Forme connettive nell’italiano parlato da stranieri e livelli di competenza: alcune evidenze dal corpus LIPS

The aim of this chapter is to present a corpus based research on the use of explicit discourse connectives by learners of Italian as L2. The LIPS corpus (Lexicon of Italian Spoken by Foreigners) is drawn from the proficiency exams of the Certification of Italian as a Foreign Language (CILS) held by the University for Foreigners of Siena. Due to the increasing interest in the use of connectives in spoken Italian as L2, their frequent use in the language, and their pragmatic relevance in Italian as L1 which constitutes the input for acquisition of Italian as L2, this paper reflects on the presence, the value and the functions assumed by those elements useful to connect a text. The study, which is still in progress, aims at highlighting some of the trends in the use and in the acquisition process of explicit discourse connectives, even if we are aware of the great problems arising in dealing with the connectives, a broad field, hard to define sharply and open to several different interpretations. Furthermore we aim to take into consideration the teaching process, and to see if it is possible or not to support the learning process in order to make students use and understand explicit discourse connectives as native speakers do.