L'Italiano a Miami: An Investigation of the Current Status of the Teaching and Learning of the Italian Language in Miami and of Students' Motivational Factors

• Main Author: La Tegola, Antonella
• Format: Others
• Published: FIU Digital Commons 2015
• Subjects: Italian Language; Instrumental Motivation; Integrative Motivation; Italian Programs in Miami; Curriculum and Instruction; Education
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2226; http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3130&context=etd

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the current status of the study of Italian in Miami and particularly to identify the motivational factors behind student enrollment in local Italian programs. A qualitative study was carried out based on interviews with the local director of “Società Dante Alighieri” and four students studying Italian in two different settings. Gardner and Lambert’s (1959) concepts of instrumental and integrative motivation and the motivation components identified by Csizér and Dörnyei (2005) provided the conceptual framework for this study. According to the information obtained from the five participants the study of Italian in Miami is mostly linked to integrative motivation and particularly to the motivation components referred by Csizér and Dörnyei as “attitude toward the L2 speakers/community” and “culture interest”. These findings are in line with previous research that linked the study of Italian in the United States to cultural and ethnic factors related to integrative motivation.