Fostering Vocabulary Acquisition and Enhancing Metacognition through Digital Tools and Playful Teaching: a Case Study on Italian L2 Learners

Abstract

The thesis degree under discussion concerns metacognition, digital tools, and playful methodology in the Italian as Second Language classes. This investigation is composed of two sections. The first section includes the epistemological principles, namely what metacognition is and its implication in the language classroom, and the playful methodology implemented through digital tools in the field of education, as a means of motivating learners and of establishing a favourable learning environment close to their digital real world. Notions related to cooperative learning to actively build knowledge among peers are also described. The second section reports the experimentation conducted in two Italian as Second Language classes of A2 level according to the CEFR. The project investigates students’ perception of the digital platform Wooclap to learn new vocabulary related to films and cinema and to activate metacognitive strategies. To be more specific, a playful, interactive in-class activity specifically developed by the graduate student, including both individual and group tasks, is first performed; a qualitative analysis is subsequently conducted via Google Module to collect data about students’ personal relationship with the Italian language and digital platforms. Teachers’ opinions and feedback are also considered in the project. Such data are collected to observe whether the age of the learners and their country of origin affect such perceptions and the results of the research.