Update on Italian Embassy’s Strategic Plan to Promote the Italian Language

Italian Embassy, Washington, D.C.

By Maria LaVerghetta

On February 19th, the Italian Embassy hosted a meeting of the Greater Washington, D.C. Observatory of the Italian Language. The purpose of this meeting was to provide updates about the steps taken to promote the Italian language in the D.C. area since the last meeting in January of 2018. As the work of the AMHS plays an important role in achieving this goal, the embassy’s organizers of this event, Minister Counselor Domenico Bellantoni, and Director of Education Maria Fusco, invited the AMHS to take part.

I had the privilege of attending on behalf of AMHS. By way of background, in May 2017, the embassy introduced the 2017 Strategic Plan for the Promotion of the Italian Language. The top priority was to increase the Italian Advanced Placement (AP) exam volumes. If a high school world language program offers an AP course and exam, completion of which typically results in college credits, students have an incentive to study that language over one that lacks the AP course and exam.

For Italian programs to thrive in the greater D.C. area, high schools absolutely need robust Italian AP exam volumes. A second priority was to develop beginning Italian language courses at the elementary and secondary levels. Students who learn languages at an earlier age generally develop more native-like pronunciation. Moreover, students who enter high school already with a basic understanding of Italian can more easily reach the AP level, thus supporting the Observatory’s main goal. The third priority was fundraising, particularly to increase the availability of scholarships, which will promote the study of the Italian language at the university level and encourage more young people to become Italian teachers. At the start of our meeting, Professor Fusco shared news about the successes and challenges regarding the implementation of the strategic plan.

She first addressed the AP exam volumes from 2018, noting that there were 34 AP exams taken in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area. That figure represented a decrease from the preceding year. On the positive side, however, the number of students who chose to study Italian at all levels from 2017-2018 increased by 7.8%. Indeed, Italian stands as the fourth most studied language by university students in the United States. Looking ahead to the 2019 AP exams, the Italian Embassy was to host (and did in fact host) a training on March 16th to update Italian teachers in the surrounding area about the best practices and strategies for building proficiency at an advanced level and increasing student’s scores on this assessment. (I also attended this training, which I found extremely helpful.) Additionally, in November of this year, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages will host its fall conference in Washington, D.C., providing another great opportunity for Italian teachers to learn strategies to better prepare their students.

Regarding the second priority, increasing the number of students in beginning Italian classes, Professor Fusco alluded to the potential strategy of working toward dual immersion programs as well as the introduction of Italian into kindergarten classes. No substantive updates were provided on priority number three — the increase of funding for scholarships. Following Professor Fusco’s updates, the representative from the National Organization of Italian-American Women briefed the attendees on the scholarship opportunities for young women interested in studying Italian at the university level. The Director of Scholarships, Grants and Youth Engagement at the National Italian American Foundation, Julia Streisfeld, and I spoke about the scholarship opportunities we continue to offer each year to students who are committed to studying Italian as a major or minor at the university level.

Scholarships are essential for the promotion of the Italian language because the students who gain the most from their language programs are those who have the opportunity to study in Italy, which scholarships often help make possible. In my own case, a NIAF/AMHS scholarship allowed me to study at the University of Perugia for Foreigners, an experience that made me a more knowledgeable Italian teacher, a more proficient speaker of Italian, and a more effective promoter of the Italian language. The participants also discussed some of the other significant resources, projects and events that will generate interest in the Italian language in the general public as well as among prospective Italian students.

I proposed an initiative in which the AMHS’s first student intern, Julia Paola of The George Washington University, would help coordinate Italian cultural events throughout the school year that would be open to all students and teachers of Italian in the area. These events would provide an opportunity for students to interact with other students in Italian in authentic ways and allow teachers to incentivize their students to practice in fun ways outside of the classroom. Lastly, we also spoke about the many challenges that we face promoting the Italian language in the DMV area. I shared the challenges that I face as the sole high school Italian teacher in Anne Arundel County. Specifically, I addressed the lack of resources, of an established curriculum, and of the support needed for potential new Italian teachers in the area.

Happily, since our last meeting, the Italian Embassy in D.C. has been able to integrate Anne Arundel County, Howard County and Prince William County into their geographic coverage, which in turn will allow them to provide financial and curricular support to Italian teachers and programs in those counties. Dr. Joseph Lupo of Casa Italiana and Maria Grazia Cavallini of Walter Johnson High School expressed their concerns over the continuing cuts to Italian programs in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, as well as over the threat to the reduction of Italian programs in middle schools in Montgomery County. These problems have unfortunately not improved since our last meeting in February of 2018. Maria LaVerghetta is an AMHS member and Representative to the Greater Washington D.C. Observatory of the Italian Language ❚