Describes a "Vichian" approach (involving linguistic imagination and creativity) to the exploration of basic pedagogical matters in classroom language teaching. The approach is based on principles involving: (1) concrete language knowledge; (2) development from the concrete to the abstract; (3) the role of metaphor in verbal creativity;…

Describes class activities for incorporating and teaching about opera into the Italian language instruction classroom, focusing on the enhancement of cultural knowledge and understanding that opera offers. (CB)

Explores issues related to the successful integration of songs and music into the Italian curriculum and suggests methods for incorporating music to enhance students' speaking, understanding, reading, writing, and cultural awareness skills. (27 references) (CB)

Presents a proposal to bring literature into the basic program of instruction and make it a meaningful component of the learning process. A model lesson describes how literary texts can be perceived and studied as performances of a language. (CB)

Courses in business Italian have an important place in the traditional foreign language curriculum because they expose students to broader cultural areas in which they can exercise their foreign language skills. Guidelines for course development and some classroom activities are described. (CB)