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This paper delves into the intriguing phenomenon of mesoclisis in Old Occitan. Mesoclisis, the insertion of an object clitic pronoun within the verbal form rather than before or after it, is explored particularly within the context of future and conditional tenses. While mesoclisis is evidenced in both the future and conditional tenses in Old Catalan and Old Spanish, in Occitan, it is exclusively observed in the future tense. Notably, all clitics may feature in this construction, with a higher prevalence observed in the first person singular, especially with class I verbs. Furthermore, there appears to be a lexicalized association with verbs of speech, likely due to discourse-related factors. This investigation not only sheds light on the differential grammaticalization between the future and conditional tenses but also unveils an intermediate stage in their grammatical evolution, bridging the gap between Catalan and French linguistic contexts.

This study unveils insights into the spatial and social distribution of Portuguese lexical forms, or lexies, pertaining to urban life in the interior of São Paulo State. These lexies were collected through oral responses from eighty participants, elicited by nine questions addressing variants for terms such as ‘traffic lights’, ‘speed bump’, ‘sidewalk’, ‘curb’, ‘traffic circle’, ‘plot of land’, ‘city bus’, ‘intercity bus’, and ‘a small grocery store where one can also drink liquor at a counter’. The analysis examines whether these lexies establish themselves as predominant norms, indicated by both consistent spatial distribution and a relative frequency exceeding 50% across the localities surveyed. Out of the nine cases studied, eight meet this criterion, with the following overall relative frequencies: ‘semáforo’ 53%; ‘lombada’ 96%; ‘calçada’ 94%; ‘guia’ 84%; ‘rotatória’ 74%; ‘terreno (baldio)’ 79%; ‘ônibus’ (in the sense of ‘city bus’) 71%; ‘ônibus’ (in the sense of ‘intercity bus’) 51%. The ninth variant, ‘bar,’ nearly meets this standard as well, with a relative frequency of 41% just falling short of the minimum threshold.

This article sheds light on two enduring English loanwords in European Spanish, very well and yes very well, which have thus far evaded scholarly attention. Despite their long-standing presence and widespread use, these Anglicisms have rarely been encountered in written Spanish. This, coupled with their playful and informal nature, may have contributed to their perceived insignificance in academic inquiry. The study scrutinizes nearly a thousand instances of these loanwords from various sources to elucidate their contemporary semantic roles in European Spanish. The analysis reveals that their continued usage over time can be attributed to their versatility and wide-ranging semantic functions. Furthermore, it shows that, precisely because research on English loans has been strongly biased towards the written medium, these are likely to be but two among a number of time-honoured Anglicisms that remain unexplored.

This article will discuss the design and implementation of an intermediate level Italian for HealthcareLanguage class. Since 2016, the language of Dante has experienced a marked decline in enrollment in many higher education institutions in the United States. Some recent studies related to this issue suggest that providing students with a wide variety of course options, including ones related to professional fields, is key to reversing this trend. Nevertheless, Italian presents somewhat of a challenge in this regard as it is the norm rather than the exception for learners to first encounter the language only when they begin their studies at college or university. However, in many instances, such as in healthcare, language for specific purposes courses target more advanced students. Therefore, introducing these types of classes earlier in the learning experience might prove to be instrumental in encouraging more students to continue studying Italian at advanced-level and perhaps even beyond. The present course was offered to learners who had previously completed three semesters of college-level Italian from beginner level to intermediate. People enrolled in the class had already attained an upper-intermediate level of skill in the target language. Since the course focused on healthcare, it emphasized the acquisition of new terms and communicative modes to help learners better interact with patients or clinicians in a medical setting. It was also designed around the Five C’s (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities) made popular by ACTFL’s World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Overall, Italian for Healthcare Professionals relied on both an experiential and project-based methodology through which students completed tasks that reflected challenges that they might realistically encounter while working in the allied health professions in Italy or with Italian-speaking diasporas in other parts of the world. Learners reported benefiting from both the variety and realistic nature of the activities. This article will explore the need for such a course in Italian Studies, its structure, as well as examples of projects and activities that it might include. Ultimately, student response to the course suggests that such offerings can be made available to intermediate-level learners of Italian with promising results.

The practitioner-patient interview has been the subject of several studies in the world of medicine and in the field of teaching languages for specific purposes It has been considered one of the most critical oral genres in language teaching for medical-health purposes. Every health professional has to know and understand why the patient has come for a consultation; they must have the necessary skills to obtain as much information about the patient’s health problem as possible, and if necessary, they have to perform a physical examination. The practitioner-patient interview is divided into several steps. Each step consists of a specific task with its specific objectives for the practitioner. For about fifteen years, the French Language Centre of McGill University, an English-speaking university in Montreal, Canada, has been offering French courses to students specializing in different areas of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Work who wish to do their clinical placements and pursue their professional career in the province of Quebec. Most of McGill’s students are native English speakers from different parts of Canada and the United States or international students whose first language is not necessarily English. One of the most important oral genres which must be taught to these students is the practitioner-patient interview in French, since one of their principal tasks as healthcare professionals will to interact with patients. Furthermore, students who have obtained a degree in any healthcare profession from an English-speaking university in the French-speaking province of Quebec must take a French language exam offered by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF). In one of the activities of this exam, the candidates must interview a patient or a caregiver in French. Therefore, this constitutes another reason to teach the practitioner-patient interview to our students. Unfortunately, there is little extant literature on how to teach students to carry out a practitioner-patient interview in French as a second language. Moreover, the possibility of recording actual interviews for use in class is practically impossible to respect patient confidentiality. This paper aims to share with the scientific community and with other language for specific purposes instructors how the practitioner-patient interview is taught at McGill University to non-native French speakers who wish to work in Quebec.

