LA COMPETENZA METAFORICA IN ITALIANO L2/LS: UNO STUDIO SULLE CONCETTUALIZZAZIONI METAFORICHE NELLE ESPRESSIONI IDIOMATICHE E NEI PROVERBI

Moira De Iaco

doi:10.54103/2037-3597/31981

Authors

Moira De Iaco Università degli Studi di Bari

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54103/2037-3597/31981

Abstract

Questo contributo argomenta il ruolo centrale della competenza metaforica nei percorsi di educazione linguistica al fine di garantire agli apprendenti di lingue seconde (L2) e straniere (LS) il conseguimento di una competenza comunicativa interculturale. L’obiettivo teorico principale è quello di considerare la competenza metaforica nel quadro dell’interconnessione tra Linguistica Cognitiva (LC) e pragmatica interculturale. In tale quadro, l’acquisizione della competenza metaforica è per gli apprendenti una necessità, ma anche un’opportunità strategica per espandere, in generale, la competenza linguistica e imparare la cultura della lingua target. Una volta delineato lo stato dell’arte degli studi sulla competenza metaforica, viene presentato uno studio sulle concettualizzazioni metaforiche basato sull’analisi di un corpus di espressioni idiomatiche e proverbi in italiano. Tale analisi viene proposta per la progettazione della didattica dell’italiano L2/LS indirizzata ad apprendenti di livello intermedio, nel contesto di un approccio comunicativo. Si ritiene infatti che un’analisi multimodale, condivisa e cooperativa di espressioni idiomatiche e proverbi, incentrata sul rendere esplicita e visibile l’immagine delle concettualizzazioni metaforiche su cui le espressioni idiomatiche e i proverbi si fondano e sul confronto tra questa immagine e quella di espressioni idiomatiche e proverbi delle diverse L1 degli apprendenti, permetta non solo lo sviluppo di una fluenza concettuale in italiano L2/LS, bensì anche un ampliamento della competenza lessicale e di quella interculturale.

Metaphorical competence in Italian as a second and foreign language: a study of metaphorical conceptualisations in idiomatic expressions and proverbs

This paper argues for the central role of metaphorical competence in language education to enable learners of second (L2) and foreign languages (FL) to achieve intercultural communicative competence. The main theoretical objective is to consider metaphorical competence within the framework of the interconnection between Cognitive Linguistics (CL) and intercultural pragmatics. In this context, acquiring metaphorical competence is not only necessary for learners, but also a strategic opportunity to expand their overall linguistic competence and learn the culture of the target language. After outlining the state of the art in studies on metaphorical competence, the paper presents a study on metaphorical conceptualisations based on the analysis of a corpus of idiomatic expressions and proverbs in Italian. This analysis proposes the construction of teaching activities aimed at intermediate-level learners of Italian as an L2 or FL within a communicative approach. It is argued that a multimodal, shared, and cooperative analysis of idiomatic expressions and proverbs – focused on making explicit and visible the metaphorical conceptualisations underlying idiomatic expressions and proverbs, and on comparing these with those from the learners’ various L1s – not only develops conceptual fluency in Italian L2/FL, but also expands lexical and intercultural competence.

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