Il primo confronto con una norma: percezione e analisi dell'input iniziale in L21

On the background of Coseriu's notion of norm, the elaboration of native input by second language learners is considered with respect to the processes of perception, comprehension and grammatical analysis. These processes allow the learner to make assumptions about the target system. Within the VILLA project (Varieties of Initial Learners in Second Language Acquisition), a controlled input of the target language Polish was presented as the norm to learners during a specially designed fourteenhour course. This input is discussed with respect to three major parameters: 1. transparency of word forms, 2. frequency of word forms and 3. modality of presentation, with or without focalization on grammatical forms. Learners appear to be sensitive to the modalities of presentation. Paradoxically, however, the learners' attempt to adjust to the norm presented in the focus-on-form modality results in a greater number of errors, while learners who were administered meaning-focused input tend to more easily recognize units of meaning in the sound chain. This evidence is relevant for the processes of acquisition of the target system beyond the norm presented in the input

Au début de l’apprentissage de l’italien

Les données de quatre apprenants de l’italien à un stade initial vérifient l’hypothèse, proposée par Wolfgang Klein pour l’anglais et l’allemand, qu’au début de l’apprentissage d’une langue seconde on peut repérer deux stades de développement appelés variété prébasique et variété basique, respectivement caracterisées par une structure pragmatique et une structure syntaxique des énoncés. Les variétés prébasiques se développent de façon graduelle sous l’effet combiné de l’input et du recours à la langue maternelle : c’est ce qu’illustre l’exemple de la conjonction italienne che, utilisée par un apprenant érythréen comme marque de focus.The data of four early learners of Italian as a second language are reviewed in order to check whether the identification of two developmental stages in early learner varieties, suggested by Wolfgang Klein for English and German, may hold for Italian too. The four learners provide evidence of a prebasic variety, characterised by the pragmatic structure of the utterances, and of a basic variety, characterised by an utterance structure based on semantic and syntactic principles. Prebasic varieties develop gradually through the combined effect of second language input and first language influence, as evidenced by the Italian conjunction che, developed by an Erythrean learner as a means to mark the focus

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

La lingua cinese e i suoi dialetti: una mappa linguistica

Descrizione in prospettiva contrastiva e tipologica del sistema della lingua cinese

Acquisizione dell'italiano come L2

Rassegna delle strategie e dei percorsi di acquisizione dell'italiano come lingua seconda da parte di adulti, e delle implicazioni teoriche che l'osservazione di tali processi comporta

Lexical categories in the target language and the lexical categorisation of learners: the word class of adverbs

Regularities found in the acquisition of adverbs in L2 Italian by learners with first languages for which the class of adverbs is not organized in the same way as in the target language