Page 62 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol. 4(1) (2016)
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dia universitatis her editati, letnik 4 (2016), številk a 1 62generic notion of connotative meaning that, inThe research
the acceptation assigned to it by Geoffrey Leech, Goals
hereditatirepresents “the communicative value an expres- Taking into account the theoretical reflections
sion contains by virtue of what it refers to over reported in the previous pages, we conducted a
and above its purely conceptual content”.17 Dif- research with the following aims:
ferent from the denotative meaning (conceptu-
al or cognitive) that can be codified “in terms a) to investigate the centers of interest in
of limited sets of symbols”18 and is therefore sta- which the middle and secondary school stu-
ble and shared by the entire linguistic commu- dents find elements regarding Italian cul-
nity, the connotative meaning is polysemic and ture with higher frequency;
open, often carrying social and cultural values.
Lyons underlined that “many of the concepts b) to determine which words and expressions
with which we operate are culture-bond in the are associated with the centers of interest
sense that they depend for their understand- identified by the participants;
ing upon socially trasmitted knowledge, both
practical and propositional and vary considera- c) to inquire the degree of lexical compe-
bly from culture to culture”.19 Traditionally, the tence of the participants, that is their abil-
approach to lexis teaching privileged the isolat- ity to identify the connotative meanings of
ed and decontextualised teaching of words and words;
expressions, sticking in particular to their de-
notative meaning. While on one hand, “/.../ d) to analyse the effectiveness of linguistic and
word-centered vocabulary teaching is suitable cultural education of Italian L2/FL in Is-
for helping the learner to construct the cognitive tria for the development of an intercultur-
contents (representations) that are typical of the al communicative competence.
L2”,20 on the other hand, that approach neglects
the teachings of any of the prefabricated struc- Methodology and subjects
tures, traditionally called expression, phrase, ut- The tool used for data collection was a socio-
terance, whose constituent elements are not re- linguistic questionnaire with the aim to ob-
placeable or recombinable following the current tain information regarding extradidactic fac-
language rules (Mazzotta, 2002).21 The absence tors involved in the motivation for intercultural
of that structural knowledge, which is deemed as studies, attempting to detect the conscious rea-
a poor referential appropriateness (Corder, 1983),22 sons and causes that arouse the speaker’s inter-
leads to a cultural overlap in the field of language est for different languages and cultures. As for
acquisition. that, it was investigated where learners find, dur-
ing their everyday school activities, elements
17 Geoffrey Leech, Semantics: The Study of Meaning (Harmondsworth: linked to Italian culture. The preliminary part
Penguin Books, 1985), 12. of the sociolinguistic questionnaire was submit-
ted to 259 Istrian middle school students (152 fe-
18 Leech, Semantics: The Study of Meaning, 13. males = 58.7% and 107 males = 41.3%) and 522
19 John Lyons, Language and Linguistics. An introduction (Cambridge: Istrian secondary schools students (343 females
= 65.7% and 179 males = 34.3%) in Pula/Pola,
Cambridge University Press, 1981), 308. Buje/Buie, Poreč/Parenzo, Umag/Umago, Paz-
20 Moises Almela and Aquilino Sánchez, “Words as ‘Lexical Units’ in/Pisino, Žminj/Gimino and Labin/Albona.
The middle school students were aged from 11 to
in Learning/Teaching Vocabulary,” International Journal of English 14 years and the secondary school students from
Studies, 7 (2007), 36. 15 to 18 years. After the detection of the main
21 Patrizia Mazzotta, “Le direttive della Comunità Europea per l’in- categories that supplied information about the
segnamento delle lingue,” in Europa, lingue e istruzione primaria. Plu- intercultural competences, the survey shifted to
rilinguismo per il bambino italiano-europeo, ed. Patrizia Marzorra (To- the second part of the research which measured
rino: UTET, 2002).
22 Pit S. Corder, Introduzione alla linguistica applicata (Bologna: Il Muli-
no, 1983).
the acceptation assigned to it by Geoffrey Leech, Goals
hereditatirepresents “the communicative value an expres- Taking into account the theoretical reflections
sion contains by virtue of what it refers to over reported in the previous pages, we conducted a
and above its purely conceptual content”.17 Dif- research with the following aims:
ferent from the denotative meaning (conceptu-
al or cognitive) that can be codified “in terms a) to investigate the centers of interest in
of limited sets of symbols”18 and is therefore sta- which the middle and secondary school stu-
ble and shared by the entire linguistic commu- dents find elements regarding Italian cul-
nity, the connotative meaning is polysemic and ture with higher frequency;
open, often carrying social and cultural values.
Lyons underlined that “many of the concepts b) to determine which words and expressions
with which we operate are culture-bond in the are associated with the centers of interest
sense that they depend for their understand- identified by the participants;
ing upon socially trasmitted knowledge, both
practical and propositional and vary considera- c) to inquire the degree of lexical compe-
bly from culture to culture”.19 Traditionally, the tence of the participants, that is their abil-
approach to lexis teaching privileged the isolat- ity to identify the connotative meanings of
ed and decontextualised teaching of words and words;
expressions, sticking in particular to their de-
notative meaning. While on one hand, “/.../ d) to analyse the effectiveness of linguistic and
word-centered vocabulary teaching is suitable cultural education of Italian L2/FL in Is-
for helping the learner to construct the cognitive tria for the development of an intercultur-
contents (representations) that are typical of the al communicative competence.
L2”,20 on the other hand, that approach neglects
the teachings of any of the prefabricated struc- Methodology and subjects
tures, traditionally called expression, phrase, ut- The tool used for data collection was a socio-
terance, whose constituent elements are not re- linguistic questionnaire with the aim to ob-
placeable or recombinable following the current tain information regarding extradidactic fac-
language rules (Mazzotta, 2002).21 The absence tors involved in the motivation for intercultural
of that structural knowledge, which is deemed as studies, attempting to detect the conscious rea-
a poor referential appropriateness (Corder, 1983),22 sons and causes that arouse the speaker’s inter-
leads to a cultural overlap in the field of language est for different languages and cultures. As for
acquisition. that, it was investigated where learners find, dur-
ing their everyday school activities, elements
17 Geoffrey Leech, Semantics: The Study of Meaning (Harmondsworth: linked to Italian culture. The preliminary part
Penguin Books, 1985), 12. of the sociolinguistic questionnaire was submit-
ted to 259 Istrian middle school students (152 fe-
18 Leech, Semantics: The Study of Meaning, 13. males = 58.7% and 107 males = 41.3%) and 522
19 John Lyons, Language and Linguistics. An introduction (Cambridge: Istrian secondary schools students (343 females
= 65.7% and 179 males = 34.3%) in Pula/Pola,
Cambridge University Press, 1981), 308. Buje/Buie, Poreč/Parenzo, Umag/Umago, Paz-
20 Moises Almela and Aquilino Sánchez, “Words as ‘Lexical Units’ in/Pisino, Žminj/Gimino and Labin/Albona.
The middle school students were aged from 11 to
in Learning/Teaching Vocabulary,” International Journal of English 14 years and the secondary school students from
Studies, 7 (2007), 36. 15 to 18 years. After the detection of the main
21 Patrizia Mazzotta, “Le direttive della Comunità Europea per l’in- categories that supplied information about the
segnamento delle lingue,” in Europa, lingue e istruzione primaria. Plu- intercultural competences, the survey shifted to
rilinguismo per il bambino italiano-europeo, ed. Patrizia Marzorra (To- the second part of the research which measured
rino: UTET, 2002).
22 Pit S. Corder, Introduzione alla linguistica applicata (Bologna: Il Muli-
no, 1983).
