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This paper aims at investigating the efficacy of a perceptionproduction training on the production of Italian-L2 yes/no questions by Hiberno-English learners. Our hypotheses are that an intensive prosodic training improves the production of Italian-L2 prosody regarding both 1) the lexical stress patterns and 2) the intonation patterns, in terms of both their phonological composition and the phonetic details of their implementation. Though results are preliminary, the comparison of productions by trained and control subjects shows that, as hypothesized, only the former were able to change the prosodic features of yes/no questions in ItalianL2, improving as for both the lexical stress and the intonation patterns. peer-reviewed

[English]:This book is the result of the University of Naples “L’Orientale”’s cooperationwith MOVE-ME – MOocs for uniVErsity students on the Move in Europe(movemeproject.eu), an Erasmus Plus project whose partners are theUniversità per Stranieri di Siena (Italy), the National University of Ireland(NUI Galway) , the Open University (United Kingdom), the FENICE - FEderazioneNazionale Insegnanti – Centro di iniziativa per l’Europa (Italy), the“Diophantos” Computer Technology Institute & Press (Greece), and the Institutulde Ştiinţe ale Educaţiei (Romania).The first international congress of this project was held on 20-21 October2016 at the Open University Milton Keynes campus, and its title wasMOOCs, Informal Language Learning and Mobility. Subsequently prof. Giampierode Cristofaro from the FENICE suggested that “L’Orientale” shouldhost the project’s second international conference. This institution appreciatedthe chance of cooperating with such a group of important European universitiesand research centres on distance learning and MOOCs and, particularly,on their scope and prospects in the field of teaching foreign languages.Indeed, the latter is a field in which this institution has developed a veryhigh profile over the last two hundred years, while in relation to the former, “L’Orientale” has launched a rich and diversified package of experimentalcourses during the last few years. It was thus been to organise together thesecond international congress of the MOVEME project on 13-14 October2017. The event was a considerable success, with more than 100 registeredparticipants who came from several European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria,Cyprus, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom, Kosovo, Malta,Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland)as well as from outside Europe (Algeria, Australia, China, Thailandand Turkey). There were more than 46 presentations, with contributions bykeynote speakers during three plenary sessions and by other researchers inseveral groups of parallel sessions held in three different rooms. Among thetopics that were discussed the following should be mentioned:1) MOOCs,2) e-earning solutions for language teaching and learning,3) CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning),4) mobile-assisted language teaching and learning,5) informal language learning and technologies.Unfortunately, for several reasons it has not been possible to publishthem all, and the Scientific Committee eventually selected the 17 contributionsthat are included in this volume. Some of them discuss highly relevanttheoretical issues, while other ones analyse different experiences and experimentsin this constantly expanding field. This area of research impacts on asignificant portion of language teaching activities in higher education, in regardsto both students preparing for their future working life, and more maturelearners engaging in lifelong learning and relying