The paper analyses the process of textbook selection and materials adaptation in the context of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) courses and in the context of English for Nursing course. Textbooks and materials are essential components of ESP course design, which frequently contribute to the success or failure of the course in completing the course objectives. However, the process of selecting a specific textbook for the course, which will address the course objectives, is not straightforward or simple. In the ESP literature, the views about the need of using textbooks in ESP courses are polarised. The study will examine the benefits of using textbooks in ESP context, which include available sources for the students and facilitate the class preparation for the teachers, as well as the drawbacks which include the impossibility of finding a textbook which corresponds entirely to learners’ needs. The research includes the evaluation of the selected textbook in the context of English for Nursing. The evaluation is based on the literature review on the topic of textbook evaluation in ESP and language teaching and learning context in general. The evaluation described is based on the set of criteria provided by Miekley (2005), which includes the following criteria: content, vocabulary and grammar, exercises and activities, attractiveness of the text, the quality of the teacher’s manual and the context. Two textbooks are examined and compared, in order to select the appropriate one. Apart from the textbook analysis, the paper aims to provide suggestions and recommendations regarding materials adaptation and development of materials which can be used in English for Nursing and Medical English Courses.

Name or naming is significant in the construction of identity. While studies on online identity constructions have concentrated on examining textual or graphical discourse to reflect identities, identity construction based on profile names has received very little attention. This study examines identity construction in naming among Yoruba Facebook (FB) users. Fifty purposively selected FB profile names were analysed using Castells’(2010) identity construction framework. Four identified identities in the Profile names of Yoruba Facebook Users, namely religiously pious, innovators, football lovers and entertainers were indexed by six linguistic features – hybridisation of orthography (HOO), back formation, blending, compounding, clipping and hypocorism. The linguistic features showed the connection between the linguistic peculiarities of FB profile names and the identity constructed in the social media platform.

Medical communication skills are learned during undergraduate studies and residency programmes by future doctors through case presentations, medical interviews, and healthcare staff interactions. Approaches like peer tutoring, simulation-based education, and blended learning enhance these skills. Our study aims to draw attention to the significance of doctor-patient and doctor-doctor scenarios by presenting a course that facilitates sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and code-switching skills that medical students need to successfully employ in future healthcare settings. We consider patient information, case presenting, and interviewing skills, as well as profound knowledge of medical language equally important elements. While highlighting the essential components of the doctor-patient discourse and revealing the students’ development of code-switching abilities, this article shares the results of a feedback survey completed by participants in a course entitled ‘History taking with actors; simulation practices in the mediskillslab’. We can see the gradual improvement in using medical terms, and the growing confidence of students presenting cases. The programme’s assessment approach, which provides constructive feedback from three perspectives—clinician, simulated patient, and communication instructor—helps the students pinpoint their areas for enhancement. Most students report no major difficulties in taking medical history by employing a simplified ‘patient-friendly’ language understandable to laypeople. However, when they intentionally choose a different code for reporting on their patients by using medical terms, younger students face challenges in creating a brief medical text. The most demanding task for senior participants proved to be delivering bad news; both emotionally and code-switch wise. Our study identifies these difficulties from history-taking simulations to case reports to raise awareness of levels of medical communication. As a conclusion, we believe that an early onset and gradual introduction of activities including history taking, case presentation, and breaking bad news should be incorporated into medical curricula to assist in the acquisition of highly professional, assertive, and empathetic communication skills by graduation.

From the era of Grammar-Translation Method to the onset of Communicative Language Teaching, the role of translation in language learning has completely changed. Nowadays, the use of translation activities in the language learning classroom remains a contentious issue, namely, there are arguments for and against their use. Given that attitudes are one of the factors that affect the way students learn and the level of proficiency they achieve, the aim of this quantitative study is to find out what the attitudes of higher education students in Croatia are towards the use of translation in learning languages for specific purposes. The responses were collected via a questionnaire, which was completed by 618 students who were enrolled in eight different LSP courses, i.e. medical, maritime, business, agriculture, tourism, safety, IT and transport. The participants come from five institutions of higher education in two Croatian towns (Zagreb and Rijeka). The majority of the respondents (86.4%) claim they use translation in their LSP classroom, but the frequency in using translation varies greatly. On the other hand, translation is used in assessment less frequently, 37.4% of the participants state they have encountered translation in tests. While they believe that other more communicative methods are more beneficial for their language learning, and they only partially enjoy doing translation activities, most of them are sure that translating both from their L1 into L2 and L2 into L1 is very useful for their language learning, especially when it comes to learning new vocabulary. A statistical difference occurred between genders; namely, male students seem to be more positive towards translation. Also, statistical differences were confirmed among students of different study programs in relation to their attitudes towards enjoyment, usefulness and demand of translation activities. Future research should focus on investigating how translation activities are implemented and account for gender and study program differences.

book review

The Social Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) is among the most common programs used by researchers in language studies to explore, examine, and analyze quantitative data for the sake of drawing valid conclusions. The current action research aims to offer insights into the utilization of SPSS by Master’s students in their empirical studies for statistical analysis. Specifically, it attempts to depict the way SPSS is employed in academic pursuits, and discern the inherent challenges faced by students, offering insights into the obstacles that may impede their effective use of SPSS as a tool for statistical exploration and interpretation in academic research. To reach these objectives, ten Master’s dissertations written by EFL students at the Department of English at Mouloud Mammeri University in language studies were scrutinized though a qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that the students limit the scope of their use of SPSS to quantitative variables and descriptive statistics. In addition, it has been found that the most commonly used statistical technique is ‘the mean’ or ‘the average’ that could be easily measured without any sophisticated software. Furthermore, no reference to inferential statistics in order to compare among groups or to measure the impact of a variable on another is made. The overall conclusion drawn from the analysis of the corpus is that students exhibit reluctance to the use of inferential statistics in their empirical studies and unconsciously believe that SPSS, inferential statistics, or any other sophisticated software are tightly related to natural sciences and could not be easily applied in social sciences. On the basis of the findings, a number of recommendations are suggested like organizing workshops with computer scientists. In addition, students’ self-confidence should be increased in order to change their perception of their potential and abilities to feel more at ease with statistics and technologies while doing academic research in language studies.

