Second language learning for vulnerable adult migrants: The case of the Italian public school

Abstract

Over the last years, thousands of asylum seekers and refugees have arrived in Italy, including a large number of teenagers without any adult caregivers and women. A significant part of them is placed in the Italian language courses for foreigners organised by the Provincial Centre for Adult Education, commonly called CPIA (Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti). This paper addresses the exploration of the language testing and assessment of the courses organized by this institution. With the aim of evaluating these aspects, the paper concentrates on the CPIA, its teachers, and its students. Focusing on CPIA’s language courses, we investigate the language testing and assessment carried out at the beginning and at the end of the language courses. Thanks to these observations, the paper tries to identify some critical aspects and to understand their causes.