The Acquisition of L2 Italian by LESLLA Learners: Collecting and Analysing Data

Abstract

In the last decades, Italian research has provided accurate descriptions of L2 Italian acquisition morphosyntax, but learners’ home literacy has never been assumed as an explicit variable in data collection and analysis. However, limited literacy and/or schooling are important components of migrants’ background in recent flows to Italy (and Europe) and deserve new attention. The research project “The acquisition of L2 Italian morphosyntax by low and non-literate learners” (University of Palermo, 2016-2019) is an effort in this direction. Part of the broader research and pedagogical activity carried out at the School of Italian for Foreigners of Palermo, the project aims at verifying the degree of applicability of existing descriptions of L2 Italian to learners with limited literacy and at comparing the resulting data with research products on other L2 acquired by this population of learners. In this paper, the theoretical and methodological assumptions on which the research was based are presented and discussed.