Toward a Critical Teaching and Learning of National Languages and Cultures. Italian as a case study

National identities exist. They change over time and are influenced by globalization, extensive migration, the Internet, and the constantly increasing speed of communication and transport, in the same way that a country's culture is influenced by new citizens who add their different national identities to the mix. At the same time, the identity of these new citizens is altered by the culture of the country they have moved to. By contrast, foreign language teaching varies little: If we consider the cultural topics selected by for teaching Italian as a foreign language, we can see how often they propagate an exotic, unrealistic image of bella Italia. As a consequence, students of Italian often have an out-of-date idea of contemporary Italy, especially with regard to its demographics and social dynamics. A wide variety of resources and methods is available to teachers who want to help their students understand this momentous change in Italian history, develop their intercultural communication skills and question both their own attitudes and the degree to which democratic values are being upheld by the culture they live in

L’etica della comunicazione oggi tra filosofia e diritto

Il presente lavoro vuole essere una riflessione sulla dimensione etica della comunicazione oggi. Partendo da un breve excursus storico si analizza più specificatamente le teorie di K.O Apel e J. Habermas, per molti aspetti coincidenti intente, entrambe, a tracciare gli elementi emblematici della moderna “Società illimitata della comunicazione”. Si procede quindi ad analizzare la visione etica della comunicazione del più grande ente di comunicazione a livello mondiale, la chiesa Cattolica nelle parole di SS. Papa Benedetto XVI nella sua enciclica Caritas in Veritate, confrontandone la dottrina con le tesi di K.O Apel e J. Habermas. Completa il quadro la visione etica della comunicazione dell'Unione Europea. Nel secondo capitolo si indagano gli aspetti caratterizzanti la comunicazione giornalistica, quella degli enti pubblici, la comunicazione d'impresa e quella pubblicitaria

L’INSEGNAMENTO DELLA CULTURA NELLA DIDATTICA DELLE LINGUE STRANIERE IN GERMANIA

Fin dalla fine del XIX secolo la didattica delle lingue straniere ha sviluppatoin Germania un approccio all'insegnamento che oggi si chiamerebbe interculturale.Autori come Erdmenger, Melde e Bredella rimangono dei punti di riferimento dellaDidattica dell'Inglese e del Francese, rappresentando le tre posizioni che hannocaratterizzato la teoria e la prassi pedagogiche dell'insegnamento delle linguestraniere in Germania: la comunicativo-pragmatica (il "linguista" Erdmenger),quella orientata all'educazione politica (la "studiosa di scienze sociali" Melde) e laletterario-interculturale (l'"umanista" Bredella). A partire dagli anni Novantal'approccio si è fatto sempre più transculturale e transnazionale, lasciandosivolentieri influenzare dagli approdi della riflessione delle scienze umane intorno alconcetto di "competenza interculturale". La ricerca glottodidattica continua ad esserein Germania assai viva e feconda di proposte che anche l'insegnante di lingue italianopotrebbe trovare proficuo studiare

Two adhesive systems cooperatively regulate axon ensheathment and myelin growth in the CNS

Central nervous system myelin is a multilayered membrane produced by oligodendrocytes to increase neural processing speed and efficiency, but the molecular mechanisms underlying axonal selection and myelin wrapping are unknown. Here, using combined morphological and molecular analyses in mice and zebrafish, we show that adhesion molecules of the paranodal and the internodal segment work synergistically using overlapping functions to regulate axonal interaction and myelin wrapping. In the absence of these adhesive systems, axonal recognition by myelin is impaired with myelin growing on top of previously myelinated fibers, around neuronal cell bodies and above nodes of Ranvier. In addition, myelin wrapping is disturbed with the leading edge moving away from the axon and in between previously formed layers. These data show how two adhesive systems function together to guide axonal ensheathment and myelin wrapping, and provide a mechanistic understanding of how the spatial organization of myelin is achieved

The histone H2B monoubiquitination regulatory pathway is required for differentiation of multipotent stem cells.

Extensive changes in posttranslational histone modifications accompany the rewiring of the transcriptional program during stem cell differentiation. However, the mechanisms controlling the changes in specific chromatin modifications and their function during differentiation remain only poorly understood. We show that histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) significantly increases during differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and various lineage-committed precursor cells and in diverse organisms. Furthermore, the H2B ubiquitin ligase RNF40 is required for the induction of differentiation markers and transcriptional reprogramming of hMSCs. This function is dependent upon CDK9 and the WAC adaptor protein, which are required for H2B monoubiquitination. Finally, we show that RNF40 is required for the resolution of the H3K4me3/H3K27me3 bivalent poised state on lineage-specific genes during the transition from an inactive to an active chromatin conformation. Thus, these data indicate that H2Bub1 is required for maintaining multipotency of hMSCs and plays a central role in controlling stem cell differentiation