Teaching diversity in the Italian classroom

Date: Tuesday 30 June 2020

Host & Organiser: King's College London

Event type: Online conference

About the conference

How do we incorporate diversity in our Italian courses? Diversity has been defined as the quality of diverse or different cultures within one context, as opposed to monoculture or global monoculture. Diversity involves taking into account the differences between people and groups of people and placing a positive value on those differences. Italy has always been a diverse country, due to its historical vicissitudes and the rich geographical, linguistic, and cultural variety which characterise this relatively young nation. More recently, Italy has become even more diverse thanks to immigration from other countries. Lastly, in Italy the notion of the “other”, to be understood as anything not befitting the traditional values of Italian society, has taken the centre stage in the contemporary cultural discourse. Within the climate of inclusivity promoted by higher education institutions, we, as language educators, will endeavour to incorporate diversity both as a cultural element in our courses and as a series of strategies to ensure that learning takes place for language students of all backgrounds, abilities, and learning styles. 

We will focus on:

the theme of the geographical, cultural, linguistic differences within Italy (the teaching varieties in Italian regions (North and South) and the differences in dialects) and in the countries where Italian is spoken
curriculum design: introducing diversity in the language class (movies and books of second-generation immigrants in Italy, alternative models of family, “the other" in Italian culture)
diversity as in differentiation of learning styles

Who should attend

The conference is ideally suited to teachers of Italian in secondary, higher and further education.

The Italian conference at King’s College London is a forum for the exchange of ideas, theories and practices, promoting teaching excellence and scholarship in the field of Italian Studies. It is a one-day event for teachers of Italian combining workshops, panel presentations, and networking opportunities.Participants will be awarded a Certificate of Professional Development upon attendance.

We hope you will enjoy the virtual Italian conference at King's College.

Contact the conference team

Dr. Elena Borelli, Deputy Team Leader, Modern Language Centre, King's College London

elena.borelli@kcl.ac.uk

Contact the conference team

Magali Allary, Team Leader for Romance Languages and Linguistics, Modern Language Centre, King's College London

magali.allary@kcl.ac.uk

Keynote speakers
	Judith Rifeser Judith is a teacher-researcher in MFL and Media & Cultural Studies. She has been teaching modern foreign languages and EAL in the UK, Spain, Italy and the US in the primary and secondary school sector, as well as in higher education. She is a lecturer on the PGCE Secondary Languages Programme at Goldsmiths and a Teaching Fellow for German at the IoE. Previously, she was Head of KS5 German and school wide Teaching and Learning Facilitator in a London secondary school. She also held a post as Junior Lecturer for Italian and Spanish at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. She is an ALL London Committee Member and has collaborated with educational institutions such as ALL, Into Film, the BFI and Linguascope to develop engaging authentic film resources that nurture intercultural understanding and celebrate diversity in the languages classroom. Her films have been shown at various film festivals and cinemas.
	Professor Sonia Cunico Sonia is the Director of Language Teaching for the Modern Languages degree program and the Director of the Language Centre at the University of Exeter. She has taught Italian language and culture, Translation Studies, and Linguistics in a number of UK HE Institutions for over 25 years. She has wide experience as a teacher trainer and is the organiser of fortnightly CPD workshops for foreign language teachers at the University of Exeter. Sonia has been involved in a number of initiatives and projects, such as the EU funded EUniTa project, and taken the lead in a shortlisted project for the global Reimagine Education Award 2016 at Philadelphia in Peer Assisted Projects. More recently, she has been interested in the role of intercultural competence in the ML degree and as part of the global citizenship agenda.

Click the image to download the programme.

How the conference will be delivered

Online delivery. The conference will take place fully online using Zoom. You will receive a link and a password to join each session, including the keynote addresses, the presentations, and the workshops. You will also receive a video on how to install Zoom on your device, if you do not have it yet, together with instructions on how to join and participate in the sessions. After each talk there will be time for Q&A and for interacting with the presenters. All the material, including the programme, slides, and handouts will be made available on the conference website. The workshops are interactive sessions involving group activities. Therefore, the facilitator will use the breakout rooms and other interactive features for you to work with the other participants.

All talks or workshops will be either in Italian or English. The language of delivery is noted on the programme. Virtual coffee breaks have been organised so that you can network with the participants while sipping a delicious espresso.

The event is now over. Please contact the organiser for more information.

Event Date: 30 June 2020

Event type: Online Conference

How the conference will be delivered

Online delivery. The conference will take place fully online using Zoom. You will receive a link and a password to join each session, including the keynote addresses, the presentations, and the workshops. You will also receive a video on how to install Zoom on your device, if you do not have it yet, together with instructions on how to join and participate in the sessions. After each talk there will be time for Q&A and for interacting with the presenters. All the material, including the programme, slides, and handouts will be made available on the conference website. The workshops are interactive sessions involving group activities. Therefore, the facilitator will use the breakout rooms and other interactive features for you to work with the other participants.

About Dr Elena Borelli. She is a native Italian speaker and graduated from Bologna University with a Master’s in Classics in 2002. Elena then went on to complete a Ph.D. in Italian and French Literature at Rutgers University. Elena was Assistant Professor of Italian at the City University of New York where she taught Italian language and literature. Elena has 18 years of experience in teaching Italian. She joined King’s College London in 2017 as Deputy Team Leader for Italian and Linguistics. Elena started to learn to speak French when she was 14 because she fell in love with Brittany. She learned English to read the novels and poetry she liked. She then learned German for her studies, and Spanish when she moved to the United States.

Email: elena.borelli@kcl.ac.uk

About Magali Allary. She is a teacher of French with over 15 years of experience, teaching French in Higher Education and language institutes in the USA and the UK. Magali holds a BA in Anglo-Saxon cultures with a minor in teaching from Université Versailles-St Quentin (France) and completed post graduate studies focusing on foreign languages at the University of Washington (USA). Magali also holds a California teaching certificate and a CELTA. Prior to joining the MLC, Magali was Deputy Director of a language school in California, where she became interested in academic management. In addition to her Team Leader post, Magali is currently the Chair of the MLC’s assessment sub-board. Her academic interest is in the promotion of collaborative learning and development of independent learning skills. She is also investigating the use of literature in the language classroom.

Email: magali.allary@kcl.ac.uk

Our Sponsors

The British Italian Society

The British-Italian Society, founded in 1941, promotes knowledge and understanding in the UK of Italian culture, including Italy’s history, institutions, way of life, language and wider contribution to civilization.

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uTalk

With their global reach of 140+ languages and 20,000+ language learning combinations means uTalk are super-flexible. And with over 25 years in the language multi-media business, have a proven track record.

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The Modern Language Centre

The Modern Language Centre, King's College London teaches over 26 languages on both short courses and modules, with native speaking teachers providing a culturally rich learning experience.

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