This document provides information about an Italian language course for Spanish speakers at Florida State University. It discusses the benefits of offering such a course given Florida's demographics, and outlines two phases of the course's development. Phase 1 involved offering the standard first and second semester Italian courses but tailored for Spanish speakers, with reduced contact hours. Phase 2 aimed to compress the content of the second semester into a single course through an intercomprehension approach emphasizing similarities between Italian and Spanish. The course structure integrates in-class and online learning. It uses a flipped classroom model and theme-based units with lexical and grammar modules. Assessment includes unit activities, written and oral productions, participation, and a final project. Both synchronous

1. 1
Italian Language and Culture for
Spanish Speakers in Florida:
Benefits, Challenges, and Strategies
Irene Zanini-Cordi
Fabrizio Fornara
University of Miami – November 10, 2015

2. The FSU Experience with Italian for
Spanish Speakers
• Why Italian for Spanish speakers classes?
• The FSU Italian Program
• Florida’s demographics & FSU student body
• Student Type
• Course Logistics
• Phase 1
• Phase 2
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3. Italian Studies at FSU
The numbers:
• 500+: Class enrollment per semester
• 30+: majors, double majors and co-Majors
• (Minors cannot be tracked)
• 8-10: Average number of graduate students per year
• 50+: Number of MA degrees awarded since 2000
• 5 ½: Full time faculty
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4. • More than 1 out of 4 Floridians speak
a language other than English in their
homes.
• Fast-growing Spanish speaking
population: 3.6 million / 17.9 million
are 5+ years old.
• Almost ½ million Floridians speak
French creole (Haiti, former colonies).
• Other largely spoken languages are:
• Portuguese (from Brasil)
• German
• Vietnamese
Census Bureau Figures (August 2013)
• Florida’s population is 23.2% Hispanic.
The most important groups are:
• Cuban-Americans (Miami Dade)
• Puerto Ricans (Orange, Seminole)
• Colombian, Venezuelan, and
Argentinians (Southeastern Florida)
• Nicaraguans (Miami Dade)
• Large historical Latino Population in the
Tampa area:
• Spaniards, Cubans, and Italians.
• The Mexican-American presence is
quite small.
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5. FSU Student Body Composition
Race Female Male Total
American Indian Native Alaskan 82 50 132
Asian 539 516 1,055
Black 2,176 1,248 3,424
Hawaiian Pacific Islander 10 5 15
Hispanic 3,124 2,502 5,626
Non resident Alien 788 909 1,697
Not reported 329 359 688
Two or more races 493 341 834
White 14,221 11,967 26,188
TOTAL 21,762 17,897 39,659
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6. Dr. Frédérik Latty’s observations
Les élèves de langue latine apprenant le français présentent souvent des profils
similaires :
1. une compréhension très dominante;
2. une grande aisance et fluidité à l'oral;
3. une correction d'expression assez moyenne, voire faible;
4. une acuité auditive assez similaire aux élèves venant d'autres langues (anglo-
saxonnes notamment);
5. une prononciation assez moyenne.
Tous ces éléments me semblent liés (et c'est la raison pour laquelle j'ai choisi de les
classer dans cet ordre).
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7. Italian for Spanish Speakers: Phase 1
Objective:
• To be able to offer the 3 language levels of Italian for
Spanish Speakers every semester.
Class organization:
• Same textbook as regular ITA1120;
• Coverage of the same program;
• Instructor is free to structure syllabus, customize content,
devise exams;
• Reduced contact time, class worth 3 credit hours.
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8. Fall 2012:
• FOL 3930-01: 14 students
Spring 2013:
• FOL 3930-01: 10 students
• FOL 3930-02: 10 students
Summer 2013 Advertising Campaign
Italian for Spanish Speakers: Enrollment
Fall 2013:
• FOL 3930-01: 20 students
Spring 2014:
• FOL 3930-01: 18 students
Fall 2014:
• FOL 3930-01: 21 students
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9. Italian for Spanish Speakers: Advertising
1. Emailed class description and flyers to all undergraduate
advisors on campus;
2. Emailed all students enrolled in ITA 1120 for the Fall inviting
them to switch class if they were fluent in Spanish;
3. Emailed all Spanish majors, co-majors, and those taking the
Spanish for heritage speakers classes;
4. Emailed all Hispanic student organizations on campus;
5. Plastered catchy posters around campus (Students Union,
International Students’ Global Center, etc.);
6. Emailed previous students asking to advertise with their
friends.
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10. Italian for Spanish Speakers: Phase 2
Objective:
• To attract Spanish-speaking students by “compressing” two
semesters in one.
Class organization:
• Equivalent to the second semester of Italian (the same
grammatical objectives are kept);
• Emphasis on intercomprehension;
• Regular language class time: four 50-minute sessions per
week, 4 credit hours;
• No textbook: Material customized by instructor;
• Grammar reference book, Juntos (Donato et al., 2014).
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11. Differentiated Instruction
Classrooms with students who
come from very different learning
backgrounds, or those in which
students have very different levels
of proficiency.
(Oxford University Press ELT)
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12. Multilevel Instructional Strategies
Instead of creating different
lessons with different objectives
for the different proficiency levels,
teachers teach to the middle and
then assign different, appropriately
leveled tasks.
