Keywords

Italian language, teaching, pedagogy, grammar

Abstract

This study treats the necessity to de-emphasize the focus on grammar teaching alone in L2, and to introduce methods which are not teacher-centered, so as to enable students to interact more among each other.

By using comparative and superlative forms of adjectives – but in reality using a sequence of teaching techniques that could be applied to other grammatical situations – this article presents the use of sea shells as a visual and tactile aid which allows students to shift their L2 efforts from an abstract notion to a concrete usage.

This study offers a tool to attempt a balance between a grammatical/theoretical method and a Natural Approach technique.

Original Publication Citation

"Presenting Italian Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives to College L2 Beginners," Mid-Atlantic Journal of Foreign Language Pedagogy, 2 (1994), 42-50.