Discusses a study designed to identify reasons for growing dissatisfaction with the dictionary among foreign-language students. Subjects were Italian university students of French who were asked how often they used the dictionary, how they used it, what they expected from it, and why they were dissatisfied with it. (CFM)

Demonstrates ways the sentence combining technique can play a significant role in developing the writing skill, in making students more aware of their creative ability, and in heightening their sense of stylistic preferences. A range of combining exercises using Italian as the model language are provided. (Author/AMH)

The present study examines the relationship between learner participation and accuracy improvement in the use of some features of standard Italian, which were taught over a period of intensive grammatical instruction in a tertiary classroom setting. The subjects of the study are 60 tertiary learners of L2 Italian from a variety of Italian dialect…

A brief analysis is made of the teaching of Italian literature in the United States with special reference to course work and language proficiency in the doctoral program. Mention is made of the choice of texts in undergraduate language courses. (Text is in Italian.) (AM)

Argues that the similarities between Italian and French are not as substantial as they seem and that they don't necessarily facilitate the language-learning process. The types of errors made by Italians learning French are analyzed. (CFM)

Enrollment trends in Italian courses at the college and secondary level are presented. The largest Italian department is at Rutgers College in New Brunswick. The history of this program is presented. (SW)

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…

Reports on a pilot project which used an imaginary tour of an Italian city as the basis for conversation exercises. (AM)

Recent research in second language acquisition found that learners reached higher levels of achievement when grammar practice included the processing and negotiation of meaning. Explored the degree to which certain textbook activities reflected earlier findings. Activities for two grammar points from Italian texts still rely heavily on…

Examines recent studies of linguistic corpora in Italian, and presents the results of an analysis of "piace" and "piacciono" conducted on a corpus of 3.5 million words of written Italian, accessible at the University of Birmingham in England. Focuses on pedagogical applications of the data and on the inductive methodologies…

A large number of exercises based on film advertisements, which are reproduced in the article, and suggestions for using them. The exercises include reading comprehension, vocabulary, translation and reinforcement activities. Examples are given in English, French and Italian. Suggestions for introducing students to cultural differences are also…

This study investigated college students' levels of understanding of texts and reading processes, noting how they changed through a cycle of individual reading and writing followed by classroom comparison of students' responses, text re-reading, and re-writing. The study, which followed 17 students of continuing Italian over 6 weeks, involved…

Describes a theatrical workshop developed to teach Italian to third-year students. The aim of the course was to increase students' understanding of Italian language and culture and to enhance their communicative skills and appreciation of literary texts. (Author/VWL)

A study in three intermediate and advanced Italian second-language classes (n=74 students) analyzes the utility of Internet-based technology in content-area teaching activities. Results indicate that while the technology can be useful, its role as a source of information appears to be its primary one. Available learning activities for Italian were…