Bridging Language and History in an Advanced Italian Classroom: Perspectives on Medieval Florentine Narratives within their Context

Abstract

Among the challenges faced by L2 instructors is the inclusion of historical memories. Although they are foundational to a culture’s identity, sometimes they are so far removed from students’ present reality that they have no familiarity with them. Meeting this challenge requires the development of activities that contextualize these narratives while bridging the past and the present by engaging with learners’ own values and experiences. This article presents a model didactic unit drawn from a particular aspect of the Italian culture, namely, the medieval Florentine narratives. At the same time, the strategies and tools that are proposed can be implemented to explore virtually any historical memories in other L2 courses.