Gestire l'alternanza L1/L2 nella classe di lingua. Per una riflessione sull'insegnamento delle lingue straniere nella scuola in Italia

In this paper we examine the phenomenon of alternation between L1 and L2 in classroom interaction in the context of language teaching and learning. The focus is on a specific teaching context, namely the foreign language class where there is a shared L1 between students and learners, and on the teacher’s linguistic choice in classroom interaction. The paper is based on an empirical research, carried out in some Italian secondary schools, by administering a questionnaire addressed to teachers and collecting a corpus of classroom interactions. After a review of the main studies dealing with language alternation in the context of language teaching, we consider some recommendations suggested in the field of the educational policy in Europe and especially in Italy, in order to assess whether and to what extent the problem of managing language alternation in the language class is dealt with in institutional programmatic documents. Then we present the results of the empirical research. The aim of this paper is principally descriptive and is related to the identification of pragmatic rules for the management of language alternation in a foreign language class. However, the analysis also tries to evaluate the different ways of managing the L1/L2 alternation from the point of view of language teaching, in order to plan teacher training and make some methodological suggestions for the teaching practice.