Italian Proficiency Research Articles

Linguistic Barriers to Immigrants’ Labor Market Integration in Italy

This article investigates whether and to what extent poor proficiency in Italian impairs immigrants’ labor market integration in Italy. Using individual-level survey data, we apply instrumental variables methods to leverage presumably exogenous variations in Italian proficiency induced by immigrants’ demo-linguistic characteristics (e.g., age at arrival, linguistic distance between mother tongue and destination language, speaking Italian during childhood) and their interplays. We find that, given the low-skill nature of Italy's immigrant labor market, poor proficiency in communication skills (speaking and understanding Italian) produces larger penalties for immigrants’ labor force participation and employment than does the lack of formal skills (reading and writing). In contrast, no effect is found on immigrants’ job characteristics like the type of contract and full-time or part-time work. Whereas female immigrants were more penalized than males by poor linguistic proficiency in labor force participation, immigrants in linguistic groups that were more likely to work with (for) co-nationals were less affected by linguistic barriers than other immigrant groups. Yet, when investigating perceived integration outcomes, immigrants working with (for) co-nationals fared worse on feeling at home, feeling accepted, and overall life satisfaction in Italy. As our analysis shows, linguistic enclaves in workplaces, while not always representing a hurdle to immigrants’ labor market success, can generate trade-offs for other non-labor market integration outcomes. These findings highlight that the development of linguistic skills should be prioritized in migration policy agendas, taking into account heterogeneity in immigrants’ demographic and linguistic profiles.

Vocabulary and reading speed in the majority language are affected by maternal language proficiency and language exposure at home: a study of language minority bilingual children in Italy

ABSTRACT Environmental sources of variance in the Italian vocabulary and reading skills of bilingual primary school children from immigrant families (or language minority bilingual children (LMBC)) in Italy were investigated, and the LMBC’s skill levels were compared to those of their monolingual classmates. A total of 140 children from the first, third, and fifth grades were administered standardized tests of receptive vocabulary, word reading, and nonword reading skills. LMBC’s exposure to Italian at home and their mothers’ Italian proficiency were reported by mothers. Immigrant mothers’ Italian proficiency was a significant predictor of vocabulary and word reading speed but not of word accuracy or nonword reading. High levels of Italian exposure at home in combination with low levels of maternal Italian proficiency was a negative predictor of vocabulary; high exposure to Italian at home was positively associated with word reading speed and negatively associated with nonword reading speed. LMBC had lower vocabulary scores but did not differ from monolingual children in measures of reading skill. The findings underscore the importance of the quality of language exposure for language development and replicate findings that bilingual children show decoding skills on a par with monolingual children despite smaller vocabularies.

‘I think mangiò might be passé simple’: exploring multilingual learners’ reflections on past tense verb morphology

ABSTRACT The study investigates the reflections on tempo-aspectual morphology in Italian expressed by undergraduate multilingual learners with previous knowledge of Swedish and a Romance language (N = 22). The reflections of the participants, who were divided into four groups depending on a combination of proficiency in their background Romance language and in Italian, were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. From the analysis categories and subcategories emerged, and their occurrences served to display group tendencies. Four categories (explicit rules, intuition, other languages and uncertainty/unknown), and seven subcategories were found and their occurrence was differently distributed across groups. Further, the reflections of the learners became more sophisticated as proficiency in Italian increased. In fact, the reflections progressively incorporated different layers of information connected to explicit knowledge about tenses: temporal, aspectual and, finally, lexical, that is, the inherent semantics of the predicates. Finally, while the reflections of low-proficiency learners referred to different L2s (e.g. English and French), high-proficiency learners made comparisons with Swedish more consistently, regardless of their proficiency level in the Romance language. These results are discussed in the light of research on second/additional language learning of aspectual distinctions in Romance languages.

