Learning Italian L2 at the museum: a CLIL workshop for Marco Polo and Turandot students in Venice

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to discuss the potential of museums and, in particular, of the museum objects, as resources to promote the development of Italian L2 (ItaL2) students’ oral skills in the context of the Marco Polo and Turandot projects as delivered by the School of International Education of the University Ca’ Foscari of Venice. In museums students have the opportunity to get in touch with objects exhibited in the collections which promote conversations and interaction that might be difficult in the classroom, overcoming the shyness of speaking in front of the entire language class (Leinhardt, Crowley and Knutson, 2002). From a careful analysis of the literature, it emerges that Chinese students in the Marco Polo and Turandot projects encounter difficulties in improving their language skills and, in particular, their oral skills in Italian L2. The oral ability deserves more attention since it is a fundamental requisite for the Marco Polo and Turandot students as they are going to use Italian to learn the specific contents of the subjects of their university curriculum and to master the language during the exams. Thus, this study focused on the experience of the Marco Polo and Turandot students during an ItaL2 workshop at Ca’ Rezzonico, the Museum of the 18th century Venice. This workshop was delivered in February 2020 as part of an Italian Culture module and was designed by integrating the CLIL methodology and the principles at the basis of museum pedagogy in order to create language activities aimed at improving Chinese students’ oral skills in Italian L2. Data were collected through the researcher’s observation, students’ qualitative questionnaires, and the teacher’s written interview. The intention to conduct this research arose from the recognition of the urgent need of Chinese students to achieve the objectives set by the agreement signed by the Italian Republic and the People's Republic of China which established that the students of Marco Polo and Turandot projects have to reach either the B1 or B2 level in Italian by the end of the language course in Italy. In particular, the study aimed to answer the following research questions: a) how do museum objects support the oral skills of students carrying out activities which integrate the principles at the basis of both language and museum learning and teaching? b) do artworks encourage students to use language to exchange information for a real purpose and to share their personal stories, opinions, feelings and emotions?