IH Rome-DILIT’s 23rd Teaching & Language Learning Conference

Since 1989 IH Rome-DILIT’s Department of Research has been annually organizing international conferences and seminars, dealing with topics related to teaching and language learning. On the 21st and 22nd April 2012 the conference entitled "Conversational analysis in language teaching” was organised at IH Rome DILIT.

This topic was chosen as the result of considerations on the "communicative revolution" of the 70’s. Too often lessons held in class and the teaching materials that publishers put on the market do not meet the principles which characterise the communicative approach: the attention of students is focalized on single phrases rather than on complete texts. By texts we do not only mean written texts but, above all, conversation, the most diffused and at the same time the richest in elements to be analysed.

Conversational analysis is therefore the instrument that provides the necessary data to study this linguistic phenomenon.

The conference was attended by prominent speakers, coming from the world of academia and research, and in particular:

• Franca Orletti, Professor of Linguistics and Philology at the Department of Linguistics, University of Rome “Roma Tre”;
• Piera Margutti, researcher at the “Università per Stranieri di Perugia”, Department of Linguistics;
• Luciano Mariani, English teacher, consultant, trainer, author of teaching materials, and author of numerous papers on the development of study skills, styles and learning strategies and the autonomy of the student;
• Marilena Macaluso, Professor of Sociology, Theory and techniques of Political Communication at the University of Palermo;
• Daniela Zorzi, Professor of Modern Language Teaching working at the School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators, University of Bologna;
• Guy Aston, Professor of Languages and Translation at the School of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators, University of Bologna.

In addition to plenary sessions, during the conference the following laboratories were held:

• “Mo’ basta! Comunicazione quotidiana e affetti”, conducted by Annarita Zacchi;
• “Io so che tu sai che io so…”, conducted by Carlo Guastalla;
• “ Concerti per voci: le conversazioni nei loro aspetti non strettamente linguistici”, conducted by Leonardo    Gandi;
• “Repair”, condotto da Filomena Anzivino;
• “La gestione dei turni”, conducted by Katia D’Angelo.

The large number of participants present at the conferences and seminars testifies the high esteem enjoyed by Dilit in the world of language teaching.