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13. Multilevel Classroom
Advantages:
• Students learn at their own pace
• Students learn to work in a group
• Students become independent learners
• Students develop strong relationships
with their peers
• Students become partners in learning
(EnglishClub.com)
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14. Multilevel Classroom (cont.)
Challenges:
• Finding appropriate teaching resources and
material
• Organizing appropriate groupings within the class
• Determining the individual needs of each student
• Ensuring that all students are challenged and
interested
• Enforcing L2 only policies when teacher is
occupied and students are working in small
groups or pairs
(EnglishClub.com)
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15. Approach
Mixed intercomprehension and theme-based approach
The intercomprehension approach
emphasizes the similarities among
languages (Doyé, 2004) and
accelerates acquisition by
sensitizing learners to the linguistic
bridges that link Italian with
Spanish and English (Donato et al.,
2014).
Active – or even passive –
knowledge of Spanish (and English)
helps students to easily understand
and use Italian language features.
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16. Approach (cont.)
Mixed intercomprehension and theme-based approach
The theme-based approach helps
students make sense of the content of the
course by organizing it in thematic units.
Real life situations that are meaningful
and interesting to students.
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17. Structure of the Course
• Four credit course, four weekly meetings
• Face-to-face class with an online component
• Six thematic units
• Flipped classroom model
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18. Structure of the Course: Modules
Every unit has several modules:
• Two or more lexical modules
• Two or more grammar modules
Not rigid blocks: All the information is
integrated in the learning material and
class activities.
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19. Structure of the Course: Modules (cont.)
In every unit:
• Lexical macro-theme (leisure activities)
• One or more micro-themes (sports, hobbies)
• Core grammar module (present tense:
irregular verbs, simple future tense)
• Other grammar modules (temporal
expressions, prepositions, adverbs)
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20. Structure of the Course: Assessment
Course Components Grade Percentage
Thematic units (6) 60% (10% each)
• Core Grammar Module 4%
• Other Module 2%
• Unit Final Activity 4%
Written Production (3) 9%
Oral Production (Parliamo + news + oral exam) 9%
Participation (classroom + Facebook) 12%
Final Project 10%
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21. Structure of the Course: Online
• BlackBoard site of the course:
• Grammar and vocabulary tutorials: Video,
VoiceThread, PowerPoint, PDF
• Activities: Links to open educational resources and
online learning tools (Quizlet, Duolingo for School)
• Quizzes
• Facebook page:
• Intercomprehension activities
• Thematic activities
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22. Structure of the Course: Classroom
Classroom activities:
• Intercomprehension activities:
• Individual, small groups, whole class
• Thematic and grammar activities:
• Individual, small groups, whole class
• Like-ability, cross-ability groups
Typical class schedule:
• Warm-up: Whole class
• Intercomprehension activities: Variety of groupings
• Leveled tasks: Variety of groupings
• (Whole class)
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24. Online
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25. Blackboard: Grammar Tutorials
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27. Blackboard: Vocabulary Tutorials
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28. Blackboard: Activities
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29. Blackboard: Activities (cont.)
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30. Facebook Page
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31. Facebook: Intercomprehension Activities
News:
• Modeled on EuRom5 (Bonvino et al., 2011)
• Authentic, current, short, related to Italy
Layout:
• Instructions + title translated in Spanish
• Questions (Italian)
• Vocabulary box (Italian to Spanish)
• Link the source
Main sources:
• ANSA
• ItalyNews
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33. Facebook: Intercomprehension Activities (cont.)
Videos and audios:
• Same structure as the news:
• Instructions + title translated in Spanish
• Questions (Italian)
• Link to the source
Language and Content:
• Authentic linguistic inputs
• Snapshots of Italian society and culture
• Focus on “an Italian point of view”
Sources:
Short movies, cartoons, movie clips, ads, recipes, songs
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35. Facebook: Thematic Activities
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36. Classroom
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37. Warm-Up: Oral Production
Parliamo!:
• Daily activity, whole class
• Answer one or more questions
• Theme-based questions
• 15” per student
• Students prepare their answers at
home
• 4% of the final grade
Mercoledì 27 gennaio
Cosa indossi oggi? Di che colore
sono?
Giovedì 28 gennaio
Cosa compri di solito al centro
commerciale? Quanto costa?
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38. Intercomprehension: News
Italian news presentation in class:
• Everyday, a student present an Italian news in class;
• From Italian news agency websites (ANSA, ItalyNews).
• Before class:
• Post on Facebook with questions, vocabulary box, link.
• In class:
• The presenter translates the title;
• Students read the news and try to answer the questions;
• The presenter helps his/her classmates’ comprehension.
2% of the final grade
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40. Thematic and Grammar Activities
• Small group and whole class activities
• Like-ability and cross-ability groups
• Theme-based activities (when possible)
• Suited for different grammar topics
• First input, then student production
• Different modalities and learning objectives
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42. Thematic and Grammar Activities (cont.)
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43. Thematic and Grammar Activities (cont.)
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44. Thematic and Grammar Activities (cont.)
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45. Thematic and Grammar Activities (cont.)
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47. Questions?
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