Review

Author(s): Anne Urbancic

Review by: Anne Urbancic
Source: Italica, Vol. 79, No. 4, Linguistics and Pedagogy (Winter, 2002), pp. 554-556
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Italian
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3656057
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554 REVIEWS

diverse aspects of contemporaryItalian culture and cities and regions of the Peninsula
featuredin the Parliamoitalianovideo. The programOggi in Italia includes a workbook/
lab manualas well as a video manual,audiocassettesor CDs, and, for the instructor,all
of the tools vital to the success of the program,i.e., the resourcemanual, the Parliamo
italiano video, test cassettes, multimediaCD-ROM, and overheadtransparencies.All in
all, with a listing of sample syllabi for various weekly schedules and an arrayof peda-
gogical materials,the resources are present for an entirely mangeableprogramthat, of
course, only the instructorcan enliven with his genius.
The text Parliamoitaliano,writtenby SuzanneBranciforteandAnna Grassi,provides
a communicatively-basedprogramthatemphasizesnot only the four essential skills, i.e.,
reading, writing, speaking, and listening, but also stresses a fifth skill, culturalcompe-
tency. Since language and culturego hand in hand, the fifth skill complements the four
throughdialogues, illustrations,and the inclusion of several boxes entitled "Lo sapevi
che?"thatcontaininsightfulinformationon all aspects of Italiancultureand civilization
includingterms(modidi dire) thatenable the learnerto increasehis or her knowledge of
vocabularyat the same time. Similar to the valuable culturalmaterialpresented in the
boxes, the second edition of Parliamo italiano containsshorteneddialogues that seek to
providefor the avid studentan up-to-date,freshimage of Italythroughthe use of realistic
naturallanguagethus enablingthe studentof Italianto absorband manipulateeffectively
in both written and spoken expression, uncontrived,everyday terms, sentences used
spontaneouslyby educatednative speakers.Each unit is divided into four majorpartsin
orderto explore variousfacets of the unit topic and region and include vocabularylists
with illustrationsparticularlyfor basic vocabularytermsand ratherdetailed,clear gram-
maticalexplanationsfor materialpresentedin thematically-baseddialogues of each unit.
The activities accompanyingthe vocabulary,includingpronunciationand inflection, the
brief dialogues, and grammaticalpoints ensureenough systematicpracticein additionto
maximum cultural exposure. The text, complete with the workbook/lab manual and
video manual, audio program,the Parliamo italiano video, and the multimedia CD-
ROM 3.0 enhances all five essential skills mentionedfor this programwith the ultimate
objective of achieving basic competency in Italian through students' own innovative
interactionwith one another,inspired as well by a comical flavor present throughout
the program.The text may be implemented in a two- or three-semestersequence or
three trimestersdependingon the numberof class meetings per week.

JONATHANNEEDHAM
MiddleburyCollege

PierangelaDiadori,a curadi. Insegnareitaliano a stranieri.Firenze:Le Monnier,2001.

Sitting in a classroom in Siena on a warm summer's day, I was struckby how the
voice and the energetic enthusiasm of Pierangela Diadori captured her audience of
teachers of Italianenroled in a professional development course. She and her capable
team of speakers and workshop leaders provided the course registrants with many
hours of interestingand relevant information,both theoretical and very 'hands on.' It
was clear thatDiadori and her team were relentless in promotingthe teaching of Italian
as L2.
Their audience, however receptive, was limited in number.If only Diadori et al.
would package the workshopsso thatthe majorityof teachersof Italianlanguage could
benefit from their knowledge, their experience and their painstakingresearch.
Insegnareitalianoa stranieri,in a sense,is thatpackage.Betweenits coversis a treasure
chest of L2 pedagogyintendedfor every teacherof Italianas a second or thirdlanguage.