Parental attitudes and activism reshape educational language policies: the surge of dual language programmes in California

ABSTRACT While educational language policies have been shown to have a stronger influence on school-aged children’s multilingual outcomes than Family Language Policy, California provides an example of how parental motivation and activism can also have a profound impact on educational language policies. This paper has two goals: first, it provides an overview of the legislative changes that affected California’s educational system between the 1970s and the present, which resulted in an overall shift in public opinion and attitudes towards multilingualism and in a transition from promotion-oriented to restriction-oriented to again promotion-oriented educational policies with regards to multilingual education. The second part of the paper exemplifies the agency of Californian families in shaping their children’s education by describing the history of an Italian/English two-way immersion programme born out of parental activism. The paper then presents the results of a preliminary study on parental attitudes within the programme, highlighting parents’ strong appreciation of multilingualism and their renewed enthusiasm for Italian proficiency, bilingualism, and biliteracy in this Southern California’s community.

Italian Immigration Guides During Mass Migration to Argentina. Linguistic Aspects

While letters and popular narratives written by Italian immigrants have been analyzed with historical and sociolinguistic perspectives, only scant attention has been paid to texts written for potential emigrants. Based on a comparative study of selected guides produced for Italians emigrating to the Americas during mass migration between the 1880s and the 1920s, this paper evaluates some linguistic aspects of texts for Italians emigrating to Argentina. The numerous guides compiled by Giuliano Corniani, Arnaldo Tortesi, Bernardino Frescura, Arrigo De Zettiry, and the Commissariato dell’emigrazione provide detailed information on the transatlantic journey from Genoa to the Río de la Plata, on Argentina's history, geography, climate, government, immigration laws, and job opportunities for laborers and colonialists. They use a colloquial written variety of Standard Italian, rich in dialogues and devoid of technical terminology to accommodate dialect-speaking migrants with varying levels of Italian proficiency, while promoting at the same time the diffusion of the Standard language among them. A few of the texts by Frescura and De Zettiry evoke the plurilingual reality on board the ships and provide short linguistic guides to Spanish, thus fostering the migrants’ future bi- and plurilingualism at a time of increasing literacy levels and decreasing mass dialectophony.

Italian in the mainstream schools of the bilingual border area of the Slovenian coast: language policy, teachers’ perspectives and a vision for the future

ABSTRACT The Italian language in the ethnically mixed coastal area of Slovenia is an official language, regulated by the principle of ethnic autochthony, which recognizes the rights of linguistic minorities regardless of their number of speakers. Slovenia has been always very sensitive toward its two national minorities (Italian and Hungarian) and set up models of bilingual schools along its borders. In the official Italian-Slovenian bilingual area the “Littoral school system model” has been in place since 1959, requiring, in addition to establishing minority Italian schools, the compulsory teaching of the Italian language in all mainstream schools (Italian as L2), the teaching discussed in this paper. Nevertheless, Italian is not perceived as the language of the territory any longer; indeed, students at the end of elementary/middle school (15 years) typically reach a very low level of proficiency in Italian. Through an explanatory study based on the perceptions and perspectives of mainstream elementary/middle school Italian teachers we tried to identify the possible areas of investigation so as to understand the reasons of this decline and discover potential new ways of teaching. Moreover, examples of newly tried teaching approaches are introduced as new possible teaching and learning methods.

Heritage language proficiency does not predict syntactic CLI into L3 English

ABSTRACT This study examines cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in the acquisition of embedded wh-questions in L3 English in German-dominant heritage speakers (HSs) of Italian. Specifically, we investigate whether a higher proficiency in the heritage language Italian increases the potential for CLI from that language. To this end, 21 adult-aged Italian-German early bilinguals and 32 monolingual controls (L1 speakers of Italian, German, or English) completed an acceptability judgement task that tested the acquisition of embedded wh-questions in English (while also controlling for the acquisition of the relevant properties in German and Italian). Language dominance was assessed using a yes/no vocabulary test and a proficiency index based on various aspects of self-reported language use and proficiency. Our results suggest that syntactic CLI occurs from both languages and that this is unrelated to overall dominance in German or proficiency in Italian.