on higher educationinstitutions in order to keep up with the rapid pace of change in their jobsand occupations.Finally, we are happy to see such an important volume published by thisinstitution. We are grateful to the MOVEME project, and to the people whocame to Naples for this congress. We are particularly grateful to the ScientificCommittee, to the two editors, and to the technical and administrativestaff who made it possible to publish this volume./[Italiano]:Questo volume nasce dalla collaborazione tra “L’Orientale” di Napoli eMOVEME – MOoc per studenti uniVErsitari in Mobilità Europea (movemeproject.eu), un progetto Erasmus Plus che mette insieme l’Università perStranieri di Siena, la National University of Ireland (NUI) di Galway, laOpen University di Milton Keynes (Regno Unito), la FENICE (FEderazioneNazionale Insegnanti – Centro di iniziativa per l’Europa) di Napoli, ilComputer Technology Institute & Press (CTI) “Diophantos” di Patra (Grecia),e l’Institutul de Ştiinţe ale Educaţiei (ISE) di Bucarest (Romania).Dopo il primo convegno internazionale di questo progetto, organizzatoil 20-21 ottobre 2016 presso la Open University nella sua sede di MiltonKeynes, e avente come titolo MOOCs, Informal Language Learning, and Mobility,il prof. Giampiero de Cristofaro della FENICE pensò di proporreall’università “L’Orientale” di ospitare il secondo convegno internazionaledel progetto. All’Ateneo piacque l’idea di avviare una collaborazione conun gruppo di università e centri di ricerca europei così importanti sullatematica della teledidattica e dei MOOC, e in particolare sulle loro possibilitàe prospettive nel campo della didattica delle lingue straniere;quest’ultima un’area in cui da più di due secoli esso ha sviluppato un altoprofilo, la prima un settore in cui da alcuni anni esso ha avviato una diversificataattività di sperimentazione. Venne così realizzato insieme il secondoincontro internazionale del progetto MOVEME il 13-14 ottobre 2017. Ilconvegno ebbe un considerevole successo, con più di 100 partecipanti registratiche venivano da un elevato numero di paesi europei (Belgio, Bulgaria,Cipro, Danimarca, Francia, Irlanda, Italia, Inghilterra, Kosovo, Malta,Norvegia, Olanda, Portogallo, Romania, Russia, Spagna, Svizzera) e noneuropei(Algeria, Australia, Cina, Thailandia e Turchia). Le comunicazionisono state più di 46, divise tra tre sessioni plenarie con keynote speakers epiù gruppi di sessioni parallele in tre ambienti diversi, e hanno toccato tematichequali:1) MOOC,2) e-learning solutions for language teaching and learning, 3) CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning),4) mobile-assisted language teaching and learning,5) informal language learning and technologies.Purtroppo diverse ragioni non hanno reso possibile pubblicarle tutte, eil Comitato Scientifico ha dovuto selezionare tra di esse le 17 contenute inquesto bel volume, che affronta da un lato aspetti teorici di grande importanzae, dall’altro, diverse esperienze e sperimentazioni realizzate in questocampo in continua espansione, nel quale si giocherà una parte considerevoledel futuro dell’insegnamento linguistico impartito dalle università,sia per quanto riguarda gli studenti che si preparano ad entrare nel mondodel lavoro, sia per la formazione continua e la preparazione di persone piùmature che si rivolgeranno al mondo universitario al fine di meglio affrontarela rapida evoluzione e trasformazione delle loro attività lavorative.Siamo infine contenti che un volume di questa importanza venga pubblicatodal nostro Ateneo. Grazie al progetto MOVEME, grazie ai convegnisti, eun ringraziamento particolare al Comitato Scientifico, ai due curatori e alpersonale tecnico e amministrativo che hanno contribuito alla realizzazione.

