The song 'La ballata dell'amore cieco (o della vanità)' (1966), by Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio De André (1940-1999), offers students opportunities to practise their language skills, stimulate their cultural appreciation, and expand their knowledge of a musical and poetic form (the ballad), while reflecting on the close connection between…

The effects of song and elaboration were assessed on the acquisition and retention of lexical items by beginner learners of Italian. Lexical acquisition investigated through an incidental learning experiment based on the premise that growth in L2 vocabulary can be facilitated by subvocal rehearsal and elaborate processing of lexical items.…

This issue of "Schulpraxis," a Swiss journal for language teaching, is devoted to Italian instruction in Switzerland. It includes: (1) an interpretation of the poem "Le morte chitarre" by Salvatore Quasimodo, conducted in a girls' school in German Switzerland, (2) a presentation of principles for an Italian textbook to be based…