The Relationship between Learner’s Motivation and Italian Language Proficiency among Jordanian IFL Learners

This study investigates the relationship between the learners' motivation ( integrative/instrumental) and Italian proficiency among Jordanian IFL learners at Alalbayt University. It also sheds lights on the level of proficiency among Italian majors at Alalbayt University. Two instruments are used in this study: the first is a five-point Likert scale questionnaire based on Gardner and Maclntyer ( 1990) to investigate students motivational/attitudinal orientations; the second is a proficiency test based on an official Italian language website. The test was evaluated and modified to suite the purpose of the study. The results show that there is no correlation between Motivation ( integrative and instrumental)/ attitudes and proficiency among IFL learners in Jordan. Further, the results indicate that Italian majors have a fair level of proficiency in Italian as a foreign language at Alalbayt University.

“Nella lingua sua naturale”: Elizabeth’s Italian Letters

While evidence abounds as to Elizabeth I’s proficiency in Italian, only a fraction of her letters in this language has so far come to light, and only one has been edited in Marcus and Mueller’s Autograph Compositions and Foreign Language Originals, the well-known first extant letter by the then Princess to Katherine Parr. A research project commenced in 2009 has so far located about thirty of these, including six (three of which are also in their original drafts) entirely in the queen’s hand. Questions of authorship related to the non-holograph letters, however, clearly arise. By analyzing an unpublished letter by Elizabeth, this paper will try to cast some light on the vicissitudes of the queen’s Italian correspondence.

Confusing similar words: ERP correlates of lexical-semantic processing in first language attrition and late second language acquisition

First language (L1) attrition is a socio-linguistic circumstance where second language (L2) learning coincides with changes in exposure and use of the native-L1. Attriters often report experiencing a decline in automaticity or proficiency in their L1 after a prolonged period in the L2 environment, while their L2 proficiency continues to strengthen. Investigating the neurocognitive correlates of attrition alongside those of late L2 acquisition addresses the question of whether the brain mechanisms underlying both L1 and L2 processing are strongly determined by proficiency, irrespective of whether the language was acquired from birth or in adulthood. Using event-related-potentials (ERPs), we examined lexical-semantic processing in Italian L1 attriters, compared to adult Italian L2 learners and to Italian monolingual native speakers. We contrasted the processing of classical lexical-semantic violations (Mismatch condition) with sentences that were equally semantically implausible but arguably trickier, as the target-noun was “swapped” with an orthographic neighbor that differed only in its final vowel and gender-marking morpheme (e.g., cappello (hat) vs. cappella (chapel)). Our aim was to determine whether sentences with such “confusable nouns” (Swap condition) would be processed as semantically correct by late L2 learners and L1 attriters, especially for those individuals with lower Italian proficiency scores. We found that lower-proficiency Italian speakers did not show significant N400 effects for Swap violations relative to correct sentences, regardless of whether Italian was the L1 or the L2. Crucially, N400 response profiles followed a continuum of “nativelikeness” predicted by Italian proficiency scores – high-proficiency attriters and high-proficiency Italian learners were indistinguishable from native controls, whereas attriters and L2 learners in the lower-proficiency range showed significantly reduced N400 effects for “Swap” errors. Importantly, attriters and late L2 learners did not differ in their N400 responses when they belonged to the same proficiency subgroup. Attriters also showed an enhanced P600 response to both kinds of lexical-semantic anomalies, which we discuss as reflecting increased conflict-monitoring and conscious “second thought” processes specifically in attriters. Our findings provide some of the first ERP evidence of attrition effects, and are compatible with accounts of ongoing neuroplasticity for language in adulthood. Proficiency, rather than age-of-acquisition, seems to be the key factor in modulating certain neurocognitive responses, not only within L2 learners but also in L1 attriters.

Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds in Air by GC/MS: Italian Proficiency Tests

Three national proficiency scheme rounds on the analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air have been organized; the first between April and June 2007, the second between May and July 2008, and the third between April and June 2010. A group of about 10 Italian laboratories used the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Method TO-15 for the determination of VOCs in air collected in canisters. A canister containing a VOC mixture, prepared by dynamic dilution from certified reference materials, was shipped to each participating laboratory; VOC concentrations were between 2 and 50 parts per billion by volume. Homogeneity of the samples prepared was tested and considered adequate according to ISO 13528:2005(E); stability was also checked. The canisters were analyzed by the laboratories within 30 days by GC/MS. The data were analyzed by robust statistics. Good accordance among laboratory results was obtained.

Comprehension monitoring and reading comprehension in bilingual students

This study explored comprehension monitoring, use of reading strategies and reading comprehension of bilingual students at different levels of perceived proficiency in Italian. The participants were bilingual fifth to eighth‐grade elementary school students from four Italian schools in Rijeka, Croatia. Students' reading comprehension was assessed. Their comprehension monitoring skill was measured on the Metacomprehension test and through use of a cloze task. The Strategic Reading Questionnaire (SRQ) was used as a self‐report measure of strategic reading. A questionnaire investigating Italian language use and perceived proficiency in the Italian language was also administered. Perceived proficiency in Italian was not clearly determined by early or late preschool age of second language acquisition. Bilingual students with high perceived proficiency in Italian (high PP group) had better meta‐cognitive reading skills than those with low perceived proficiency in Italian (low PP group). Comprehension monitoring was the most important predictor of reading comprehension in all students.

Proficiency testing for HLA-DRB high-resolution typing: a 4-year experience in Italy.

Twenty-one Italian laboratories participated for four consecutive years in the collaborative Italian proficiency testing of HLA class II (DRB1, DRB3, DRB4 and DRB5) high-resolution typing. In this paper the results are analysed. Seven different kinds of errors are described and discussed. The errors were divided into technical errors and errors of allele reporting. Each year, a list of errors made was prepared by our laboratory and discussed collegially with all laboratories. The allele reporting errors diminished over time, as a result of the common discussions. The technical performance of the laboratories did not improve overall for the 21 laboratories participating: for 16 of them results were good or improved in quality, but for the remaining five results deteriorated over time. From this experience, some recommendations for the future emerged. A relevant conclusion was that, to improve the performance of a group of laboratories, the proficiency test is not effective alone, but should be integrated within a framework of continuous collaboration and mutual technical help.

Proficiency testing for psychoactive substances in Italy

This paper describes the general design and main results of the Italian proficiency testing program for the analysis of psychoactive substances in urine, a long-term initiative created in 1995 on an educational basis and characterized by an innovative internet-based service for data exchange between laboratories and the organizing body. Batches of six urine samples, validated by reference laboratories, are sent every 3 months to participating laboratories, which may choose which classes of substances to test from those planned by the program panel and, within those classes, which type of analytical commitment to work on: identification of just one class (Option 1), identification of single substances (Option 2), or identification and quantification of single substances (Option 3). Comprehensive periodical reports and annual reports are provided to participants with evaluation of their performance and an annual workshop is organized to discuss technical-scientific topics related to clinical, forensic and analytical toxicology. About 200 laboratories currently participate in the program and a total of 67,059 analyses have been carried out since 1995. The mean percentage of correct results was 96.8%, with a yearly improvement of about 0.4%. The best average false positive and false negative rates were obtained for methadone (0.2% and 2.1% respectively) and cocaine (0.3% and 2.2%). The worst average false positive rates were obtained for amphetamines and opiates (3.2% and 5.0%) and worst average false negative rates for amphetamines, barbiturates and cannabinoids (17.4%, 30.7% and 19.9%).

Tocca a te: Aiming for Proficiency in Italian

Tocca a te: Aiming for Proficiency in Italian