The experiences of the past few years in teaching German at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Oradea, Romania, have given the impulse for writing the following study. Rendering grammar issues has stumbled time after time over the impossibility of relating to students’ previous grammar knowledge in their mother tongue, i.e. Romanian, resulting into the feeling that they might lack basic grammar concepts in general. To check if the hypothesis of students’ deficient grammar knowledge is a mere subjective perception of the author of this article or rather an existent generational, possibly global phenomenon, quantitative research methods like descriptive statistics and a short grammar test (four questions related to morphology and one syntax issue) were applied. Lacking data referring to Hungary, the statistical inventory included only the results obtained in Romania, in the time span 2017-2022, at the national graduation exam at the end of the 8th grade, in the discipline Romanian language and literature, while the grammar test was applied in an approximately equal number to first and second year Economic students both at the University of Oradea, Romania, and respectively the University of Debrecen, Hungary. The results obtained in the Romanian exam mentioned above, mainly for 2017 and 2018, when students included in the study took it, seem to be in concordance with the hypothesis initially formulated, but the results of the grammar test applied at the University of Oradea do not give a clear-cut proof of it. Still, these data are on both sides – Romanian and Hungarian respectively – anything else than comforting. In my opinion, the causes of this state of affairs are not to be found only in the limited analytical skills, induced by digitalisation, and the aversion of generation Z for grammar. Other factors have also contributed to it, to the same extent, namely the syllabi for Romanian for the 5th-8th grade pleading for the avoidance of conceptualisation of linguistic phenomena, valid for Romania, and the insufficient importance given to grammar both in teaching/learning and in the exam subjects in both countries analysed. As for improvement measures, one can identify changes in syllabi, on the institutional side, in the sense of a more conscious, conceptualised knowledge transfer and, on the other hand, giving more importance to teaching grammar at all levels, high school included. On the individual level, teachers can support this process by creating digital auxiliary didactic materials like explanatory videos put up using simpleshow video maker, or resorting to qualitative YouTube-videos when teaching grammar. The animated form, more appealing for young people, is likely to bring grammar and language rules, abstract concepts closer to them.

Irony is a complex linguistic phenomenon that plays an important role in children’s literature. The use of irony in a children’s literary text opens up new possibilities for interpreting the text and also brings about an important change in the level of reception of the work, as it awakens not only the curiosity of the children but also the interest of the adults. The aim of this paper is to examine the forms of irony based on Erich Kästner’s fairy tale “Puss in Boots” and to discuss the role of morphology and syntax in generating irony. A detailed analysis of the morpho-syntactic elements of irony should show that Kästner’s text can be classified in the category of crosswriting. The paper also deals with the writing style of Kästner. Typical of the German author is that he has often made adaptations of famous works of children’s and young people’s literature. “Till Eulenspiegel”, “Münchhausen” and “Die Schildbürger” are adaptations that show that Kästner is interested in works that have the potential to be humorous. Earlier versions of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” are also briefly mentioned in this paper to illustrate the popularity of the pre-text. Because Kästner’s text is an adaptation of the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm, the following important terms are also to be explained: irony, humour and intertextuality. However, the article focuses mainly on the morpho-syntactic peculiarities of Kästner’s adaptation. Different grammatical categories such as modal particles, modal verbs, attributes and punctuation are examined in the paper and this analysis tries to determine to what extent they play a role in the manifestation of irony. Such an analysis opens up new perspectives and possibilities of interpretation of the fairy tale “Puss in Boots” by Kästner.

The aim of this paper is the language analysis of an online-YouTube-interview, where the politeness is defined as a sociocultural entity. In this paper, the most influential theories of politeness are presented and the concept of face is explained. In addition to this, it presents in detail the difference between the positive and negative politeness. The data shows that politeness influences the choice of language means and how the language means can change the communicative situation where the functions of language means in adapting language are illustrated and shown.The results are based on an online-YouTube-interview which is analyzed linguistically by defining and showing the relationship between the participants in the given communication. It also shows how the speakers adapt the politeness forms in relation to the conversation partner. The analysis of the language of the moderator and the guest confirms the assumption that the language is related to the situational context and that the speakers adapt their language depending on the communicative situation, which has been shown by the tendency of the moderator and the interviewed guest to reduce distance, through the use of interpersonal discourse markers as well as other language means.

In the faculties of medicine and psychology at the University of Ioannina, Greece, German courses are held for learning specific, academic terminology. In addition, language courses for German as a foreign language (levels A1 to B1) are offered during Bachelor studies. Due to the increasing interest of students in learning German language for special, academic purposes, a questionnaire survey was carried out to discover the opinions and needs of the students regarding the methodological process of teaching German for academic purposes and the difficulties in learning the German terminology. A questionnaire survey with 135 undergraduate students-participants from all faculties of the University of Ioannina, Greece was conducted. The participants were asked whether they considered German technical language to be important for their studies, why they wanted to learn German terminology, which year of their Bachelor-studies would be the most appropriate for them to learn it in, and which teaching materials were considered as the more effective for learning. In addition, the respondents were asked to mention difficulties in learning German for academic purposes and to make suggestions that could help enrich methodologically and didactically the German-terminology courses.

