TEACHING ITALIAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE TO ADULT IMMIGRANT LEARNERS: SELF-NARRATION AS EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY AND INSTRUMENT TOWARDS INTEGRATION

Abstract

This paper deals with the teaching of Italian as a second language in relation to adult learners who have been forced to move to Italy because of adverse circumstances in their countries of origin and, thus, needy of expressing themselves. After a brief introduction to the phenomenon of migration, from a wider perspective to a more focused and specific one, the peculiarities of the characters involved in the language learning process, implying not only the relationship between the learner and the teacher, but the language in use as well, are discussed. Later on, the dissertation highlights the central role and the power of self-narration, which is considered to be, on one hand, the expression of inner thoughts and feelings and construction of identity and, on the other hand, a means of sharing and interaction towards integration. Such features, as well as the necessity of autobiographical tasks, are then investigated through the questionnaire handed out to 34 asylum seekers living in Bolzano (Italy), before proposing several didactic activities concerning self-narration which might be used in similar intercultural contexts, focusing on the intrinsic motivation which drives the learners and the emotions, either positive or negative, that affect their language acquisition.