Growing evidence shows the role of teachers gestures not only in L2 learning (Stam & Tellier, 2021) but also in supporting learning in the L1 classroom (Alibali et al., 2014; Crowder, 1996; Wilson et al., 2014). The current study aims at contributing to this last perspective. Based on data from… read more
In research on information structure and discourse cohesion, contrast has been defined in different ways, depending on the pragmatic/semantic relation established between the propositions involved in the contrast, on the text types and on other discourse conditions. As a whole, despite – or… read more
The low academic achievement of children with an immigrant background is a well known problem in the European context as elsewhere; multilingualism is not a drawback per se, as widely shown in the relevant literature, but the access to bilingual educational programs including both the family and… read more
This paper examines polarity contrast marking in Italian, analyzing replies to questions and assertions in Map Task dialogues and read speech. We examine the frequency of echo replies, their syntactic and prosodic properties, and the frequency of verum focus. The results show that echo replies are… read more
Many languages have an overabundant set of additive focus adverbs (AFAs), whose differences are mostly investigated in semantic (e.g. scalarity) or syntactic (scope phenomena and restrictions for specific domains of association) terms. The present study adopts a discourse perspective on the issue,… read more
While the impact of cross-linguistic influence in the L2 use of verb morphology has been widely recognized, less is known about its role when optional temporal markers are involved. By means of a retelling task (The Finite Story), our study compares the use of optional markers of continuation and… read more
Yes and no allow an easy management of talk-in-interaction and, unlike other classes of discourse markers, occur from early stages of L2 acquisition onwards (Perdue 1993; Bernini 1996, 2000; Andorno 2008a for L2 Italian). However, problems in their use can arise in replies to negative… read more
This paper aims to study perspective-taking in L2 discourse at the level of utterance information structure. Many studies have shown how principles of discourse organization partly reflect lexico-grammatical structures available in a given language, and how difficult it is to reorganize L1… read more
In order to realize text cohesion, speakers have to select specific information units and mark their informational status within the discourse; this results in specific, language-particular perspective-taking, linked to typological differences (Slobin 1996). A previous study on native speakers’… read more