Il contributo prende in esame quattro romanzi dello scrittore italo-algerino Amara Lakhous analizzandoli dal punto di vista sociolinguistico e non letterario. L’obiettivo è quello di verificare l’importanza della lingua nel processo di costruzione sociale della realtà e nella ri-definizione dell’identità del soggetto migrante per favorirne l’integrazione. Si indagherà, pertanto, il repertorio linguistico dei diversi personaggi provenienti da luoghi differenti focalizzando l’attenzione tale aspetto, ancora poco indagato, per sottolineare quanto il binomio lingua-cultura sia inscindibile. Lo studio rivela quanto la diversità culturale tra lo straniero e la società ospitante si esplica soprattutto nell’ambito linguistico: la conoscenza di una lingua ‘altra’ rispetto alla propria L1 permette di avere di un’ulteriore chiave che apre le porte alla comunicazione e alla comprensione tra soggetti e concede opportunità che sarebbe precluse in caso contrario. The social construction of reality and the sociolinguistic stratification in some novels by Amara Lakhous The paper examines four novels by the Italian-Algerian writer Amara Lakhous through a sociolinguistic analysis. The aim of the work is to verify the importance of the language in the process of social construction of reality and of re-definition of migrant’s identity to allow integration. Therefore, it examines the linguistic repertoire of various characters coming from different places of origin, focusing on this aspect, still less investigated, to highlight how language-culture relation cannot be divided. The study reveals that cultural diversity between the migrant and the host society is mainly expressed in the language: the knowledge of a language different from the L1 allows to have an additional key that promotes communication and understanding between subjects and grants opportunities that would be precluded otherwise.

Dalle ultime indicazioni pubblicate dal Ministero dell’Istruzione (2022) circa la situazione scolastica dei bambini provenienti da contesti migratori emerge l’importanza e la necessità di continuare a portare nelle scuole un’educazione linguistica che sia realmente democratica: ciò vuol dire orientare gli insegnanti e, più in generale, tutto il personale scolastico verso la costruzione di percorsi didattici che tengano in considerazione, valorizzino e legittimo l’uso delle lingue di origine di tutti i bambini, anche di quei codici linguistici che ancora non godono del cosiddetto prestigio sociale. Il bilinguismo di questi alunni, infatti, necessita di un riconoscimento continuo da parte delle istituzioni, in primis quelle scolastiche, affinché le lingue minoritarie non vengano messe a tacere per pressioni sociali o per vissuti di vergogna (Favaro, 2019). Fornire agli studenti input e strumenti per accostarsi alle lingue e culture altre insegna ai bambini italofoni ad aprirsi nei confronti di una diversità intesa come elemento costituente della nostra società e, allo stesso tempo, aiuta i bambini alloglotti ad accogliere la propria situazione di bilinguismo non come un fattore di stigma da nascondere o da sfuggire, ma come un vantaggio per sé stessi e per la collettività. L’accostamento, il confronto e la riflessione nei confronti delle lingue altre, inoltre, stimola e sensibilizza la curiosità di tutti gli alunni italiani e, non, nei confronti delle forme e funzioni del linguaggio. Su queste premesse è nata la proposta didattica In viaggio con Nanà descritta all’interno di questo articolo: un progetto per bambini delle scuole primarie e delle scuole secondarie di primo grado volto a scoprire, o in alcuni casi, a riscoprire le lingue parlate a casa, le lingue conosciute ma poi dimenticate, le lingue usate dai compagni, le lingue lontane ma sentite come vicine, le lingue verso cui, semplicemente, si può provare interesse o curiosità. In viaggio con Nanà: A didactic proposal to stimulate and enhance contact with other languages and cultures The latest insights from the Ministry of Education (2022) on the scholastic situation of children from migratory backgrounds reveal the importance and necessity of continuing to bring language education in schools that is truly democratic: this means directing teachers and, more generally, all scholastic personnel towards the construction of didactic paths that take into consideration, valorise, and legitimise the use of the first languages of all children, even those linguistic codes that do not yet enjoy so-called social prestige. The bilingualism of these pupils, in fact, requires continuous recognition by institutions, first and foremost schools, so that minority languages are not silenced due to social pressures or feelings of shame (Favaro, 2019). Providing students with input and tools for approaching other languages and cultures can teach Italian-speaking children to open up to diversity as a constituent element of our society and, at the same time, helps non-native children to accept their bilingualism situation not as a stigma to be hidden or shunned, but as an advantage for themselves and for the community. Approaching, comparing, and reflecting on other languages, moreover, stimulates and sensitises the curiosity of all Italian and non-Italian pupils about the forms and functions of language. The didactic proposal In viaggio con Nanà, described in this article, was born on these grounds: a project for primary and secondary school children aimed at discovering or, in some cases, rediscovering languages spoken at home, languages known but then forgotten, languages used by companions, languages far away but felt to be close, and languages towards which, quite simply, one can feel interest or curiosity.

