strategie e gli atteggiamenti più efficaci che un formatore in intercomprensione desidera sviluppare in un pubblico di apprendenti

Eff ectiveness of one dose of oral cholera vaccine in response to an outbreak: a case-cohort study

Background Oral cholera vaccines represent a new eff ective tool to fi ght cholera and are licensed as two-dose regimens with 2–4 weeks between doses. Evidence from previous studies suggests that a single dose of oral cholera vaccine might provide substantial direct protection against cholera. During a cholera outbreak in May, 2015, in Juba, South Sudan, the Ministry of Health, Médecins Sans Frontières, and partners engaged in the fi rst fi eld deployment of a single dose of oral cholera vaccine to enhance the outbreak response. We did a vaccine eff ectiveness study in conjunction with this large public health intervention. Methods We did a case-cohort study, combining information on the vaccination status and disease outcomes from a random cohort recruited from throughout the city of Juba with that from all the cases detected. Eligible cases were those aged 1 year or older on the fi rst day of the vaccination campaign who sought care for diarrhoea at all three cholera treatment centres and seven rehydration posts throughout Juba. Confi rmed cases were suspected cases who tested positive to PCR for Vibrio cholerae O1. We estimated the short-term protection (direct and indirect) conferred by one dose of cholera vaccine (Shanchol, Shantha Biotechnics, Hyderabad, India). Findings Between Aug 9, 2015, and Sept 29, 2015, we enrolled 87 individuals with suspected cholera, and an 898-person cohort from throughout Juba. Of the 87 individuals with suspected cholera, 34 were classifi ed as cholera positive, 52 as cholera negative, and one had indeterminate results. Of the 858 cohort members who completed a follow-up visit, none developed clinical cholera during follow-up. The unadjusted single-dose vaccine eff ectiveness was 80·2% (95% CI 61·5–100·0) and after adjusting for potential confounders was 87·3% (70·2–100·0). Interpretation One dose of Shanchol was eff ective in preventing medically attended cholera in this study. These results support the use of a single-dose strategy in outbreaks in similar epidemiological settings

Sustaining the future of HIV counselling to reach 90-90-90 : a regional country analysis

Introduction: Counselling services are recommended by the World Health Organization and have been partially adopted by national HIV guidelines. In settings with a high HIV burden, patient education and counselling is often performed by lay workers, mainly supported with international funding. There are few examples where ministries of health have been able to absorb lay counsellors into their health systems or otherwise sustain their work. We document the role of lay cadres involved in HIV testing and counselling and adherence support and discuss approaches to sustainability. Methods: We focused on a purposive sample of eight sub-Saharan African countries where Medecins Sans Frontieres supports HIV programmes: Guinea, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We reviewed both published and grey literature, including national policies and donor proposals, and interviewed key informants, including relevant government staff, donors and non-governmental organizations. Results and discussion: Lay counsellors play a critical role in scaling up HIV services and addressing gaps in the HIV testing and treatment cascade by providing HIV testing and counselling and adherence support at both the facility and community levels. Countries have taken various steps in recognizing lay counsellors, including harmonizing training, job descriptions and support structures. However, formal integration of this cadre into national health systems is limited, as lay counsellors are usually not included in national strategies or budgeting. Conclusions: The current trend of reduced donor support for lay counsellors, combined with lack of national prioritization, threatens the sustainability of this cadre and thereby quality HIV service delivery