Cultural notions are part and parcel of the process of Italian teaching and learning in
Malta, a country with several historical, geographical and social contacts with the Belpaese. In fact,
teachers of Italian in Malta are more familiar with Italy’s culture than their foreign counterparts, and
they are generally highly interested in it. Nevertheless, a number of constraints lead to situations
where the teaching of culture is heavily characterised by transmission and memorisation of information,
rather than on learning intercultural competence as a lifelong skill. This study provides an
investigation into these issues and formulates an outline of a didactic initiative designed purposely
to promote intercultural education in the classroom of Italian in Malta.peer-reviewe
