Testing of both receptive and linguistic abilities in Italian among students of italian studies

Abstract

Although the study of Italian Language and Literature generally does not only con sist of teaching/learning contemporary Italian as a foreign language (FL), the paper will present some of the main results of testing general proficiency in Italian as a FL achieved by most students from the first to the fourth years of Italian Studies at the University of Ljubljana. The presentation of results is limited to both receptive abilities (listening and reading comprehension) and to grammar and lexical proficiency. The testing project start ed with the first cycle of testing in May 2010 in the framework of a bilateral agreement be tween Italian Studies in Ljubljana and in Belgrade (the other two cycles will follow in 2011 and 2012). The paper is concerned about the (non) achievement of appropriate levels (1st to 4th year, from B1 to C2, respectively, according to the Common European Framework) agreed on by teaching staff at the two universities who considered their experience with students in the last years. It will attempt to sketch out some initial ideas about the extent to which the study of Italian Language and Literature contributes to general proficiency in Italian as a foreign language.