English native speakers learning Italian as a foreign language: an analysis of errors

Abstract

This dissertation consists of an analysis of errors made by English native speakers in Italian as their foreign language. It is a description of these students’ interlanguages, analysing different factors involved in L2 acquisition, and the causes of their errors. This analysis is meant to be helpful for the teachers, to understand what are the major areas of difficulty for an English-speaking class. They will understand where the students have reached and will also help setting the syllabus for future language work. In the last chapter some reinforcement activities are proposed, to better the teaching of Italian and for the students to gain higher levels of proficiency.