L'insegnamento dell'italiano L2 e l'alfabetizzazione degli adulti stranieri, all'interno delle scuole serali torinesi, negli anni Settanta e Ottanta : un'indagine sulle pratiche glottodidattiche

The literacy of non-native individuals is a liminal area of study (Nitti 2015) about which no diachronic scientific literature has emerged allowing to recreate approaches, methods, and techniques – with the exception of isolated speculations rooted in intuition (Minuz 2005). On the basis of these premises, the paper aims to analyze the methodological framework, the approaches, and the language teaching practices that were prevalently used in the ’70s and ’80s. This period is especially relevant to the rise of new adult education institutions. In particular, thanks to the archives of the Centro Interculturale della Città di Torino, a sample group of 25 non-native speakers was put together. All participants had obtained their middle school certificate (licenza media) after attending 150 hours of adult education courses in Torino. In order to identify the approaches, methods, and strategies pertinent to the teaching of Italian as a second language and of literacy competence, an explorative questionnaire was developed and submitted to these participants. The results of this study allow to piece together part of the history of language education practices, whereby the data collected, generally speaking, work in parallel with scientific literature regarding the teaching of Italian as a first language (Campbell 2002).