Gifted Students in Italian SL Students

Abstract

Giftedness in foreign learners is not easily recognised (Kitano, Espinosa 1995). Immigrants with giftedness, in the school context, are often considered more as needing support in learning the new language rather than as pupils with great potential (Harris 2009). In the case presented here, the teacher responds only to the need to understand a new word, leaving out the curiosity of the pupil from Eritrea, on a mathematical calculation. His attitude shows how disproportionately didactic action tends to focus on gaps rather than attitudes. We propose a series of language teaching tips to identify some traits of giftedness in Italian learners like second language (L2), using some theories on inter-language. The objective is to support language teachers in teaching differentiation, stimulating in them reflections on the learning needs of immigrant pupils, such as to suggest some traits of giftedness.