This chapter explores the use of AVT in language teaching and learning. It begins with a historical overview exploring the benefits of presenting language students with subtitled video material, and experimenting with different subtitle types. It then moves on to focus on recent qauntitative and qualitative studies of active AVT tasks by learners, including dubbing and other modalities. Peer reviewed 2020-03-06

Communicating verbally with others is one of the main features of human behaviour, but the time employed in class to practise this skill is often insufficient. In an attempt to overcome the need to practise oral conversations and help students feel less anxious in foreign language (FL) contexts, new didactic approaches are being considered. Amongst those, the active use of techniques traditionally employed in audiovisual translation (AVT) has proved to have a positive impact on FL learning. This paper examines the relationship between intralingual dubbing (students' replacement of the original voices of actors in 1 minute long clips) and FL oral expression. The main aim is to provide objective evidence that the use of intralingual dubbing can enhance speed, intonation and pronunciation when speaking spontaneously in Spanish as a FL. A total of 47 participants aged 16–18 with a B1 level of Spanish dubbed videos for 12 weeks. Data is triangulated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Results confirm the main hypothesis and serve as evidence to support theoretical aspects of the inclusion of active AVT techniques in FL speaking classes.

The use of audiovisual material in the Italian L2 classes in the last decades has acquired an increasingly important role, especially since the communicative approach has identified spoken language as the main objective of teaching and learning practices. The establishment of such an approach resulted from a painstaking process of revision of traditional teaching tools and methods that shifted from giving great relevance to grammar and written words to putting orality to the centre of the debate. With communication being the main goal of L2 learning, didactic material created specifically for the school environment was no longer considered suitable, hence the introduction of multimedia products in the foreign language classroom. The European Survey on Language Competences reveals that Europeans still need to improve their knowledge of foreign languages. The reassessment of translation as a didactic tool and the continuous development of technological advances available to teachers and students resulted in the production of an ever growing number of studies suggesting that foreign language acquisition may be facilitated by using multimedia products combined with audiovisual translation techniques such as subtitling and revoicing. In particular, much of the current research is focussing on how subtitling and revoicing tasks can enhance language skills. The current doctoral project is placed in this line of research and it aims to shed light on the possible benefits of using a combination of AVT practices in the FL classroom on students’ vocabulary learning. By overcoming research in single-word acquisition, where words are often presented out of context, this study investigates the effects of the combination of dubbing and subtitling tasks on learners’ acquisition of multiword expressions. A total of four studies were conducted in order to explore the potential of subtitling and the combination of subtitling and revoicing within the same module. All studies were integrated in the language curriculum of BA students of Italian as they were offered as full modules within the general language course. After extensive piloting, the main study focussed on an experimental investigation into the extent to which a combination of subtitling and dubbing tasks can benefit L2 learning as opposed to traditional unimodal translation. The triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data revealed a steady trend towards improvement in vocabulary acquisition in both groups, with a slightly higher increase in the experimental group.

Italian is one of the four national languages ​​of Switzerland and, with German and French, its official language. Although protected by law, in the last two decades Italian in schools has suffered a number of attacks that highlighted the need for specific language policies and relative pedagogical implementation. This project is located in the latter sphere of action and aims to fill a gap in the landscape of educational offers for teaching Italian in Switzerland. Following the paradigm of “gestaltungsorientierte Forschung”, and more specifically the design-based research approach, this thesis examines the phases of conception, design, development, implementation and assessment of the web-based training 321via.ch – a learning platform conceived to develop Italian language skills at A1-B2 level on the one hand and interlinguistic and intercultural competences specific to the Swiss Italian reality on the other. The end result consists of a technical solution (a learning content management system with a highly flexible authoring tool) and an educational solution, consisting of some thirty learning objects and about 200 learning tasks. The summative assessment that concludes this thesis focusses on the impact of the first solution on both the editorial team and university students of Italian Language Education and of the second on a sample of Italian teachers and high school students: data collected allows for an evaluation of the respondents’ perception of 321via.ch usefulness as a teaching or learning tool and their willingness to refer to it in the future, at the same time pointing to possible paths for future developments and further research.

Promoting language learning is a long-term objective of the European Union with a view to fostering a comparable and improved proficiency among European citizens. To this end, European institutions have recognised the potential of subtitling - the active creation of subtitles by language learners - as an effective pedagogical tool in language learning. Subtitling is considered an innovative teaching strategy which involves language learners in an Audiovisual Translation task while exposing them to spoken dialogue in a foreign or second language. Subtitling can enhance language learning by improving language skills (listening, reading and writing) and transferable skills (such as digital literacy), facilitating mnemonic retention, and raising awareness of cultural and intercultural issues as well as pragmatic aspects of communication. In addition, it can prove highly motivating to learners. Although research on the subtitling practice is still limited, recent empirical studies have reported encouraging results on its use in Second Language Acquisition. This thesis aims to contribute to shedding light on subtitling in the field of vocabulary acquisition while indicating possible directions for future research. It investigates the effects of subtitling on incidental vocabulary acquisition, in view of previous research and considering the central role of vocabulary knowledge in communicative competence and language learning. It is based on an experimental study carried out, after extensive piloting, with 25 Irish undergraduate students of Italian as a Foreign Language at the National University of Ireland, Galway, levels A1-A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. By triangulating quantitative and qualitative methods, the main experimental study shows that interlingual subtitling promotes the incidental acquisition of new word meanings in terms of productive recall. While respecting a broad range of different preferences in learning styles, subtitling may be particularly suitable for learners with a kinesthetic preference. 2017-11-01