L’insegnamento dell’italiano a livello universitario con studenti ispanofoni lancia sfide didattiche e metodologiche a causa dell’innegabile vicinanza tra due lingue considerate affini. Tuttavia, ci sono importanti differenze tra l’italiano e lo spagnolo che devono essere affrontate con particolare insistenza in classe, per evitare il trasferimento diretto da una lingua all’altra e per garantire che gli studenti di italiano come lingua straniera acquisiscano un livello di padronanza delle strutture linguistiche e dello stile retorico italiano il più vicino possibile a quello dei madrelingua. Nonostante siano due lingue romanze vicine, l’italiano e lo spagnolo hanno le loro caratteristiche distintive quando si tratta di parlare di spazio e movimento attraverso il linguaggio e di concettualizzare la realtà. Uno degli aspetti chiave che ci portano a collocare la lingua italiana a metà strada tra lo spagnolo e altre lingue come l’inglese o il tedesco sono i cosiddetti verbi sintagmatici, composti da un nucleo verbale e da una particella post-verbale, legati da un alto livello di coesione e coerenza interna. La crescente presenza e frequenza d’uso dei verbi sintagmatici in italiano li rende una struttura linguistica fondamentale nell’insegnamento dell’italiano come lingua straniera, soprattutto con gli studenti di lingua spagnola, che non hanno familiarità con l’uso di questo tipo di costruzioni nella loro lingua madre. Con l’obiettivo di unire la lingua, la cultura e le tradizioni italiane in classe, e quindi di favorire un apprendimento significativo e integrale, presentiamo qui una proposta didattica realizzata in classe con studenti universitari di lingua spagnola, che cerca di introdurre l’insegnamento dell’uso dei verbi sintagmatici italiani di movimento attraverso i proverbi. Verbs and proverbs: a didactic experience teaching Italian motion verb-particle constructions to Spanish-speaking students at university Teaching Italian language at university to Spanish-speaking students involves some didactic and methodological challenges directly connected to the undeniable proximity that exists between these two close-related languages. However, there are important differences between Italian and Spanish that must be thoroughly addressed in class to avoid direct transferences from one language to the other and help students of Italian as a foreign language acquire a native-like command of Italian linguistic structures and rhetorical style as far as possible. Despite being two close-related Romance languages, Italian and Spanish exhibit their own distinctive features to talk about space and motion through language and conceptualize the world. One of the key aspects that lead us to see Italian halfway between Spanish and other languages such as English or German are the so-called verb-particle constructions, made up of a verb and a particle, connected by a high level of inner cohesion and coherence. The growing presence and frequency of use of verb-particle constructions in Italian language makes them an essential linguistic structure in the teaching of Italian as a foreign language, particularly to Spanish-speaking students, barely familiar with this type of constructions in their mother tongue. The teaching proposal we present here has been carried out with Spanish-speaking university students, with the purpose of blending Italian language, culture and traditions in the classroom and therefore promoting a meaningful and comprehensive learning process by teaching the use of Italian motion verb-particle constructions through proverbs.

Tutt’altro che infrequenti risultano le difficoltà linguistiche, manifestate dai soggetti con un Disturbo dello Spettro Autistico, nel campo della comunicazione e della produzione di richieste funzionali. Tali difficoltà influenzano anche la sfera relazionale, determinando una marcata compromissione della dimensione sociale. Viene qui presentato un caso di studio incentrato su un’attività didattica ludificata digitale, interamente progettata per la fruizione da parte di un alunno con ASD frequentante una scuola secondaria di primo grado. L’obiettivo principale del gioco consiste nell’implementare l’emissione di richieste funzionali all’interno di uno specifico contesto (il supermercato), così da consentire all’alunno di fare la spesa in autonomia. Il gioco, infatti, basato su una sequenza di esercizi didattici di difficoltà crescente realizzati mediante piattaforme educazionali come Scratch, WordWall, e LearningApps, è stato costruito pensando a un curriculummultidisciplinare, capace di coniugare e integrare abilità di tipo linguistico e matematico (operare semplici calcoli o maneggiare il denaro per pagare il conto alla cassa del supermercato). L’attività didattica ludificata assistita dalle ICT ha consentito all’alunno autistico la realizzazione di quello che David Ausubel (1968) avrebbe definito un «apprendimento significativo», utile a un pieno sviluppo non soltanto di abilità linguistiche e comunicative, ma anche della dimensione dell’autonomia. Functional language development in a pupil with ASD mediated by gamification: a case study Individuals with ASD frequently manifest language difficulties in the area of communication and production of functional demands. Such difficulties also affect their relational sphere, leading to a marked impairment of the social dimension. A case study is presented here, focusing on a digitally ludified educational activity, which was entirely designed for use by a student with ASD attending a secondary school. The main objective of the game is to implement the output of functional demands within a specific context (the supermarket), so as to enable the student to shop independently. The game is based on a sequence of language education exercises with increasing difficulty; individual exercises were implemented using educational platforms such as Scratch, WordWall, and LearningApps. The entire game was designed on the basis of a multidisciplinary curriculum, capable of developing first and foremost language skills, but also mathematical ones (operating simple calculations or handling money to pay the bill at the supermarket checkout). ICT-assisted ludified teaching activities enabled the student with ASD to achieve what David Ausubel (1968) would have called «meaningful learning», useful for a more accomplished development of language skills, but also for the expansion of the dimension of autonomy.

L’articolo prende l’avvio da alcuni errori lessicali in attività esercitative di studenti universitari (prevalentemente del primo anno) che devono colmare delle lacune attraverso la frequenza di un laboratorio di scrittura. Il livello del lessico qui considerato è quello del lessico della conoscenza, all’interno delle funzioni comunicative richieste nel contesto di un laboratorio universitario. Il primo problema che si pone l’autrice dell’articolo è come motivare scientificamente le scelte correttive degli errori; il secondo è come sostenere l’apprendimento degli studenti attraverso strategie didattiche specifiche che agiscano all’interno del loro “spazio lessicale”. Dal momento che gli errori qui considerati riguardano il piano sintagmatico, questo è il punto di partenza per una ricognizione sugli studi lessicali a livello di restrizioni semantiche, di “combinazioni preferenziali” (le collocazioni in senso stretto), di costruzioni a verbo supporto, di polirematiche, tutti fenomeni caratterizzati da diversi gradi di “coesione lessicale” e infine di reggenze sintattiche (identificate da qualche autore come “collocazioni grammaticali”). Per quanto riguarda il secondo problema, ossia il sostegno all’apprendimento degli studenti, successivo alla correzione e restituzione degli errori, l’articolo presenta un’ampia sezione di esercizi che partono dal riconoscimento del piano sintagmatico del lessico e si concentrano poi sugli aspetti specifici delle restrizioni semantiche e delle collocazioni. An overview at vocabulary teaching strategies between high school and university The article starts by highlighting some lexical errors occurred in practice activities carried out by a group of university students (predominantly first-year students) who had to fill some gaps in language skills by attending a writing workshop. The level of vocabulary considered here is that of knowledge lexicon, within the communicative functions required in the context of a university workshop. The first issue highlighted by the author of the article is how to scientifically justify the choices of error connection; the second one is how to support students’ learning through specific teaching strategies that function within the student’s “lexical space”. Since the errors considered here concern the syntagmatic plan, this is the starting point for a reconnaissance of lexical studies at the level of semantic restrictions, of “preferential combinations” (collocations in the strict sense), of support verb constructions, of polyrhymatic constructions, all phenomena characterized by varying degrees of “lexical cohesion” and finally of syntactic regencies (identified by some authors as “grammatical collocations”). With regard to the second issue, i.e. how to support students’ learning subsequent to error connection and reporting of results, this article presents an extensive section of exercises that start from the recognition of the syntagmatic plan of lexicon and then focus on the specific aspects of semantic restrictions and collocations.

