Focusing on two beginner Italian courses, this study demonstrates participants' perceptions of and engagement with social justice topics and materials in a semester-long project. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of surveys, triangulated with interviews and artifacts, such as comments by students during lessons and in their video responses, provide us with a better understanding of students' previous expectations, perceptions and experiences with learning Italian; their background knowledge on social justice; and their reactions to the activities implemented throughout the course. Our findings indicate that learners value classroom activities and learning tools that allow them to share, collaborate, and reflect together. As a result of their engagement with multiliteracies approaches and social justice materials, most learners changed their perceptions of Italy and Italian identities. Most of them went through a transformation to altered frames of reference, changing their mind-sets, habits and meaning perspectives. Implications include discussions on offering learners space for critical reflection on social scenarios that can lead to increased engagement, sense of belonging, and unique transformative experiences.