engleski

Awareness of Cultural Connotation of Words in Learners of Italian as L2: Semantic Approach

Recent research into second language vocabulary acquisition has recognized the need to teach not only word's denotative, but also connotative meaning. Namely, the latter is often arbitrary and culture-specific, and its recognition is a precondition for achieving an intercultural competence. Prior to acquiring basic grammatical rules, a second language learner has to deal with meaning, gradually developing the awareness of denotative and connotative properties of words and idiomatic expressions. The level of such awareness will have an effect on the development of all second language skills, allowing a learner to penetrate to “the other side of a language“. It is assumed that such a stimulus is provided to Italian as a foreign language learners in multiethnic and multilingual Istria given that they are immersed into the environment abounding with Italian language and cultural events. In order to test the hypothesis, we conducted a study which included elementary and high school students from Istria. The study had two main aims: to determine which words and expressions students associate with certain areas of interest related to the Italian culture (history, religion, food, music, material world), and to measure the level of awareness of words' connotative meaning, i.e. their cultural connotation in the given language context. The results showed that high school students nominated a significantly greater number of words and expressions associated with the areas of interest given in the study, while both groups were faced with substantial difficulties in determining their connotative meanings. Practical implications of the study are related to the spreading of awareness that in the process of second language vocabulary teaching, besides the denotative meanings, students should be introduced to the composite and complex nature of connotative meanings which are the prerequisite for achieving communicative and intercultural competence.

L2 lexical competence; connotative meaning; denotative meaning; intercultural competence; Italian language; vocabulary acquisition

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