L’assegnazione del genere grammaticale da parte di apprendenti di Italiano L2 a Malta

Abstract

Native speakers, at an early age, succeed in mastering the system of the grammatical gender (if it exists in their native language) without the need of any explicit procedures. However, assigning grammatical gender correctly appears to be difficult for several Maltese learners of Italian L2 who are also competent, to varying degrees, in English. In order to verify the importance of cues and the significance of the age factor regarding gender assignment, I carried out an investigation among Form 2 (12-13 year-olds) and Form 4 (14- 15 year-olds) Maltese students who study Italian in two different state schools. The investigation was carried out by means of three exercises in which participants had to assign the grammatical gender to nouns (masculine or feminine) and, in other cases, select the adjective in agreement with the grammatical subject. This research helped me observe which morphosyntactic cues could make it easier for students to assign gender correctly. Results showed that the participants were sensitive to cues included in word endings. Dealing with more than one cue did not present difficulties unless such cues presented conflictual information. Nevertheless, many students, irrespective of their age, were able to use morphophonological and syntactic cues to override competing ones. This study provides useful insights related to the assignment of grammatical gender in Italian L2 in a Maltese classroom setting, and offers grounds for pedagogical reflections.