The aim of the Regional Dossier series is to provide concise descriptions of minority languages in education, mainly in Europe but also in other parts of the world. In the Slovene Littoral, Slovene and Italian are official languages and thus they share equal status in public and private life. Learners in this region attend schools either with…

The aim of the Regional Dossier series is to provide concise descriptions of regional or minority languages in education, mainly in Europe but also in other parts of the world. Friulian is a Romance language, traditionally recognised as part of the Rhaeto-Romance sub-family. It is spoken in Friûl (in Friulian)/Friuli (in Italian), a territory…

Post-communicative methodologies nowadays provide instructors with multiple curricular models to reimagine their syllabi, design creative assignments, and prepare their lessons. Yet, challenging topics are still often avoided, fearing students' limited language proficiency. Conversely, compelling content--carefully presented and pedagogically…

This regional dossier aims to provide a concise description of the European minority language, Italian in Switzerland, in education. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements and support structures, as well as quantitative aspects such as the number of schools,…

On college campuses throughout the United States, classes for decades have been offered to help Spanish speakers learn Portuguese, augmented recently by similar courses in Italian, French, and Catalan. Though there exist numerous commonalities between these innovative course offerings, the pivotal role of Spanish stands out. This essay therefore…

Employability is increasingly becoming a central aspect of higher education in the United Kingdom and it is becoming imperative that modern foreign languages teachers engage directly and sincerely with the employability agenda. This article proposes the use of feature films as a successful method for developing and promoting employability skills…

Over the last few decades the international dimension of higher education has grown significantly as internationalization has become a strategic goal for many governments. Students on the move worldwide reached five million in 2015 and their number is increasing at a rate of 10% each year. Many of these students need to develop proficiency in the…

As the employment of graduates appears among the performance indicators of institutions in higher education, universities are focussing more and more upon the development of employability related skills to enhance students' prospects in the job market. All UK universities are measured on the first jobs that their students acquire after graduation.…

Describes how the Department of Romance, German, and Russian Languages and Literatures at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), secured sponsorship for several Italian classes threatened by budget cuts from local and national Italian cultural organizations. The collaboration also helped make the CSULB Italian program more responsive to…

Describes a workshop offered at the Middlebury College Italian School on contemporary Italy. The morning sessions consisted of a discussion by a native Italian scholar of contemporary Italy and of related readings and the afternoon sessions consisted of readings and discussions and hands-on activities in lesson preparation. (SED)

A national survey sought data on fall 1990 enrollments in Italian classes in U.S. colleges and universities, including junior and community colleges, to supplement previous surveys. Findings show that Italian is regularly taught in 370 institutions with a total combined enrollment of 44,102 students. Institution-by-institution data are tabulated.…

Discusses an interdisciplinary approach to foreign language learning that is integrated with an academic/professional curriculum as opposed to a traditional beginner's course. The use of an electronic concordance is described; the language of a pedagogic corpus is examined; and an example is given of an Italian course for Renaissance theater…

Addresses the problem of the scarcity of instructional materials for teaching Italian and contemporary Italian culture to beginning college students. Looks at current practices and materials. Argues the need for preassessing cultural content of structural materials and suggests some criteria for devising supplementary cultural materials, along…

The Department of Italian Studies at the University of Toronto focuses on language training by relating other components of foreign language study (literature, linguistics, etc.) directly to the language training process. The department features a streaming system (beginner, native-speaker, and matriculant) which places students of linguistically…

Presents syllabus and discusses methodology for a course on British Industrial Relations for economics majors at the University of Bergamo taught in English. Course was successful in extending the subject matter in the second language (L2), and it allowed participants to learn more of the language, practicing it in an environment other than the…