Phraseological units in Italian textbooks: an analysis of Italian textbooks ranked by the levels of language proficiency of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

Abstract

This paper investigates the treatment given to phraseological units in the teaching/learning of Italian as a foreign language. For this purpose, some textbooks of Italian based on the CEFR were analysed to determine when, how and in what contexts phraseological units are introduced and studied, and to determine to what extent the selected textbooks represent an effective support in the process of teaching/learning Italian as a foreign language.

Because of their characteristics, phraseological units represent a stumbling-block for non-native speakers, especially if their L1 is not one of the Romance Languages. Until the advent of the communicative approach – but also later – phraseology received only little attention in the teaching and learning of foreign languages; it was assumed that a student would develop a phraseological competence through imitation, and it seemed that phraseological units were to be treated only at higher levels of language proficiency. On the contrary, as many recent studies convincingly suggest, phraseological units should be systematically and explicitly taught/learnt from  level A1 on.  In the CEFR phraseological units are presented as an important element of lexical competence, while they are mostly neglected in the level descriptors. This approach seems to leave no objective criteria for textbook authors who consider whether and how to incorporate phraseology in their textbooks.