Doing interlanguage analysis in school contexts

The aim of this chapter is to discuss these issues, by reporting on a project aimed at bringing interlanguage analysis to school. The project involved several teachers at different levels, from kindergarten to middle school, as part of wider teacher-training and action-research schemes. Teachers were involved in collecting data and in their subsequent analysis based on the notion of interlanguage. These procedures were designed so that they could be implemented in everyday school settings. The main goal was formative assessment, in the more usual sense of being oriented to improving didactic strategies, but also in the sense of being part of teacher training

A typology of statements about discourse

The article presents a typology of statements that can be made about discourse data. The classification is based on two parameters: level of generality and level of interpretation. Each of these is operationalized into three discrete levels, to yield a nine-cell table containing types of statements going from the presenta- tion of a single case to the elaboration of complex general theories. The discus- sion is based on an extensive review of published research and on an empirical study on other-repetition in child second language discourse. The proposed clas- sification aims at clarifying a number of questions and possible misunderstand- ings about issues of interpretation, generalization, and quantification. It is shown that in some cases apparently opposed approaches actually make the same type of statements, simply using different terms and methodologies, whereas in other cases, the dispute is not on different methodological options, but rather on different types of statements altogether. Researchers are invited to be more explicit as regards their position in order to promote interdisciplinary dialog and facilitate cross-method comparisons

Qualitativo/quantitativo: ripensare la distinzione

La distinzione tra \u201cqualitativo\u201d e \u201cquantitativo\u201d appare praticamente in tutti i testi sulla metodologia delle scienze sociali, in alcune collane editoriali, in molti corsi universitari. Questi aggettivi vengono applicati a diverse teste nominali, tra cui \u201cricerca\u201d, \u201capprocci\u201d, \u201cmetodi\u201d, \u201cparadigmi\u201d, \u201cdati\u201d. Tuttavia, come cercher\uf2 di dimostrare in questo saggio, non tutti gli accoppiamenti aggettivo-nome sono felici, e in molti casi essi portano a fraintendimenti e contraddizioni. In particolare, vorrei dimostrare che \u201cqualitativo\u201d e \u201cquantitativo\u201d si possono applicare sensatamente solo a diversi tipi di analisi, mentre ogni altra forma di applicazione risulta problematica

An Approach to Assessing the Linguistic Difficulty of Tasks

This article proposes an approach to assessing the linguistic difficulty of tasks, that is, the linguistic features involved in performing a communicative task that may make it more or less challenging for language learners. The procedure follows the methodology proposed by Pallotti (2019) for operationalizing task interactional difficulty. This consists, firstly, in identifying what linguistic-communicative features are particularly difficult for language learners, based on previous research showing that they appear late in the course of acquisition. Secondly, native speakers\u2019 performance is observed in order to determine which tasks most involve these difficult linguistic features. The dimensions observed in this study concern lexical diversity and sophistication, morphological complexity, and length and depth of syntactic constructions. Data come from 10 native speakers of Italian performing 5 communicative tasks. Results show that different dimensions of linguistic difficulty are relatively independent of each other, and that inter- individual variation is rather limited as regards the lexicon and morphology, but more pronounced for syntax. Implications for SLA research, Task-Based Language Teaching and Task-Based Language Assessment are discussed

La difficolt\ue0 interazionale dei task: definizione operativa e risultati di ricerca

In questo capitolo si cercher\ue0 di definire un costrutto che fino ad ora \ue8 rimasto sostanzialmente inesplorato nelle ricerche sulla seconda lingua. Si tratta della difficolt\ue0 interazionale, che pu\uf2 essere misurata relativamente a qualunque task oral

Une application des recherches sur l'interlangue aux contextes d'enseignement

Cet article explique comment la notion d’interlangue peut être utilisée dans l'élaboration de programmes efficaces d'enseignement des langues premières et secondes. Un projet à relativement grande échelle, mené dans plusieurs écoles primaires de Reggio Emilia (Italie), est présenté. Les résultats montrent que les enfants qui participent au programme expérimental atteignent des niveaux de compétences plus élevés que ceux des groupes de contrôle, qu’ils manifestent une plus forte motivation et qu’un plus faible degré de dispersion est relevé entre les élèves. // The article shows how the notion of interlanguage may be used to develop effective programmes for first and second language teaching. A relatively large-scale project is presented, taking place in several primary schools in Reggio Emilia (Italy). Results show that children involved in the programme achieve higher competences than control groups, higher motivation and a lower dispersion among pupils

