Heritage languages, heritage language schools and communities: two days at Insubria exploring Italy’s new linguistic realities

On Thursday 1 and Friday 2 October, the University of Insubria will host the “Study Days on Heritage Languages and Heritage Language Schools in Italy” at its Sant’Abbondio campus in Como. The two-day event will focus on heritage languages, the linguistic practices of migrant communities and the experiences of heritage language schools operating across Italy.

The initiative is part of the activities of the Research Centre on Minorities (CERM), which is affiliated with the University’s Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences. The sessions will take place in Room S.0.5, Via Sant’Abbondio 12.

The first day, Thursday 1 October, will begin at 9:30 a.m. with institutional greetings from Alberto Coen Porisini, Director of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, followed by an introduction by Daniele Brigadoi Cologna of the University of Insubria. The academic programme will open with Francesca Moro of the University of Naples L’Orientale, who will discuss Tagalog as a heritage language, focusing on syntactic and lexical changes. Lino Panzeri of the University of Insubria will then examine the possible legal protection of heritage languages from an Italian perspective.

After the break, Olga Irimciuc of the University of Insubria will explore policies and practices relating to the teaching of Romanian in Lombardy; Giada De Luca of the University of Pavia will compare the linguistic practices of the Habesha community in Bologna and in the province of Teramo; and Rosalba Nodari of the University of Siena will present strategies for promoting and maintaining the heritage language within the Bengali community in Arezzo.

In the afternoon, the focus will shift in particular to Chinese-speaking communities and transnational educational pathways. Tommaso Pellin of the University of Bologna will discuss the relationship between Italian and Chinese schools in the education of young people of Chinese descent; Andrea Scibetta and Davide Francolino of the University for Foreigners of Siena will address the teaching of Chinese to transnational students between Italy and China. This will be followed by a presentation by independent researcher Albana Muco on Albanian-speaking communities and heritage language schools in Italy. The day will conclude with contributions from students enrolled in the Bachelor’s degree programme in Interlingual and Intercultural Mediation at the University of Insubria.

The second day, Friday 2 October, will be introduced at 9:30 a.m. by Paola Bocale of the University of Insubria. Daniele Brigadoi Cologna will then offer a reflection on the relationship between Italian schools and heritage language schools, as well as on the prospects for a possible transcultural shift.

The discussion will continue through first-hand experiences from several organisations active in the area: the Solomiya Krushelnytska Ukrainian School in Milan, the P. Yavorov Bulgarian School in Milan, the Chinese and Italian Intercultural Centre in Como, the First Chinese School of Milan, and MIX Italy Cultural Association in Milan. The final discussion is scheduled for 12 noon.

The two-day event will bring together linguistic research, education, legal protection and community practices, providing a forum for dialogue among universities, schools, associations and students on the role of heritage languages in contemporary multilingual societies.

The scientific and organising committee is composed of Alessandra Barotto, Chiara Bertulessi, Paola Bocale, Daniele Brigadoi Cologna, Ilaria Fiorentini and Lino Panzeri.