Heritage Language Programs - Italian
Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts – Italian Language School
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Address: 41 Hampshire Street City, Cambridge, MA 02139
Telephone: (617) 876-5160
Fax: (617) 661-3797
Web address: http://www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge
Contact:
Name: Bill Hart
Title: Director, Children’s Italian School
Address: 41 Hampshire Street City, Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: bhart@colorkinetics.com
Telephone: (617) 876-5160
Fax: (617) 661-3797
Levels: Pre K-K, 1-5/6, 6/7-8, 9-12, and adults
Our children's program begins on a partial immersion basis for the Pre-K and Kindergarten levels. Beginning at Level 1 the course is completely immersion-based.
Languages/dialects taught: Italian
Program Description
Purposes and goals of the program: The Dante Alighieri Society
of Massachusetts is a non-profit organization whose objective is
to promote and foster Italian language and culture. We offer language
courses for children from Pre-K to grade 12 on Saturday mornings
from September through May. We offer adult classes on Tuesday and
Wednesday evenings throughout the year.
Type of program: immersion, partial immersion, foreign language program, Saturday academy, and extracurricular club
Program origin: 1990
Parents
Parents’ expectations for the program: The parents expect that their children will learn to speak Italian and develop an appreciation for the culture.
Staff
Instructors’ making administration’s expectations for the program: The staff are committed to making the learning experience as fun as possible. We know that it is a Saturday program, and we want the children and parents to enjoy themselves.
Students
Students:
• First-generation immigrants: 5%
• Second-generation immigrants: 30%
• Third-generation immigrants: 30%
• Children of interethnic marriages: 15%
• Non-ethnic background: 10%
Countries of origin: Italy, United States, and Bosnia
Total student enrollment: 110
How the program identifies heritage speakers: Oral interview
How the program determines the language background and language proficiency of students: The instructors interview new students to see what language proficiency they have in the first few weeks of the school year.
Percentage of students who complete the program: 50%
Percentage of students who continue to study the heritage language after completing the program: 15%
Possible reasons for student withdrawal: Other school or sports activities with time conflicts.
Instructors
Number of instructors in the program: 12
Languages in which instructors are proficient: Italian and English
Proficiency level: All of our instructors are fluent in Italian, and most are native speakers.
Credentials: 20% of the teaching staff hold a teacher’s certificate or license in any given state. Teachers are certified in Early childhood education and Italian language teaching. One teacher has a BA in Education and Engineering. Others have an MA in Education.
Professional development opportunities instructors
have: Italian
AP training,
Italian Consulate teaching seminars
Professional development opportunities instructors need: curricular planning and course development
Instruction
Total contact hours per week: 2 hours per week
Times per week: 1 class session per week
Student grouping: Students in the children's program are grouped by language aptitude.
Hours devoted to language teaching: 100% of the time the spoken language is Italian.
Hours devoted to culture teaching: Culture is addressed as part of the subject matter.
Language skills
Skills developed by the program: Heritage Italian
Heritage language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing
Levels of language proficiency reached by the end of the program: The goal is for students to reach fluency in Italian.
Culture
Aspects of culture taught: geography, history, festivals, customs, traditions and beliefs, religion, folktales, arts and crafts, dances, songs, rhymes, social and cultural norms, cultural appropriateness, and literature
Methodologies
Methodologies and instructional strategies used in the program: immersion
Materials
Textbooks: Grande Amici Series
Other materials used for instruction: Multiple handouts are used including plays, songs, games, and crafts.
Technology used for instruction: We use videos and have Internet access.
Assessment
Assessments used to evaluate students’ progress: Teacher's observations
What the program has in place
Financial support the program receives: Ethnic/cultural organizations
Other support the program receives: Student tuition
