After contextualising the role of the Italian language in the world, and its potential for growth, the presentation will focus on the British context and discuss the role of Italian in its interconnections with the local cultural, social and economic dimensions. In the United Kingdom, and as highlighted by several studies carried out by the British Academy, the spread of Italian is affected by the perception of the global dominance of the English language, which has contributed to a general lack of interest in learning languages. Within this framework, the paper focuses on the Liverpool area, analysing how these dynamics manifest themselves in the local reality. After presenting the main characteristics of the presence of Italian in Liverpool, the paper will explore two different dimensions. On the one hand, it will highlight educational aspects, and particularly the motivations for studying Italian. On the other hand, it will discuss the role of the Italian language within the family context, with particular attention to its maintenance and transmission in families with a migratory background.
Francesca Romana Branciari is a PhD student at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, where she is conducting research on the diffusion of Italian in the United Kingdom, under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Villarini (Università per Stranieri di Siena), Prof. Monica Barni (Università di Roma La Sapienza) and Prof. Stefania Tufi (University of Liverpool). As part of her PhD, she was a visiting research student at the University of Liverpool, where she carried out her fieldwork. Her main research interests are educational linguistics, migration linguistics and teaching Italian as a second language.
