This presentation highlights Music in the Italian Language Classroom as a Communicative and Cultural tool that can be used to help students Connect and Compare across Communities in meaningful, task-based, goal-oriented ways.  Through the use of carefully selected songs, presented and supported in pedagogically sound ways, students are given the opportunity to communicate in the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes.

In my beginner and intermediate level Italian courses at Dickinson College, I regularly use music and interviews as ways to connect with students and teach them Italian culture in a fun and captivating way. Most undergraduates love music and, of course, so do students of Italian. My students come to class, walk on campus and exercise while listening to music. They even study with music in the background! Since music accompanies young people throughout their day, I have strived to make music an essential part of my classes.

Although the 5 Cs of the ACTFL Standards underline the importance of gaining “knowledge and understanding of other cultures” and the MLA report advocates for transcultural and translingual competence, in lower division language classes, culture is often limited to blurbs in the textbook and it is likely to be the first element omitted due to time constraints.This paper presents an effective way of integrating the use of authentic materials, specifically the 2010 film Benvenuti al sud, in the curriculum of a second semester Italian class.