Questo articolo propone la sperimentazione di un’unità di formazione (UF) dedicata alla mediazione testuale per discenti di italiano come lingua seconda (L2) o straniera (LS) di livello B2: gli esercizi e le attività che vi si presentano sono costruiti costruite tenendo conto delle indicazioni contenute nel QCER e nel suo aggiornamento, il Volume complementare (QCER-CV). Il testo è organizzato in due sezioni principali: la prima, che comprende i paragrafi 2, 3 e 4, contiene alcune considerazioni preliminari sulla mediazione (e sulla mediazione testuale in particolare), sulla didattica per compiti e sulla struttura delle unità formative; la seconda include la vera e propria UF, in cui si impiegano testi multimodali e si fa ricorso, per la condivisione dei contenuti e l’esecuzione delle attività, di una piattaforma didattica telematica. For a training unit on textual mediation in Italian class L2/LS This article proposes the experimentation of a training unit (UF) dedicated to textual mediation for learners of Italian as a second (L2) or foreign (LS) language at B2 level: the exercises and activities presented there are built taking into account of the indications contained in the CEFR and its update, the Complementary Volume (CEFR-CV). The text is organized into two main sections: the first, which includes paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, contains some preliminary considerations on mediation (and on textual mediation in particular), on task-based teaching and on the structure of the training units; the second includes the actual UF, in which multimodal texts are used and an online teaching platform is used for sharing content and carrying out activities.

Nell’ottica del più ambizioso progetto di riscoperta delle opere grammaticali del Seicento, trascurate dalla moderna letteratura scientifica, si inserisce il presente contributo, dedicato all’Ortografia italiana et altre osservationi della lingua di Altobello Gagliaro (1631). Oltre allo studio di una grammatica dimenticata e, quindi, alla ricostruzione della storia dell’opera e alla descrizione dei contenuti, l’articolo si propone di evidenziare alcune non trascurabili riflessioni di natura sintattica con cui l’autore, sovente, costella la riflessione metalinguistica. La sicura distinzione tra i concetti di periodo e membro, la frequenza con cui fa ricorso alle nozioni di dipendenza e reggenza, l’abbozzo di una rudimentale analisi del periodo e altre intuizioni, assieme all’impiego di una precisa terminologia tecnica, rendono l’opera meritevole di attenzione, permettendo di descrivere e conoscere un autore che sentì il bisogno di supportare le asserzioni sulla lingua con l’analisi di unità maggiori alla parola e che produsse riflessioni puntuali che testimoniano il perfezionamento teorico di quanto già acquisito nel secolo precedente. The rediscovery of L'ortografia italiana et altre osservationi della lingua by Altobello Gagliaro (1631) The present contribution, dedicated to Altobello Gagliaro’s Ortografia italiana et altre osservationi della lingua (1631), is part of the more ambitious project of rediscovering grammatical works of the 17th century that have been neglected by modern scholarly literature. In addition to the study of a forgotten grammar and, therefore, the reconstruction of the work’s history and the description of its contents, the article aims to highlight some not-inconsiderable reflections of a syntactic nature with which the author often punctuates his metalinguistic reflections. The clear distinction between the concepts of periodo and membro, the frequency with which he makes use of the notions of dependency and regency, the outline of a rudimentary analysis of propositions and other intuitions, together with the use of precise technical terminology, make the work worthy of attention, allowing us to describe and get to know an author who needed to support his assertions on language with the analysis of units greater than a single word and who produced precise reflections that bear witness to the theoretical refinement of what he had already acquired in the previous century.

In questo articolo si presenta un’unità di formazione dedicata alla didattica del lessico per discenti di italiano come L1: argomento dell’unità sono gli stranierismi (in particolare, gli anglicismi) e le attività che vi si propongono sono pensate per discenti del triennio della scuola secondaria di secondo grado. Il testo è organizzato in due sezioni: la prima, che comprende i paragrafi 2, 3 e 4, contiene considerazioni generali sulla didattica del lessico e riferimenti alle Indicazioni nazioni, alle linee guida ministeriali, ai quadri di competenze delineati dall'Invalsi e dal QCER; cenni alle tecnologie informatiche e telematiche che possono facilitarne l'insegnamento; riflessioni di ordine teorico e metodologico sul lessico, la sua organizzazione, le possibilità che offre allo studio nella scuola; indicazioni generali su alcune prassi didattica (come la didattica azionale, per task e "rovesciata" ; la seconda include la vera e propria UdF, articolata in cinque fasi (motivazione, incontro con il testo, sua lettura di dettaglio, sintesi degli apprendimenti, verifica). From vocabulary to life. designing activities for lexicon teaching This article presents a training unit dedicated to lexicon teaching for learners of Italian as native language: the topic of the unit is foreignisms (in particular, anglicisms) and the activities proposed are designed for learners in the last three years of secondary school. The text is organized into two sections: the first, which includes paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, contains general considerations on vocabulary teaching and references to the italian "Indicazioni nazionali" for teachers, to the ministerial guidelines, to the competence frameworks outlined by the Invalsi and the CEFR; notes on information and telematic technologies that can facilitate teaching; theoretical and methodological reflections on the lexicon, its organization, the possibilities it offers for study in school; general indications on some teaching practices (such as action-based, task-based and "flipped" teaching; the second includes the actual UdF, divided into five phases (motivation, encounter with a text, its detailed reading, synthesis of learnings, verification).

