Com'è bello giocare! : risorse didattiche basate sulla ludolinguistica per l'insegnamento/ apprendimento dell'italiano (LS)

Abstract

Motivation and fun are two key elements in teaching and learning a foreign language. Both can be achieved through ludolinguistics, also known as “recreational linguistics”(Mollica, 2010), which is a branch of linguistics that uses games for educational purposes, or as Caon says for “edulinguistic purposes”(Caon, 2022). The term ludolinguistica was invented by Giuseppe Aldo Rossi (Bernardini, 2018) and it refers to a way of teaching and learning based on the use of games which can be done either on an individual level or in groups. The idea is to educate students while enjoying themselves through activities. Although linguistic games have existed since ancient times, the year 2010 marked a significant impact in schools, particularly following the publications of Antony Mollica (Cibati, 2020). Those who strongly believe that ludolinguistics is effective in teachingand learning foreign languages follow the principles of an affective humanistic methodology. Moreover, ludolinguistics helps to create a positive learning environment (Begotti & Pavan, 2011), where students feel free to enjoy themselves in a secure space where they can fully develop their abilities and potential. Ludolinguistics also helps students in foreign language acquisition by activating all their senses in order to create mental representations of the target language. Through the use of games, language learning becomes more relevant and practical, making it possibleto create situations that are closer to reality and to help students even from a psychological point of view (Mollica, 2020). Each student has his/her unique way of learning a language but the use of games and interactive activities is suitable for allteaching and learning approaches as it helps students reinforce prior learning. In the second part of my study, a booklet of activities and games covering three topics of the syllabus of Year 7 for Italian as a Foreign Language will be presented (https://curriculum.gov.mt/en/Curriculum/new_syllabi/Documents/Year_07_08/Itali an/Italian%20Year%207%20outcomes%20syllabus%20June%202022.pdf) , together with all the relevant links to online resources and programmes. The nature of the activities will target both the receptive (listening and reading) as well as the productive skills (speaking and writing). The main aim is to provide teachers of Italian a set of activities, based on the Italian syllabus, that help motivate their students in the acquisition of Italian as a foreign language in local schools.