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 REVIEWS 555

Diadori's introductionto the volume ably answers the first and most important
question that our studentswill pose to us today in our technologically oriented world:
"Why study Italian?"Her nine categories outlining the 'italiano di stranieri'and her
concise definitionof the 'italianoper stranieri'thatis bornof the readydiffusionthrough
the mass media, augerwell as the openingchapterof a manualthatis both "how to" and
"why."Nor do thechaptersfollowingdisappoint.The workin themis consistentlyexcellent.
Always aware that they are intendedfor teacherswho often requirea quick answer, all
chaptersare glossed in the marginswith indications of the specific topic discussed in
eachparagraph or section.All 28 chaptershave practicalexamples,suggestionsfor exercises
and strategiesfor the teacherof Italianto apply.An up-to-dateannotatedbibliography,
compiled by Susanna Bruni, complements the extensive general bibliography.And
where the latter curiously omits names such as that of H.H. Ster and Alice Omaggio
Hadley, it does not limit itself to Italianscholars in the field but also includes names of
internationallyrecognized researchersin L2 pedagogy.
In a brief review such as this one, there is an embarassmentof riches from which to
choose to illustratethe content of Insegnare italiano a stranieri.I shall highlight a few
chapters,and invite individualreadersto discover for themselves all the otheraspects of
this superbvolume.
Letizia Vignozzi provides a detailed overview of the theories of L2 learning. She
takes care to include most of the dominant approaches,including Robert Di Pietro's
"StrategicInteraction"which was first proposed specifically for the Italian language
classroom.While she overlooks the work of the late RaffaellaMaiguashcaon structural
communicativemethodology (now more often referredto as form focused instruction),
Vignozzi must be commended for her work in this chapter.
"Lacompetenzaculturale"by AntonellaBenucci is anotherstudy thatis of particular
relevance to the NorthAmericanteacherof Italian.Presentingfirst the problematicof
even defining 'culture,'Benucci then asks us to considerwhich cultureof a multicultural,
multilingualItaly we proposeas thatdesignated"Italian."She suggests thatfor the class-
room teacher,the initialapproachto teachingcultureis thatof focusing on daily life; this
is admittedlysmall-c cultureratherthanformalculture,but it is also undeniablythe first
encounterthat a studentof Italianlanguagewill have with the culture/Cultureof Italy;it
will ineluctablyreinforceor breakdown previouslyestablishedpreconceptions.Herbrief
questionnaireasking studentsto sharetheirpersonalideas of Italiancultureis an excel-
lent tool for analyzingculturecompetence.
The chaptersentitled"Programmazione e curricolo"by Lucia Cini and "Laverifica"
by FrancaBiotti are essential points of departurefor all Italianlanguage teachers, out-
lining effective implementationsof syllabi and curriculaand offering, in the lattercase,
reflections on the objectives and the process of testing and evaluation. They comple-
ment a later chapter,again by Antonella Benucci, focused on errorcorrection.Benucci
includes an effective Self-evaluationsheet for group work, an interestingapproachthat
I have found to be most effective in a L2 pedagogy course but have not used in Italian
language classes.
Otherchaptersdeal with using visuals/audiovisuals,with using the grammartext, with
presentingnewspapersand magazines,with introducingtexts of a technicalorientation.
There is also a separatechapterdealing with the teaching of Italianto young children,
which surprisingly overlooks the superb work of most Canadian researchersin the
field, and especially the well known contributions of Caterina Cicogna. Also most
helpful to teachers of Italiangrammaris the chapterby Cecilia Papi outlining changes
in approachesto the use, and consequently,to the teaching of the passato remoto, the
futuretense and the subjunctivemood. There are also chaptersdescribingthe excellent
certificationprogramsin ItalianL2 pedagogy.
In the introduction to the volume, Pierangela Diadori writes that no teacher of
Italianlanguage whose pedagogical formationtook place before the 1990's can admit

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556 REVIEWS

to having undertakenspecialized studies in L2 pedagogy specifically geared to Italian.

Certificationprogramssuch as DITALS in Siena and ITALS courses in Venice are a
remedy.But for those who cannottake advantageof these, there is Insegnare italiano a
stranieri. Not only should it be requiredreadingand referencefor all graduatestudents
in Italian,and for all studentslooking to teach Italian, but it should deservedly become
the vademecumfor all teachersof L2/L3 Italian.

ANNE URBANCIC
Universityof Toronto

Michael Vena, ed. Luigi Chiarelli. La maschera e il volto. Welland, Ontario, Canada:
Soleil, 2002.

EditorVena,currentlyProfessorof Italianat SouthernConnecticutState University

in New Haven, has already established a solid record of publication on the Italian
grotesquetheaterwhich makes him an ideal scholarto preparea pedagogical edition of
Chiarelli'splay writtenin this literarytradition.The presentpublicationhas a two-fold
purpose. On the one hand, "... it is intended to expose the student to the practice of
spoken and written language, throughvocabularybuilding and manageable sentenced
structurescommonly used by Italians"(vii). On the otherhand,this well-known literary
work with its intellectualstimulationand its satiricformat,is the first Italiangrotesque
play to be edited in English. While always recognized as an importantplaywright in
his time, there has been a resurgenceof critical interest in Chiarelli'sdramaticworks
in recent times (see xix-xxii for selected critical citations of his works).
Born at Trani(Bari) on July 7, 1880, Chiarellireceived his secondary educationin
Rome. The untimely death of his father, however, precluded university studies. His
interest in writing and literaturebegan early (1895) and continued until his death in
Rome on December 20, 1947. Vena states, correctly,that "Chiarelliwas an innovator
and he knew it" (xiii). In fact, the authorbreaks with the conventional bourgeois dra-
matic models of the nineteenth-century,which had become stale with the exception, of
course, of the very special works of D'Annunzio and Verga.
Consideredto be his masterpiece,Chiarelli's three-actplay La maschera e il volto
(The Mask and the Face) was writtenin the summer of 1913. This dramais a brilliant
satire of the prevailing attitudestoward maritalinfidelity in which the husbandfeigns
his spouse's deathto avenge his honor.Thereafter,a bizarreseries of fantasticand ironic
misadventuresensues. In many ways, there is an obvious affinity between Chiarelli's
dramaticart and that of his betterknown compatriotLuigi Pirandello.
Vena argues convincingly that this play is a brilliant example of the grotesque
movement in theater. The editor describes this movement as ". .. a genre of theatre
wherein the passions and tragediesof life are mechanically simplified and shockingly
distorted.The grotesque incorporatespositivistic disenchantment,social criticism, and
an unusual concept of ethics which denies traditionalvalues and leans toward a rela-
tivistic philosophy"(xvii).
This play is the partof the series entitled Teatroclassico e contemporaneaand the
generaldirectionof AnthonyMollica. Three othervolumes have appearedso far (Uova
sbattute . . . moglie blave and Un marito di scorta both by Guido Pugliese, and II
capriccio. Commediaanonimadel Cinquecentoedited and annotatedby Michael Lettieri
and Julius Molinaro).
ProfessorVena utilizes a familiarand pedagogically sound formatfor his edition of
Chiarelli'splay with footnotes and right marginalnotes for the English translationof
unfamiliarwords for the target intermediate-levelItalian student.This edited volume
contains the three-actplay proper(2-73), a series of exercises (75-102), and a vocab-
ularysection (103-23). Venahas producedan excellent anddidacticallyeffective edition

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