Nell’Italia delle corti, dove le occasioni di banchetto costituiscono la più alta espressione del benessere economico e della potenza politica dei signori, le feste nunziali sono pensate come momenti conviviali e celebrativi, ma al contempo sono volute per rinnovare equilibri interni in funzione della pace sociale. Frequenti in queste occasioni sono le rappresentazioni sceniche, durante le quali gli invitati assistono a un vero e proprio spettacolo, accompagnato solitamente da letture, mimi e musica; in genere la messa in scena è sostenuta da un testo, spesso opera di un poeta di corte. L’articolo offre una prima indagine, storica e linguistica, dell’Ordine de le imbandisone, “poemetto” in versi di patina settentrionale, pensato per accompagnare la festa di nozze organizzata a Tortona, il 25 gennaio 1489, in occasione del matrimonio di Isabella d’Aragona e Gian Galeazzo Sforza. L’analisi sulla lingua, che si anticipa in questa sede e che verrà poi ampliata in uno studio successivo, permette di riflettere sulla «policromia espressiva» del poemetto, che da un lato prende forma nell’impiego di una lingua illustre e nel recupero di tessere dantesche e petrarchesche, dall’altro si profila nella selezione di tratti lombardi e latamente settentrionali, che a quest’altezza cronologica sono testimonianza della volontà di dichiarare un’appartenenza, preservando gli elementi locali, distintivi e identitari, depurate le forme più esplicitamente municipali. Metamorphosis at the banquet. First linguistic reflections on the Ordine de le imbandisone (1489) In the Italy of the courts, where banqueting occasions constitute the highest expression of the economic well-being and political power of the lords, nuptial feasts are thought of as convivial and celebratory moments, but at the same time they are desired to renew internal balances in function of social peace. Frequent on these occasions are stage performances, during which guests witness a real show, usually accompanied by readings, mimes and music; usually the staging is supported by a text, often the work of a court poet. The article offers an initial survey, both historical and linguistic, of the Ordine de le imbandisone, a “poem” in verse with a northern patina, designed to accompany the wedding feast organized in Tortona on January 25, 1489, for the marriage of Isabella of Aragon and Gian Galeazzo Sforza. The analysis on the language, which is anticipated here and will be expanded in a later study, allows us to reflect on the “expressive polychromy” of the poem, which on the one hand takes shape in the use of an illustrious language and in the recovery of Dantean and Petrarchan tesserae, and on the other is profiled in the selection of Lombard and languidly northern features, which at this chronological height are evidence of the desire to declare a belonging, preserving local, distinctive and identity-based elements, purified of more explicitly municipal forms.

Questo contributo si prefigge di analizzare in un’ottica pragmatica gli atti di minaccia in sei commedie di Peppino De Filippo: Spacca il centesimo, Una persona fidata, La lettera di mammà, Le metamorfosi di un suonatore ambulante, Un suicidio collettivo e Tre poveri in campagna. Consultando la letteratura, ci siamo resi conto che non esistono studi italiani che indagano gli atti di minaccia né nel teatro né in un altro corpus, almeno per quanto è a nostra conoscenza. Questo contributo assume, quindi, un carattere esplorativo e si pone l’obiettivo di svelare le minacce nascoste nelle espressioni verbali e nei modi di fare dei personaggi delle commedie di Peppino De Filippo. Anche nelle frasi che non fanno subito pensare alla minaccia, si possono riscontrare elementi che non ne prescindono. Inoltre, viene calcolata la frequenza della distribuzione degli atti di minaccia a seconda della categoria diretta/indiretta e del sesso degli interlocutori per sapere se esistano differenze di comportamento tra i personaggi maschili e femminili nella minaccia. Nella conclusione si evidenziano i risultati della ricerca. The Speech Act of Threatening in the theater of Peppino De Filippo. Pragmatic study This contribution tends to analyze from a pragmatic perspective the Speech Act of Threatening in six comedies by Peppino De Filippo, which are Spacca il centesimo, Una persona fidata, La lettera di mammà, Le metamorfosi di un suonatore ambulante, Un suicidio collettivo and Tre poveri in campagna. Consulting the literature, we realized that there are no Italian studies investigating the Speech Act of Threatening either in the theater or in any other corpus, at least to the best of our knowledge. This contribution, therefore, takes on an exploratory character and aims to reveal the threats hidden in the verbal expressions and mannerisms of the characters in Peppino De Filippo's comedies. Even in phrases that do not immediately suggest threat, we can find elements that do not disregard it. In addition, we will calculate the frequency of the distribution of threatening acts according to the direct/indirect category and according to the gender of the interlocutors in order to find out whether there are differences in threatening behavior between male and female characters. The conclusion will highlight the results of the contribution.

