This program of Italian studies considers five areas of major importance. The college student is advised on: (1) the study of Italian in the United States, (2) preparation for the study of Italian, (3) studying the language, (4) the study of literature, and (5) related studies and study abroad. The section on language study emphasizes a review of…

The cultural achievements of Italy are utilized to spur interest in the study of Italian. A weekly, multiple-choice type quiz posted on the Italian bulletin board questions curious passers-by in the areas of fine arts, literature, science, geography, history, and miscellaneous items. Sample items of this motivational device follow a description of…

This selective bibliography lists 4 books and 11 journal articles dealing with Italian-English contrastive studies. The entries range in date from 1957 to 1973 with the majority published since 1965. The books cited are American or Italian publications and the articles appeared in well-known European or American pedagogical language journals. (TL)

This report contains comments on the establishment of Italian classes at the secondary level and in colleges, a symposium on the teaching of Italian in New Jersey, college survey reports, teachers and textbooks, the school system and the community, practical and cultural values, and bilingualism as an untapped national resource. The First Annual…

Suggestions on how to improve apperception, motivation, and the presentation of materials in the teaching of Italian tenses, vocabulary, and famous names focus on the use of literary devices largely derived from folklore. For teaching tenses, the author illustrates the use of riddles, "passerotti", "filastrocche", songs, tongue-twisters, rebuses,…

Compares indirect "wh"-questions and independent relatives, points to the absence of a clear-cut boundary between these two types of construction, and argues for the indispensability of semantic and pragmatic analysis for syntactic theory. The article emphasizes that it is the answer to a question that supplies the determinate element…

Analyzes data on the acquisition of German by Italian and Spanish speakers. Findings reveal that children learning a first language and adults learning a second language build up syntactic structure in much the same manner, and propose that the weak continuity approach of language acquisition accounts for all instances of syntactic acquisition.…

The properties of one of the structures of politeness in the romance languages, the deference system connected with the use of conditional tenses, are analyzed in this paper. Although only Spanish examples are given, the conclusions also apply to French, Italian and Roumanian. The first part of the paper analyzes politeness in relation to its…

Focuses on the application of the Null Subject Parameter. Data reveals that some second-language learners exhibit knowledge that English is morphologically nonuniform yet still accept English null subject sentences. Findings disprove the Morphological Uniformity Hypothesis, indicating that any reformulation of the Null Subject Parameter must…

In the process of language shift from the immigrant languages to English, everyday communication within the family can become increasingly problematic due to strong divergences in the linguistic competences of the older and the younger generations. This article explores the process of language mediation between different generations, as it occurs…

This comprehensive guide to Italian study programs in American colleges, universities, specialized schools, and study abroad programs contains five major sections: (1) colleges, universities, and specialized schools offering introductory courses, minor, major, M.A., and Ph.D. programs; (2) colleges and universities offering graduate programs…

Papers in this volume on individualized instruction in foreign languages include: (1) "Individualized Instruction and 'Back to Basics': Are They Compatible?" by Howard B. Altman; (2) "Individualized Instruction in French at Northwestern University" by Margaret Sinclair Breslin; (3) "An Individualized French Program for…