Early German education in Italy An overview about German and Germanic varieties teaching in the Italian nursery schools

Abstract

The present work deals with the early learning of the German language in Italy. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the current situation in the Italian nursery schools as regards the learning of the German language and to analyse specific situations of this teaching in order to provide models and examples of the current activity in the country. The paper opens with an overview of the theories about early language teaching; then the current situation in Italy both concerning the law and daily practice is explored. The central part of the work, which is the focus of this dissertation, is based on two different research questions. On one hand, the early learning of Germanic minority languages in Italy is discussed. After an introduction to the theme and a description of these communities and their language, a picture about the scholastic teaching of these varieties is offered. On the other hand, the dissertation carries on dealing with the peculiar territorial situation of the Valcanale and the area of Tarvisio. The analysis is carried on the exploration of the “G. Rodari” nursery school, which offers an example of a plurilingual didactic, for which all the languages of the territory should be valorised and promoted. A lot of data have been gathered through the collecting of materials and examples of the didactic activities and also through interviews with the people involved in the daily teaching. The results are positive and encouraging for all those schools which desire to adapt models of bilingual education, even at nursery school level, in order to exploit the child’s potentiality.