Osservare l’interlingua: percorsi di educazione linguistica efficace per ridurre le diseguaglianze

Questo capitolo riporta i risultati di una sperimentazione educativa condotta nelle scuole primarie del Comune di Reggio Emilia, il progetto Osservare l’interlingua (interlingua.comune.re.it) L’intervento ha riguardato principalmente le abilità di scrittura, con un approccio che coinvolge però anche diverse altre competenze linguistiche, come l’interazione orale e la lettura attenta degli elaborati. I risultati sono nel complesso incoraggianti. Le classi che seguono la sperimentazione scrivono meglio da un gran numero di diversi punti di vista, sia che la valutazione dei testi avvenga olisticamente (raccogliendo le impressioni che essi generano su un lettore) o analiticamente (misurando alcuni parametri testuali). Queste medie più alte sono associate anche a coefficienti di variazione più bassi, il che significa che “tenere unita una classe”, riducendo le distanza tra alunni, non implica automaticamente appiattire tutti sul livello più basso, come temono molti; al contrario, nelle classi sperimentali la forbice si riduce perché tutti gli studenti raggiungono migliori risultati

La classe dans une perspective écologique de l’acquisition

L’article présente une approche écologique de l’étude des classes de langue, ce qui suppose une prise en compte systématique des contextes socioculturels dans lesquels l’acquisition s’effectue. La première question examinée a trait au type de contexte d’apprentissage qu’est la classe. L’environnement que constitue la classe est comparé et contrasté avec d’autres contextes afin de parvenir à une définition qui unisse un point de vue étique et un point de vue émique. Une autre question porte sur la manière de distinguer différentes voies d’apprentissage d’une langue, et touche donc à la caractérisation de ce qui est propre à l’apprentissage en classe. Les distinctions acquisition/apprentissage et guidé/non-guidé sont soumises à discussion. La classe devrait aussi être considérée comme partie de contextes socioculturels plus larges, ce qui conduit à poser l’acquisition de la langue comme forme de socialisation et à montrer la complexité et les limites de la distinction traditionnelle langue étrangère/langue seconde. Enfin, on propose un bref examen des principales options offertes aux enseignants et aux chercheurs pour décrire les contextes de classe et les interactions qui y trouvent place.The article presents an ecological approach to the study of language classrooms, which entails systematic consideration of the socio-cultural context(s) in which language acquisition takes place. The first issue to be discussed is what type of learning context a classroom is. The classroom environment is compared and contrasted with other contexts in order to reach a definition which tries to encompass both an etic and an emic viewpoint. A further issue is how different ways of learning a language can be identified, which bears on the recognition of what is specific to classroom learning. More particularly, the acquisition/learning and guided/non guided distinctions are discussed. The classroom environment should also be seen as part of wider socio-cultural contexts, which raises the issues of language acquisition as a form of socialization and shows the complexity and the limits of the traditional foreign language/second language distinction. Finally, a brief review is provided of some of the main options available to teachers and researchers for describing classroom contexts and the interactions that take place in them

Favorire lo studio delle discipline scolastiche da parte di alunni con limitate competenze in Italiano

Il contributo affronta il tema della lingua dello studio analizzando innanzitutto quali siano le competenze necessarie agli studenti con limitate competenze in italiano L2 per affrontare libri di testo e quali siano invece le difficolt\ue0 che questi ultimi possono porre ai nostri allievi. Si presentando tre possibili linee di lavoro per favorire la comprensione e lo studio dei testi disciplinari: (a) impiegare testi semplici a difficolt\ue0 controllata; (b) stimolare un approccio interattivo al testo; (c) motivare gli alunni all\u2019uso dei testi