The Online Presence of Italian Antimafia Associations

Abstract

This tutorial explores the online presence of antimafia associations as a means for critically engaging with their mission and the initiatives that they promote. It is aimed at learners of Italian at post-beginner to intermediate level with an interest in accessing a variety of authentic materials, including articles, news items, social media posts, comments, photos, videos, and an interactive map. The activities have been designed to guide the user through these online resources and evaluate them, for example in terms of usability of the website, the links between sections, and the visibility itself of sections and tools. The focus is on voices and experiences of activists who have resisted organized crime, but also and more interestingly how they got the civil society involved by using online tools. This tutorial stems from the proposition that antimafia culture should be included in the curricula of Italian as a foreign language, as part of a wider interest in presenting issues related to contemporary Italian culture and society in the language classroom. In terms of Modern Languages research, the aim is to bridge the existing divide between ‘language’ and ‘content’ teaching, asking in what ways language classes may incorporate cultural elements.