Finora la critica letteraria, specie negli ultimi anni, ha dedicato sempre maggiore attenzione alle petrarchiste del Cinquecento, in particolar modo soffermandosi sulle vicende personali delle poetesse, sulle tematiche, sull’intertestualità, con occasionali osservazioni stilistiche, mentre mancano ad oggi studi specifici sulla lingua di questa importante produzione lirica. Il contributo offre i primi risultati tendenziali di un ampio studio in corso, che si propone di colmare questa lacuna negli studi linguistici sul Cinquecento. Si presentano qui i risultati di una prima ricognizione linguistica, condotta sui componimenti poetici di Veronica Gambara, Vittoria Colonna e Gaspara Stampa. In particolare, si indagano il lessico e la fraseologia al fine di valutarne la composizione e di verificare elementi di discontinuità ed eventuali novità rispetto al modello petrarchesco e alla tradizione poetica precedente. Proposals for a linguistic reading of 16th-century female Petrarchism: initial surveys of Veronica Gambara, Vittoria Colonna, and Gaspara Stampa Literary criticism, especially in recent years, has devoted increasing attention to women petrarchists of the sixteenth century, especially dwelling on the personal histories of the poets, themes, and intertextuality, with occasional stylistic observations, while specific studies on the language of this important lyric production are still lacking. The contribution offers the first tentative results of a large ongoing study, which aims to fill this gap in linguistic studies on the sixteenth century. The results of an initial linguistic reconnaissance, conducted on the poetic compositions of Veronica Gambara, Vittoria Colonna and Gaspara Stampa, are presented here. In particular, the lexicon and phraseology are investigated to assess their composition and to verify elements of discontinuity and possible novelty with respect to the Petrarchan model and the earlier poetic tradition.

Il lavoro propone un esame del lessico tecnico-giuridico del Dottor volgare (Roma, Corvo, 1673) di Giovan Battista De Luca, prima o tra le prime opere di dottrina giuridica scritta in italiano. Dopo un’introduzione sull’opzione linguistica di De Luca, si illustrano aspetti della personale pratica di scrittura dell’autore con riguardo per le modalità di presentazione di voci giuridiche (relative a istituti, nozioni, concetti, fattispecie delle varie materie del diritto) per la prima volta o quasi discusse in italiano, e corredate nell’opera da osservazioni su continuità e differenze rispetto ai contesti non settoriali. Si illustrano dunque aspetti quali la prassi definitoria, l’impostazione enciclopedica, le strategie metalessicali, anche documentando di volta in volta le voci oggetto di analisi attraverso indagini nella lessicografia storica ed etimologica. Between technicality and common language. Definitional praxis and metalinguistic notations in the Dottor volgare by Giovan Battista De Luca The work proposes an examination of the technical-juridical lexicon of the Doctor volgare (Rome, Corvo, 1673) by Giovan Battista De Luca, before or among the first works of legal doctrine written in Italian. After an introduction on the linguistic option of De Luca, we illustrate aspects of the personal writing practice of the author with regard to the methods of presentation of legal items (relating to institutes, notions, concepts, case of the various subjects of law) for the first time or almost discussed in Italian, and accompanied in the work by observations on continuity and differences compared to non-sectoral contexts. Aspects such as the definitional practice, the encyclopedic approach, the metalexical strategies are illustrated, also documenting from time to time the items subject to analysis through investigations in the historical and etymological lexicography.

Il saggio esplora l’uso che si fa oggi di un particolare dispositivo testuale chiamato “elenco puntato”, al confine tra frase e testo, il cui scopo è elencare e scandire contenuti in modo chiaro e trasparente, al fine di facilitare il lettore nella comprensione e nella messa a fuoco degli elementi chiave di una descrizione, o dei concetti chiave di un ragionamento. L’indagine è limitata a testi espositivi scritti di medio-alta formalità, di ambito linguistico/educativo, prodotti da autori di provata affidabilità. Sulla base di caratteristiche formali ben riconoscibili – struttura sintattica, uso della punteggiatura, organizzazione dello spazio – vengono individuati e descritti tre diversi tipi di elenchi puntati: con i primi due siamo nell’ambito della frase, dove operano vincoli sintattici che possono essere spezzati solo da un uso fortemente marcato della punteggiatura; con il terzo tipo siamo nell’ambito del testo, il cui unico vincolo è la coerenza concettuale. Writing and Numbered Lists in Expository Texts: Between Syntax and Text This article explores the use made today of a particular textual device called “numbered list”. On the borderline between sentence and text, the numbered list is used to list and articulate contents clearly and transparently, so as to help the reader understand and focus on the key elements of a description, or the key concepts of a line of reasoning. The investigation is limited to Italian written expository texts of medium-high formality, in the fields of linguistics and education, produced by authors of proven reliability. On the basis of easily recognizable formal characteristics – syntactic structure, use of punctuation, spatial organization – three different types of numbered lists are identified and described: with the first two we are in the context of the sentence, where syntactic constraints apply which can only be broken in the presence of a strongly marked use of punctuation; with the third type we are in the context of the text, where the only constraint is conceptual coherence.

Il contributo introduce l’applicazione di nuovi paradigmi di analisi sociolinguistica allo studio della scrittura digitale di massa in Italia. Partendo da una ricognizione dei dati quantitativi inerenti al progressivo radicamento dei nuovi media nella società (con riferimento a dati Censis e Istat), se ne discutono le ripercussioni negli usi della lingua, valutati attraverso le prospettive teoriche del cambiamento sociolinguistico e - in particolare - della mediatizzazione della lingua. La parte conclusiva si concentra sull’importanza dell’evoluzione degli usi della scrittura come codice semiotico nell’era digitale, proponendo alcuni spunti di riflessione afferenti al ramo della sociolinguistica della scrittura. Digital Society and Mass Writing in Italy: some Sociolinguistic Premises This paper aims to introduce the application of new sociolinguistic analysis methodologies to the study of mass digital writing in Italy. Starting with a survey of quantitative data concerning the gradual assimilation of new media within society (referring to Censis and Istat data), it highlights the implications on language usage, assessed through the perspectives of sociolinguistic change and, in particular, of mediatization of language. The concluding section focuses the attention on the importance of evolving writing practices in the digital age, proposing some insights within the field of sociolinguistics of writing.