This article aims to investigate the evolution of L2 English writing instruction in the 20th century, focusing on the ‘pre-history’ of academic writing in Italy – when writing was mainly viewed as an ancillary activity, often added to grammar/translation language classes. To shed some light on the principles underlying L2 English ‘composition’ writing instruction, the article illustrates the findings of the analysis of a sample of English writing materials published in Italy between the 1940s and the 1990s. Against the background of a mostly stagnant institutional context, English writing pedagogy appears to have evolved in Italy throughout the 20th century as a result of wider social and cultural changes, as well as developments in applied linguistics. This evolution led to a reappraisal of the role of the learner writer, who was increasingly viewed as an active agent in the process of knowledge transformation.
Questo articolo si prefigge lo scopo di analizzare l’evoluzione della didattica della scrittura in inglese L2 nel XX secolo, incentrandosi sulla “preistoria” dell’insegnamento della scrittura accademica in Italia, ovvero il periodo in cui la pratica didattica della scrittura in inglese consisteva in attività di composizione spesso proposte al termine di una serie di lezioni basate sul metodo grammatica-traduzione. Si presenta un’analisi contenutistica di un campione di manuali per l’insegnamento della scrittura in lingua inglese pubblicati in Italia tra gli anni Quaranta e gli anni Novanta del secolo scorso. Se il contesto istituzionale in Italia rimase sostanzialmente immutato nel periodo preso in esame, si assistette ad un’evoluzione della didattica della scrittura in seguito ad un mutato contesto socio-culturale e agli sviluppi della linguistica applicata. Questa evoluzione ha portato a una rivalutazione del ruolo dell’apprendente nel processo di scrittura. Infatti gli apprendenti venivano sempre più visti come proattivi nel processo di trasformazione della conoscenza.
Writing in English in Italy – the ‘pre-history’ of academic writing / A. Nava. - In: E-JOURNALL. - ISSN 2376-905X. - 10:2(2023), pp. 32-43. [10.21283/2376905X.1.10.2.2779]
Writing in English in Italy – the ‘pre-history’ of academic writing
A. Nava
Primo
2023
Abstract
This article aims to investigate the evolution of L2 English writing instruction in the 20th century, focusing on the ‘pre-history’ of academic writing in Italy – when writing was mainly viewed as an ancillary activity, often added to grammar/translation language classes. To shed some light on the principles underlying L2 English ‘composition’ writing instruction, the article illustrates the findings of the analysis of a sample of English writing materials published in Italy between the 1940s and the 1990s. Against the background of a mostly stagnant institutional context, English writing pedagogy appears to have evolved in Italy throughout the 20th century as a result of wider social and cultural changes, as well as developments in applied linguistics. This evolution led to a reappraisal of the role of the learner writer, who was increasingly viewed as an active agent in the process of knowledge transformation.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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