Case Studies

Name of the teacher

Erina De Angelis

Email:

Country:

Italy

Subject taught:

Italian, History and Geography

Years of experience:

From 10 to 30

Name of the School:

IPSIA “L. Da Vinci – E. Fermi”

School Typology:

Upper Secondary School

Country:

Italy

City:

Arcidosso (Grosseto)

Web site:

www.isisamiataovest.it

Background and Context:

The “L. Da Vinci” IPSIA has a presence of 215 students coming from the whole province of Grosseto, having it a male dormitory located in the same school street. The foreign students number is 29, born from foreign students and/or born abroad. Students are present in various numbers in the classes, in particular in my I MAT A class there are 3. Their knowledge of Italian language goes from a good comprehension and speech level to a complete extraneousness with it. From the written point of view, difficulties in the Italian grammar usage remain for the majority of foreign students. Our school offers great working opportunities after the diploma, especially in the mechanic field (where I teach from some years). This is the reason why most foreign students are present in this course.

Factual Description:

All our projects are based on a personal level of knowledge of the language, therefore they can vary from one to five years projects. Sometimes, especially in the first months, some cases of discrimination happened, mainly caused by ignorance about what is new. This is the reason why it is important to let the rest of the class know the environment from which the new-comer comes. The usage of laboratories (Electronic, Chemical, Mechanic) is useful for integration, there students get constantly in touch with each other and must achieve tasks in co-operation in order to reach the final mark. (Eg. Dismantlement, check and further assembly of a car engine).

Activities carried out:

Foreign students present in our school, in particular the ones who are in Italy from a small time, have a “Personal Plan” that uses tools calibrated on their knowledge level of the Italian language. Computer usage is important, thanks to softwares introducing students to words or sentences pronunciation of elements written by other students or teachers, or softwares producing tables containing images, as well as the Multimedia Interactive Blackboard. Personally, I often work with it, starting from the research of the origin place of the foreign students present in the class letting their classmates know their landscapes, their traditions, their cultural habits, etc. The creation of a sport group by the P.E. teacher resulted very important, it promoted integration and aggregation. This have been possible thanks to the structure of the dormitory, which offers also the chance to benefit from a “semi-dormitory” opportunity, where students can have lunch, can study and can practice all other afternoon activities. Besides, other “Italian as second language literacy” Projects have been developed during the school year, thanks to the help of external experts who have the required titles to develop the literacy and linguistic strengthening activities divided per groups and level.

Assessment and lesson learnt:

The various projects undertaken have been positive for students who attended the whole educational training (Eg. Last July, a Moroccan student got graduated, despite his absence of knowledge of the Italian language at the time of his arrival in Italy. He had a good final result and now he has a good job in a garage and, whenever he can, he comes back to visit). Unfortunately, not all the students remain with us as long as to observe their whole development during the five years of school, since their parents often move to find a suitable job.

Description of the Case Study in National Language: