L’alfabeto con meno parabaleni. Una proposta per un’educazione alla letto-scrittura in italiano L2 con giovani e adulti scarsamente o non alfabetizzati nella L1 e scarsamente o non scolarizzati.

The systems for hospitality and social inclusion of migrants in Italy offer a privileged point of view for debating about language education policies. The challenge of literacy education and second language learning for young people and adults who are illiterate or scarcely literate and uneducated or scarcely educated requires thinking accurately about the impact one’s actions have in the pre-A1 level classes. The specific needs of asylum seekers and refugees may lead teachers to adopt means and attitudes of community-building, which could be useful even in a broader educational environment, and may be a chance to re-evaluate the political potential of literacy. We propose a path for literacy education where the aims are driven by the students’ needs of self-determination and involvement in our society: it is necessary to acquire oral competence in Italian as a second language, to develop the semiotic system of writing, to acquire phonological awareness, to master the use of pencil and paper, to understand what is written all around you. The proposal, rooted in acquisitional linguistics research, is intended to create a safe community environment, fruitful for interaction and learning. The development of this model is possible when the teacher and the students work and play together, and the class becomes a societal structure in which everybody takes part. Literacy classes can therefore become a training ground for democratic participation in society.